Pigeon killer...

[Newt]

It is a truly beautiful sight to see any of the raptors make a strike.

 

Owl taking rodents (requires night glasses to watch though).

 

Hawk taking anything it's size or smaller.

 

Eagle taking whatever suits it's fancy.

 

I have to wonder about folks who don't enjoy watching the birds in action.

[chesters1]

i think this is why our small birds (sparrows etc) are disapearing ,not so much that there habitats are changing but that birds of prey are far more numerous than before as people are caring for them and protection has increased.

its always puzzeled me when talking about evolution only man has evolved greatly ,you would think that as lions have been eating zebra for millions of years ,the zebra act as they have always acted they run away theoreticly if they stuck together they could kick the lions ass ,or the use of sticks ,i bet not one has thought of picking up a stick and clumping the lions ,if they did it enough then surely evolution would provide a stick like appendage ,but no they just run.

why havent birds evolved ,maybe sparrows with attitude that fly round in gangs attacking kestrals

apart from the odd bird of prey getting mobbed by a crow or such ,birds evolution seems to have remained unchanged.

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

chesters1:

i think this is why our small birds (sparrows etc) are disapearing ,not so much that there habitats are changing but that birds of prey are far more numerous than before as people are caring for them and protection has increased.

I think you'll find that the birds of prey ar'nt really the problem here, the problem is the King of egg theifs, the Magpie. It's numbers have exploded to plauge proportions and a large part of their diet includes small birds chicks and eggs.

 

try going to a place where there are no magpies and you'll see the diffrence in the numbers of small birds. here in Clydebank there are fewsamll birds and very few thrushes. But up at Lochaline where there are no magpies loads of birds of prey and Pine martins there is tons of small stuff flying about and loads of thrushes.

[Elton]

I agree with Davy. Where I work, we are plagued with magpies and I rarely see any other birds.

 

Having said that, can somebody answer me this....

 

Every time I've seen an owl take off or land, I've been amazed by its grace. However, is there an owl that flies quite erratically, or do owls do this as an evasion technique?

 

If not, I sacred the biggest bat I'vce ever seen the other night

 

Elton

[Bretty]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the replies, You might be right, i just guessed it was a ketrel. but it was about the same size as this pigeon maybe even smaller.

And it had like big thighs?!

 

Bretty

[Davy Holt]

Elton:

 

Having said that, can somebody answer me this....

 

Every time I've seen an owl take off or land, I've been amazed by its grace. However, is there an owl that flies quite erratically, or do owls do this as an evasion technique?

 

If not, I sacred the biggest bat I'vce ever seen the other night

 

Elton

Hiya Elton,

 

yes owls can fly erratically when required

[davidP]

I spent some time working on the 26th floor of the NatWest Tower and it was fascinating to watch the peregrine falcons hunting pigeons and starlings. They used to 'hide' round one side of the building and then ambush birds as they flew round the corner and at such a speed you could barely keep your eyes on them. The most spectacular sight was in the late autumn/early winter when huge flocks of starlings used to gather just before sunset prior to going en-mass to their roosting places in the various london Squares. There are literally tens of thousands of them in huge flocks and it was amazing to watch the peregrines stooping down through them. If you've seen the wildlife films where they show huge schools of fish all turning and changing direction simultaneously then it was just like that!

 

As for the shortage of small birds, in addition to the points previously raised there is also the fact that modern gardens are actually surprisingly barren places for birds. The trees and shrubs we plant are in general not good for nesting and many of them provide little food for birds. Our liberal application of insect and weedkillers also removes a lot of food as does the breeding of insect resistant plants. Add to that the prairies that many farming areas have become and the reduction of bird numbers is hardly surprising. Even sparrows are becoming rare in some areas!!

[chesters1]

sorry davidp i think that gardens on the whole probably save birds ,go into the country side and you will hear a few birds ,see a few less ,in the country its hard going for birds in the winter.

come into a garden (at least round here) and you litterally mobbed by the things,wagtails (pied and that yellowy one) galore ,finches,all types (even a sparrowhawk at times) sadly though few sparrows (i have fond memories of them in london as a kid) they fight over which birdtable to crap on,plenty of magpies in the field following the cows and crows ,jackdaws etc , but all the small birds in the garden

,nest boxes all over the place etc.

one of the biggest killers of wild birds are sqirrells and stoats both love eggs and chicks not many of them in the garden though.

[davidP]

Sorry - didn't make myself clear. Gardens are certainly good places for birds, but over the last 20 years or so the changes in gardening practice and plants means they are nowhere near as productive as they used to be from a birds point of view. It's the comparison I meant to highlight rather than a straight statement of fact.

[chesters1]

yes i can visulise the " immaculate " garden and its

taming nature concept and i take your point they are bird unfriendly , my garden backs on to the "countryside" so has a distinct "casual" feel to it ,we rarely get dirds in the back garden as its open to the sparrow hawks (even little birds flying across it have a distinctly worried look about them )

but the front is a bit more secluded so they feed there.

reminds me of the morning chorus at a pond near here (lyn may know it ) it just across the road from Birdworld (a bird "sanctuary" type thing) that dawn chorus is really out of this world ,cookerburra`s the lot , out of this world