Birds of prey in Sydenham

[stone-penge]

So sitting in my front room listening to the Archers,like you do, when all of a sudden a Bird of Prey swoops down takes out one of the damn pigeons off my roof and starts eating it in my front garden.Just a normal Friday even in Sydenham...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTyjrTi ... e=youtu.be

quality not so good as its shot through edwardian glass at dusk. In the background Pat is meeting Helens brief...

[angela53]

I think the video is really good. The bird of prey does not look that much bigger than the pigeon however the poor pigeon didn`t stand a chance.

[dacreswood]

That's sparrowhawks for you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_ ... escription

[Parker1970]

That's sparrowhawks for you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_ ... escription

Yup. I get them attacking and killing Pigeons on the flat roof outside my bedroom window every year. Whilst I won't miss the pigeons, I don't particularly want corpses outside my window either and sadly the flat roof is inaccessible.

Time to get one of those "scarers" that keeps birds of prey away... or try and get my cat to sit on my bedroom windowsill permanently

This was the flat roof last Autumn (Its a bit grizzly)

[angela53]

OMG - its like a war zone !

[owlwise]

That's disgusting. Poor pigeons.

[sparticus]

How do I get one- bird of prey I mean?. Bloody pigeons crap all over my roof and I can't get rid of them. The stupid woman in the garden that backs onto mine insists on feeding them.

[Parker1970]

How do I get one- bird of prey I mean?. Bloody pigeons crap all over my roof and I can't get rid of them. The stupid woman in the garden that backs onto mine insists on feeding them.

Perhaps I can persude mine to relocate to yours? Not sure how I will persuade it... not sure I can mimmick the Sydenham inflections of the sparrowhawk language, it's a bit too clicky for me

[dacreswood]

Sadly, Sparticus, Sparrowhawks appear to be a bit Nimbyish - it's probably in their genes

Sparrowhawks require woodland, or at least a small clump of trees, for nesting.

Their territories are well spaced - pairs do not tolerate another nest close by. The distance between each nest varies ranges from 0.5 km to 2.1 km. This is determined by the local food supply - the better the food supply, the smaller each territory will be

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoy ... sting.aspx

So don't depend on supply of them to expand to meet your demands!

[owlwise]

Do the sparrowhawks actually eat the pigeons or just play with them until they die?

Spartacus, whereabouts do you live? I might know that woman who feeds the pigeons.

[Parker1970]

Do the sparrowhawks actually eat the pigeons or just play with them until they die?

Spartacus, whereabouts do you live? I might know that woman who feeds the pigeons.

They pluck them, then tear off and eat the flesh. They usually leave some and come back for seconds later/next day. Then kill another.. rinse, repeat.