Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

SPORTING ANSWERS

GAMEKEEPING

Wehada breedingpairof

sparrowhawksonourshoot,

butbothadultbirdsseemtohave

beenpredated— wehaveseen

feathersbutnota body.What

is likely to have taken them?

Themostlikelykillerofthe

sparrowhawksis a goshawk.

Goshawksareverymuchlike

sparrowhawksintheirbehaviourand

hunting,buttheyareconsiderably

bigger and heavier so can take much

largerprey.Theyarealsorenowned

fornottoleratingsmallerraptors

intheirterritories.Whengoshawks

becomeestablishedinanareathere

is invariablya reductioninthenumber

ofbreedingsparrowhawks.

Thereductionmaynotbesimply

duetothegoshawkskillingthe

sparrowhawks,butbecausethesmaller

birdsaresimplyout-competedbythe

moredominantgoshawk.Intriguingly,

studieshaveshownthatsparrowhawks

willoftenbuildtheirnestsinplaces

poorinpreysotheycanavoidareas

attractive to other predators.DT

Predating on sparrowhawks

48 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Thehandsomegoshawkwillkill

sparrowhawksastheywon’ttolerate

smaller raptors on their territories

Theexperts

THEULTIMATE

SHOOTINGQUIZTEAM

BILLHARRIMAN

BASC’sheadoffirearmsand

globalauthorityonguns

MATMANNING

Airgunnerandjournalist from

theWestCountry

BRUCEPOTTS

ShootingTimes rifl e reviewer

andstalker

DAVIDTOMLINSON

Highlyregardedwriter and

ornithologist

LIAMBELL

NGOchairman,Shropshire

gamekeeperandkeenwildfowler

GRAHAMDOWNING

Shootingconsultant and

sportingauthor

CHRISDECANI

Riverkeeper,withspecialist

knowledgeofchalkstreams

TONYBUCKWELL

Veterinarysurgeonwitha

specialinterestingundogs

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