Sparrowhawks by Ben Crane

Author:Ben Crane
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847977106
Publisher: Crowood

Sparrowhawks Seem to be Killing Small Birds of all Kinds – Are they To Blame?

Certainly where partridges are scarce and sparrowhawks are in good numbers, predation by birds of prey could be a limiting factor and this is the subject of current research. However, under the pre-1960s traditional farming methods, both birds were common. Partridges declined most severely in the 1960s and 1970s when sparrowhawks themselves were almost wiped out by organo-chlorine pesticides.

Widespread use of industrial pesticides and the transforming weather conditions have changed food sources and nesting possibilities for all manner of animals on a far greater scale than the falconer can be blamed for. What is true for the grey-legged partridge is also true for the lark and the blackbird. When numbers of any species have reached dangerously low levels due to forced industrialized farming methods, it is always field sports that carry the brunt of blame from a public consuming cheap food. Falconry being visual and having an obvious ending seems directly destructive. The insidious growth of human populations and the need to feed them is far more corrosive on the natural world than sparrowhawking could ever be. If falconers ceased hawking grey-legged partridge, the continued current farming methods and the wider influence of changing weather conditions would be enough to precipitate their demise. Partridge, like lark or blackbirds or any other quarry, have been hunted for centuries; it is only recently that as a species they have declined in numbers. This very recent decline is directly related to farming methods and the destruction of natural habitats and not to hunting, fishing, shooting and hawking, which are by their very nature conservational pastimes.

With specific regard to hunting blackbirds, a few facts need to be set out from the start. Contrary to the perception of the general public, Turdus merula is a migratory species. The figures from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website shows that there are 5 million nesting pairs in the United Kingdom throughout the spring. During winter this figure rises to around 15 million. Clearly with these numbers, the dent of a few thousand falconers taking twenty or thirty blackbirds under strict licence and within the law is clear for all to see. With a strict adherence to seasons, hawking of legal numbers and an awareness of ecosystems, falconry and shooting should be seen as inherently conservational activities. If we consider the grey-legged partridge once again (whose numbers are far, far lower than any passerine), we can see from the Game and Wildlife Conservancy Trust (GWCT) that:

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