Sure I saw a Goshawk (1 Viewer)

will562 · Aug 25, 2018

Hi,

Last week whilst out running, i’m 100% sure I was lucky enough to see a Goshawk. I’m in the Midlands and the precise location was over Grange Lane near Alvechurch. It wasn’t a Buzzard and wasn’t a Kite, but it was just like a bery big Sparrowhawk. Also there were lots of Crows flying right by it, but they weren’t mobbing it like they would if it was a Buzzard, which makes me think they were scared of it! Couldn’t see any jesses trailing from it so must have been wild. Anyone else seen a Goshawk in this area or anywhere else?

Thanks

Will

Hauksen · Aug 25, 2018

Hi Will,

will562 said:
Also there were lots of Crows flying right by it, but they weren’t mobbing it like they would if it was a Buzzard, which makes me think they were scared of it!

Great observation!

Crows in Germany mob Goshawks too, even when the Goshawk is in flight.

Not to say they'd be reckless about it, so maybe your interpretation was quite correct for the given moment, with the Crows waiting for a better opportunity

I'd imagine that pushing him it hard would maybe induce the Goshawk to start circling in defense, and they wouldn't make any progress in evicting it from their territory that way. I'm confident Crows are shrewd tacticians ... ;-)

Regards,

Henning

tconzemi · Aug 25, 2018

here in my spot in Luxembourg crows will only occasionally mob buzzards but they will always mob heavily a Goshawk or a Peregrine, they even have a specific call like a trill when mobbing these 2 species.

owhy · Aug 25, 2018

Crows are often eaten by goshawks so I am pretty surprised to discover that they will risk mobbing them. Goshawks (along with eagle owls) must be crows' biggest enemy.

Buzzards, on the other hand, pose no threat to crows and I have no idea why crows (or any other corvid) wastes their time mobbing them.

I saw a sparrowhawk this morning - you don't often realise how small they are. I don't think you'd be able to confuse a sparrowhawk and a goshawk at all unless they were far away. Goshawks are huge and will even prey on sparrowhawks (and other small birds of prey) occasionally.

Valéry Schollaert · Aug 25, 2018

owhy said:
Crows are often eaten by goshawks so I am pretty surprised to discover that they will risk mobbing them. Goshawks (along with eagle owls) must be crows' biggest enemy.

Buzzards, on the other hand, pose no threat to crows and I have no idea why crows (or any other corvid) wastes their time mobbing them.

I saw a sparrowhawk this morning - you don't often realise how small they are. I don't think you'd be able to confuse a sparrowhawk and a goshawk at all unless they were far away. Goshawks are huge and will even prey on sparrowhawks (and other small birds of prey) occasionally.

Without comparison, in the sky, size is very difficult to judge. Birdwatchers are often confusing a Sparrowhawk with a Goshawk, even with a Hen Harrier, when they migrate in open sky for example.

Goshawk are so often mobbed by corvids, that I would say, in Belgium, it is rare to see a goshawk not being mobbed by one or several Corvus.

aeshna5 · Aug 25, 2018

Crows also mob Sparrowhawks + virtually every other raptor. Watched a Crow mobbing one this morning on my local patch.

Also a large female Sparrowhawk is size was not dissimilar to a male Goshawk although proportions are different.

Valéry Schollaert · Aug 25, 2018

aeshna5 said:
Crows also mob Sparrowhawks + virtually every other raptor. Watched a Crow mobbing one this morning on my local patch.

Also a large female Sparrowhawk is size was not dissimilar to a male Goshawk although proportions are different.

Yes, but as Tom has said, you can feel and hear that they take it in a different way. Like mobbing Sparrowhawk for fun, for training or for an intellectual reason (they know or believe he might eat a chick) while their mob a Goshawk in fear !

Hotspur · Aug 25, 2018

tconzemi said:
here in my spot in Luxembourg crows will only occasionally mob buzzards but they will always mob heavily a Goshawk or a Peregrine, they even have a specific call like a trill when mobbing these 2 species.

Love the raptor call! Gets me scanning straight away. Raptor watchers best friends.

Nutcracker · Aug 25, 2018

owhy said:
Buzzards, on the other hand, pose no threat to crows and I have no idea why crows (or any other corvid) wastes their time mobbing them.

Buzzards will often raid crow nests to take unfledged (and maybe newly fledged) young, so they are a real threat to crows.

Crows will also mob Sparrowhawks in the hope of stealing prey from them, though in my experience, they don't usually succeed despite being larger - the fear of that steely glare is surprisingly often enough to dissuade them.

dwatsonbirder · Aug 25, 2018

As an aside, there are no regular sites for Goshawk in Warwickshire, and the occasional records from the south and west of the county are at best dubious. In the 5 (predominantly bird-less) years I lived in Warwickshire, I had only 1 Goshawk sighting which related to an escaped bird. Both Buzzard and Sparrowhawk are much commoner in the county, and in recent times Red kite are too.

Sure I saw a Goshawk (1 Viewer)

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will562

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