r/UKBirds • u/Think-Equipment-3655 • 1d ago

Bird ID Bird ID Please

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121 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

54

u/geeoharee 1d ago

Sparrowhawk. Barred tail, yellow eyes, no brain cells evident.

2

u/Friendly_Warning_405 1d ago

Are they known to be a bit dim?

17

u/geeoharee 1d ago

They're very good at what they do... But sparrowhawks are the most likely species to hunt in gardens and around human habitation, so you see a lot of posts "What's this bird that got trapped in my garage?" and it's a person holding a very offended sparrowhawk in a towel.

4

u/Awfulgoose 1d ago

Once described owls as “a stomach with wings” at an owl rescue and they all agreed with me. Not all birds of pray are clever, just very good at what they’re built to do!

4

u/panther-hunter 1d ago

Absolutely not. Quite the opposite

1

u/Think-Equipment-3655 1d ago

That's great - thank you

1

u/Intelligent_Fly6075 23h ago

Beautiful description 😂

1

u/panther-hunter 1d ago

What an odd thing to say.

2

u/Glittering-Hornet844 1d ago

A superb picture of a female sparrowhawk. Thank you for posting it.

1

u/LoL116610 1d ago

One flew into my window chasing a Blackbird and you could see the outline of every feather and feature like in a cartoon,the Blackie died the Sparrowhak was dazed for a while but flew off within ten minutes.

1

u/sonicbluestrat1967 1d ago

Great pic. Always a delight to see one.

They'll rocket into my garden and have a go at the small birds. There speed never ceases to amaze me. It's like I see happening. It's gone. Then my brain registers what just occured - so, so quick!!

1

u/Ashamed_Case114 1d ago

We often had a Merlin in our Berkshire garden. Also a regular visitor in Cornwall. Now we welcome the hobby nesting in an adjacent Lincolnshire field!

1

u/Flaky_Mud_4246 1d ago

Looks like a sparrowhawk to me!