Here is another mystery (1 Viewer)

[Pablo1508]

Hello all, I've just joined and had a mystery of a Channel-billed cuckoo solved . Thanks to all who replied Here is another mystery, a couple of weeks ago I saw some sort of bird of prey with a small turtle dove, in my back yard , just a few meters from my back door. The weird thing is I live in inner west Sydney and have never seen anything like it. 50 years ago the only birds here were predominantly sparrows and pigeons, these days there are lots more. Any ideas on what this bird is and what is it doing in Burwood? Thanks

 

[Butty]

Questions in order...
1. It's either a collared sparrowhawk or a brown goshawk (they're annoyingly similar).
2. It's having its dinner (they live right across Australia - which, I guess, is the Sydney you're talking about).

 

[Pablo1508]

Questions in order...
1. It's either a collared sparrowhawk or a brown goshawk (they're annoyingly similar).
2. It's having its dinner (they live right across Australia - which, I guess, is the Sydney you're talking about).

Thanks, Yes Sydney Australia, I forgot about international members

 

[01101001]

Funny, when I was looking for distinctions between the sparrowhawk and the goshawk in Europe some time ago, I found this comparison: Goshawk, sparrow hawk? | BIRDS in BACKYARDS. I don't know how accurate it is, but it looks good. Some of the criteria may still be hard to apply to this picture.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Except that the Australian species are not the same as the Eurasian species, so the differences are different (and, AFAIK, much more subtle).

 

[lockbreeze926]

I'd veer slightly towards Collared Sparrowhawk, on the basis of apparent slight build/fairly small size, including head, and seemingly pale barring on the breast, although that might not be a great diagnostic feature.

 

[Butty]

Except that the Australian species are not the same as the Eurasian species, so the differences are different (and, AFAIK, much more subtle).

It's good actually to check the link before hitting 'Post' - it is about the Australian species-pair

 

[Pablo1508]

Funny, when I was looking for distinctions between the sparrowhawk and the goshawk in Europe some time ago, I found this comparison: Goshawk, sparrow hawk? | BIRDS in BACKYARDS. I don't know how accurate it is, but it looks good. Some of the criteria may still be hard to apply to this picture.

Thanks, to my untrained eye, they are still VERY similar