Bird of prey indentification

Sparrowhawk

We also had one (male) a couple of years ago. Bloody awesome birds.

KaoEFNu.jpg
 
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Fun fact the one time I sent my 200-600 in for service a sparrowhawk decided to visit my garden...even told our lass the day before that when I send it in all the birds would be out.

I was annoyed.

It's a sparrow hawk for sure.

Also had a kestrel kill one of our nesting sparrows in the gutters, sat there plucking it, feathers flying down upon us.
 
Lopéz said:
Kites are the wimps of the bird of prey realm. They might scowl at a worm if they're feeling particularly tough.
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Sounds about right. My partner is from Talgarth/Bronllys in the Breacon Beacons and they have so many kites there hanging out..... outside of a butchers waiting for easy food. Lazy gits.
 
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Junglist said:
Sounds about right. My partner is from Talgarth/Bronllys in the Breacon Beacons and they have so many kites there hanging out..... outside of a butchers waiting for easy food. Lazy gits.
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The bird of prey feeding centre is Rhayader is pretty entertaining. There are at least a hundred kites turn up when they do the feed.

Last time I went there a heron and two buzzards turned up to nick the kite's food.
 
potatolord said:
The bird of prey feeding centre is Rhayader is pretty entertaining. There are at least a hundred kites turn up when they do the feed.

Last time I went there a heron and two buzzards turned up to nick the kite's food.
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Yeah she's mentioned that quite a bit. Probably only about 20 minutes north of her mothers
 
Didn't Shakespeare mention them in something about how they cleaned the streets up.

They are larger than a buzzard in wingspan but very weak, weigh about as much as a pigeon I believe as well, despite thier size.
 
mrgubby said:
Probably a female Sparrow Hawk, I've seen them take pigeons.

Unlikely to be a Goshawk as they are not common
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This.

Females are much bigger than the males.

Very unlikely to be a goshawk.

I'd put money on a female sparrowhawk

It is not it a buzzard or anything else.
 
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potatolord said:
The bird of prey feeding centre is Rhayader is pretty entertaining. There are at least a hundred kites turn up when they do the feed.

Last time I went there a heron and two buzzards turned up to nick the kite's food.
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Been there in the photography hide. Pretty amazing. Were a few buzzards too.
 
Junglist said:
Paging @Chris Wilson

Though my guess would be a Goshawk and failing that some harrier perhaps.

Edit 1:
In fact I'm sticking with Goshawk. Sparrowhawks are tiny

Goshawk Bird Facts | Accipiter Gentilis

A large hawk, almost reaching buzzard size. When seen close to it has a fierce expression with bright red eyes and a distinctive white eyebrow. Find out more
www.rspb.org.uk www.rspb.org.uk

edit 2:

Now I'm not so sure. Watched the video a few times and it looks to be a similar size to the prey item which would suggest I was wrong and @Whitewater was bang on the money. Though looking at pictures of a Goshawk and Sparrow Hawk's tail feathers, they have similar markings. But I would expect a Goshawk to have a significant size advantage over a pigeon.
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Female sparrowhawks will often take a pigeon. It's not a guaranteed success by any means. But they are more than capable of taking a ferral pigeon.
 
Junglist said:
Sounds about right. My partner is from Talgarth/Bronllys in the Breacon Beacons and they have so many kites there hanging out..... outside of a butchers waiting for easy food. Lazy gits.
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Yep, just look at a Kite's feet and that will tell you everything you need to know about their hunting prowess - compared to something like a Buzzard they just don't have the power to take down big live or prey.

Source: my dad kept raptors for many years.
 
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