Starling flocks, Sparrowhawks and Takeaways

The events of Tuesday night involving flocks of Starlings and the Sparrowhawk, have prompted me to blow the dust off my keyboard and tell you another tale of my garden birds.


I am sure many of you will have seen through the medium of the television, the internet or maybe even first hand, the amazing spectacle of huge flocks of Starlings filling the skies prior to roosting. The birds come

The events of Tuesday night involving flocks of Starlings and the Sparrowhawk, have prompted me to blow the dust off my keyboard and tell you another tale of my garden birds.


I am sure many of you will have seen through the medium of the television, the internet or maybe even first hand, the amazing spectacle of huge flocks of Starlings filling the skies prior to roosting. The birds come

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

THE SPARROW HAWK IN EXTREMADURA (2009-2010)

Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus). Adult female. Francis Martin.

The Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus) was another one of the target species in the SEO/BirdLife-brokered national woodland raptor survey 2009-2010 (Palomino and Valls, 2011). The estimated Extremadura population came out as 690 territories (range 630-750). This represents 5% of the Spanish total (13,810 territories), ranking eighth behind Andalucía (4270), Galicia (1470), Castilla y León (1450), Aragón (1330), Castilla-La Mancha (1280), Valencia (810) and Catalunya (700). Extremadura's mean density is 1.7 territories per 100 km2, below the national mean (2.7) and ranking a modest 11th in Spain.

Broken down by provinces, Cáceres accounts for 430 territories and Badajoz 260. The densities (2.2 in Cáceres and 1.2 in Badajoz) are among the lowest in Spain. In all it was detected in 25% of the surveyed 10 k grids (20% in Badajoz and 30% in Cáceres).

The Sparrow Hawk has a somewhat patchy range in Extremadura, preferring the more wooded and mountainous areas. As with the Goshawk, the likelihood of a sighting is high in La Siberia and Las Villuercas y Los Ibores. Unlike the Goshawk, however, it is also fairly abundant in other areas, like the Sistema Central, Monfragüe, Montánchez, centre of Badajoz, Tentudía and Vegas Bajas del Guadiana. In Spain the Sparrow Hawk picks out the rainier areas with conifer woods, diverse landscape and warm months of May.

Predictive map of the Sparrow Hawk's range in Spain, taken from Palomino and Valls (2011).

Car transects are not really a very suitable censusing method for this shy, low-profile raptor. In Extremadura only 3 birds were seen on average every 1000 k, a somewhat lower figure than the mean for the whole of Spain (0.4 per 100 km). It was detected in 17% of the surveyed 10k grids (19% in Badajoz and 15% in Cáceres).

The Sparrow Hawk's trend in Spain is uncertain according to the breeding birds monitoring project SACRE; its trend within Extremadura is equally unsure.

The fieldwork was coordinated and carried out by SEO volunteers and staff of the Environment Board of the Regional Council of Extremadura.

Source:
- Palomino, D., and Valls, J. 2011. Las rapaces forestales en España. Población reproductora en 2009-2010 y método de censo. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid. [PDF]

Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus). Adult female. Francis Martin.

The Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus) was another one of the target species in the SEO/BirdLife-brokered national woodland raptor survey 2009-2010 (Palomino and Valls, 2011). The estimated Extremadura population came out as 690 territories (range 630-750). This represents 5% of the Spanish total (13,810 territories), ranking eighth behind Andalucía (4270), Galicia (1470), Castilla y León (1450), Aragón (1330), Castilla-La Mancha (1280), Valencia (810) and Catalunya (700). Extremadura's mean density is 1.7 territories per 100 km2, below the national mean (2.7) and ranking a modest 11th in Spain.

Broken down by provinces, Cáceres accounts for 430 territories and Badajoz 260. The densities (2.2 in Cáceres and 1.2 in Badajoz) are among the lowest in Spain. In all it was detected in 25% of the surveyed 10 k grids (20% in Badajoz and 30% in Cáceres).

The Sparrow Hawk has a somewhat patchy range in Extremadura, preferring the more wooded and mountainous areas. As with the Goshawk, the likelihood of a sighting is high in La Siberia and Las Villuercas y Los Ibores. Unlike the Goshawk, however, it is also fairly abundant in other areas, like the Sistema Central, Monfragüe, Montánchez, centre of Badajoz, Tentudía and Vegas Bajas del Guadiana. In Spain the Sparrow Hawk picks out the rainier areas with conifer woods, diverse landscape and warm months of May.

Predictive map of the Sparrow Hawk's range in Spain, taken from Palomino and Valls (2011).

Car transects are not really a very suitable censusing method for this shy, low-profile raptor. In Extremadura only 3 birds were seen on average every 1000 k, a somewhat lower figure than the mean for the whole of Spain (0.4 per 100 km). It was detected in 17% of the surveyed 10k grids (19% in Badajoz and 15% in Cáceres).

The Sparrow Hawk's trend in Spain is uncertain according to the breeding birds monitoring project SACRE; its trend within Extremadura is equally unsure.

The fieldwork was coordinated and carried out by SEO volunteers and staff of the Environment Board of the Regional Council of Extremadura.

Source:
- Palomino, D., and Valls, J. 2011. Las rapaces forestales en España. Población reproductora en 2009-2010 y método de censo. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid. [PDF]

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The Sparrowhawk

I stepped outside of the kitchen door and my eyes were immediately drawn to the sky, to the Sparrowhawk soaring on the wind, searching for prey. Although my eyes are not good and I found myself to be without my specs, the light seemed to shine in such a way as to make visible the light brown colours on the underside of the bird.

This airborne hunter, hungry for a meal, drew overlapping circles

I stepped outside of the kitchen door and my eyes were immediately drawn to the sky, to the Sparrowhawk soaring on the wind, searching for prey. Although my eyes are not good and I found myself to be without my specs, the light seemed to shine in such a way as to make visible the light brown colours on the underside of the bird.

This airborne hunter, hungry for a meal, drew overlapping circles

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The Sparrowhawk

I have just seen a Sparrowhawk from the kitchen window, circling high overhead, but travelling swiftly away due to the very windy conditions. Obviously it was checking out the gardens looking for suitable prey. The Sparrowhawk became scarce in Britain during the 20th century because it was badly affected by the liberal use of pesticides. Indeed though I grew up in a rural area, I cannot remember

I have just seen a Sparrowhawk from the kitchen window, circling high overhead, but travelling swiftly away due to the very windy conditions. Obviously it was checking out the gardens looking for suitable prey. The Sparrowhawk became scarce in Britain during the 20th century because it was badly affected by the liberal use of pesticides. Indeed though I grew up in a rural area, I cannot remember

reade more... Résuméabuiyad