"Dyeing" white pigeons.

[Diamond Dave]

Am i right in thinking the sparrowhawk is an opportunist and ambush predator. It will take all colours as and when the opportunity arises.
The peregrine however will pick out its prey as a single bird or from a batch of race birds anywhere on route and I think the sparrowhawk will only hit locally

[NeilA]

Am i right in thinking the sparrowhawk is an opportunist and ambush predator. It will take all colours as and when the opportunity arises.
The peregrine however will pick out its prey as a single bird or from a batch of race birds anywhere on route and I think the sparrowhawk will only hit locally

Yes pretty much mate sparrow hawks ambush at home often as the birds drop from there loft fly but become a regular pest once they have a food source
I have had them stood on my gate waiting for me to loft and on my trap at first light as they got to know my times

I did only once have one fly with my batch forcing them into a tight circle first I thought it was a peregrine but as it attacked it was a hen sparrow hawk only time I have seen one act that way

[Trev]

I have to say that around home where the Sparrow hawk is my problem, no colour is safe, it will take whatever it can. I couldn't tell you what colours other birds of prey target, I think they just hit a batch in flight and come up with whatever unlucky bird they hit !!
Having said that, since starting up again I have lost more pieds and reds, I'm not sure I could say that was definitely down to BOPs, although I did have the ring off a gay pied hen reported in a peregrine's nest on Salisbury cathedral !!!
If it is mostly coloureds they take then surely there is no point spraying the birds pink !!
We do have a few members in our fed who spray their birds and swear that it helps, personally I'm not convinced but each to their own !!

[Trev]

My birds are now on lockdown for the winter and will only come out at weekends while I clean them out !! Otherwise I'd lose half my team over the winter !!

[NeilA]

Same here Trev
Seen a dove and 3 sparrows taken in 3 weeks by a male sparrow hawk by the loft and I'm not there in the daylight during the week

[Murray]

Am i right in thinking the sparrowhawk is an opportunist and ambush predator. It will take all colours as and when the opportunity arises.
The peregrine however will pick out its prey as a single bird or from a batch of race birds anywhere on route and I think the sparrowhawk will only hit locally

Yes pretty much mate sparrow hawks ambush at home often as the birds drop from there loft fly but become a regular pest once they have a food source
I have had them stood on my gate waiting for me to loft and on my trap at first light as they got to know my times

I did only once have one fly with my batch forcing them into a tight circle first I thought it was a peregrine but as it attacked it was a hen sparrow hawk only time I have seen one act that way

Yep I had a sparrowhawk back in Bendigo that was an absolute menace. One day it chased a youngster off the board, across the lawn, UNDER the barbeque, across the patio and into the garage, with me chasing it. It would sit in the gum tree behind the loft chittering away and the birds were terrified of it.