Sparrowhawk takes out a magpie in my garden in Sussex, If your squeemish, a doo gooder or don't approve of this video, please just remember, IT'S NATURES BALANCING ACT - FOR ONE ANIMAL TO SURVIVE, ANOTHER MUST DIE.
Amazing job on this video. Usually people make the mistake of getting too close trying to get the best shots and the raptor ends up flying away. Seems like you were a good distance and got some amazing footage. Cheers!!
It's the circle of life. The Sparrowhawk may have chicks to feed. It's sad but the only positive thing to take away is most things don't kill for fun. They kill to survive.
Amazing how much energy and patience is involved in hunting like this. Great video. You can just see the horror in the magpie's eyes, and the rapid breathing of trying to escape stands out so much!
The magpie is just trying to survive like any other bird or animal for that matter. They are efficient and ruthless. But they don't do it for kicks. They do it to feed themselves and their chicks. I feel so dapper I'm rhyming like a rapper. Holy shit that was lame.
Of course that, by empathy, I feel sorry for the preyed bird. It sucks to be a prey. But as the british ethologist Richard Dawkins said before: Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent.
Just watch a couple videos of magpies preying on smaller birds and animals after this. You won't feel nearly as bad. Nature has a way of evening stuff out.
This is the most amazing thing I've seen yet on RU-vid! This is nature at it's cruellist I know, but wow it is still fantastic to see this hawk in action. What a natural killer. Have you part two. We live in the heart of the forest and often hear this cry. Now I know what it is. Thank you for showing this.
Good thing you didn`t interfere! A magpie is pretty much the biggest prey a sparrowhawk can handle, so it`s really a touch & go if it can actually make the kill. And usually younger, desperate (female) hawks will go for it by the time they start to fend for themselves. Chasing it away would mean almost certain death for the hawk, as it spends a huge amount of energy on a chase like this.
If this Sparrowhawk make a regular habit of killing Magpies it can only be good for the local songbird population, they are the very worst killers of small birds and also egg takers, the Magpies need taking out by whatever means possible.
It is indeed a balancing act, though did find myself wishing that the Sparrowhawk would get on with it and stop looking around! One wonders how many times the Magpie had done that to other birds, but then its as natural to both of them as us eating a bowl of cornflakes.
I have to second that. Magpies see a bowl of cornflakes in a songbird's nest. I've seen huge bands of magpies obliterate songbirds from an area for years. It makes it extra hard to spare them during nesting season, when the law forbids culling.
peabase I know, keep emotion out of it though. Worst thing you can do is become anthropomorphic about it. They don't think like humans and they're not being cruel, they're all just being birds..
Biggles Wingman It's human agriculture that sustains unnaturally large magpie populations. I feel that as the instigators, we owe it to nature to keep some songbird nesting areas corvid-free. The magpies will still take their toll, but at least the songbirds stand a chance.
peabase Yes good argument,but its not just magpie populations, pretty well everything is out of kilter as a result of our input. Where do you draw the line.? I agree that corvid populations are unnaturally high and songbirds suffer, but this is a symptom not a cause. We need to change the way we do things. Your answer may be a good short term fix but its not the ultimate answer. Song bird population is in free fall which is really worrying but shooting magpies is a sticky plaster really. Umm, more raptors? They're not too picky either. If you have a solutions you'll make millions.
Biggles Wingman Big raptors are the answer, actually, and they are making a slow but sure comeback. I was surprised to hear my neighbour claim that the crow and seagull carcasses we've been finding aren't the work of a mink, but that of a white-tailed eagle. I'm sceptical, but despite our all efforts, we haven't managed to trap any mink. I wish it to be true, because it would also keep another invasive species in check: catus domestica.
Eddie, outstanding video!! That was nature at it's finest! That magpie put up a hell of a fight for sure!! I assume the hawk won out in the end and got it's meal. You must have been on top of those birds to get those great close-ups! Well done!
Magpies are the biggest killer of localised small birdlife in most areas, with their overbearing overdominent nature sweeping through, stealing nests, killing eggs and generally destroying all in their paths. When I moved into my house nearly 14 years ago now, I used to have a lot of finches, bluetits, robins, sparrows, thrushes etc around my house..... now we only have magpies. Progressively the magpie has killed through nearly all of the species here. Its about time the sparrowhawks diverted their attention to the Magpies.
Great footage! We see Sparrowhawks in our area quite a few times each year, those that come to our gardens are often too late to catch a kill but we do see some flying towards woodland with little birds in their claws.
Amazing footage, thanks for posting. Friday afternoon I witnessed a Sparrowhawk take a Dove from my lawn, felt quite honoured seeing such a beautiful bird visit my garden in its quest for food. Didn't realise one would take a Magpie, thanks again.
Good stuff. I love birds but, detest Magpies with a passion. I was prompted to Google this as I have just had a Sparrowhawk in my garden for the first time with its quarry in its talons but being bullied by 2 of those shit things, it eventually left having dropped what it had caught. I can't believe how close you got to that beautiful animal.
Thank you for your video. I don't think it's bad you filmed it. What's frustrating about what's happening there is they've recently found the magpie to be self-aware, as intelligent as a chimpanzee or dolphin, and with an equally proportioned brain to a human and a highly developed forebrain in particular. They use tools, plan, socialize, even have some evidence of language. They're considered among the most intelligent 5-10 animals, and likely the most intelligent bird by a wide margin. I learned this after discussing with my wife, PhD student in psychology studying animal consciousness. So it's sad to see a larger, stronger bird making something suffer that probably has an internal cognitive experience of life that's a lot like us humans. But this does happen in nature, all the time. I'd still hoped the magpie might have a way of escaping, but the hawk seems to have an inescapable iron grip on the poor bird. Intelligence wouldn't do it much good there. Just curious, but did the magpie make it or was it eaten in the end? All the best my friend. And again, thanks for your bravely posting this. It is valuable and should stay up, even if it's gory.
Cool Biology Internal cognitive experience? Just because we can't measure a particular type of cognition doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Don't you think that less complex organisms also have a deep desire to live and to avoid pain? Equally just because it might be self aware, or recognises itself in a mirror, is more similar to primates, does not mean it experiences life more profoundly, that sounds very bias. Natural selection can be cruel, but it's not as cruel as what the meat industry does on a daily basis.
Incredible footage. I live in West Sussex. A Sparrow Hawk took a Wood Pigeon in my back garden. It took an hour and twenty minutes to subdue and eat it's fill. I cleaned up afterwards and disposed of the carcase but my wife had missed it all. At 6.30am next morning she noticed the Sparrow Hawk on one of our bushes. It had returned to look for the pigeon for breakfast. This upload may not be to everyones taste but shows true nature as it is meant to be.
I don't know whether i would have quite worded it like that but you are absolutely right!...My message to that Magpie is 'WHAT GOES AROUND,COMES AROUND'!
#ayes you are a ignorant townie, you watch too many stupid tv programmes. #13rok3n you too are a imbecile it is illegal to harm or capture sparrow hawkes in Great Britan
I saw this happen in a car park in my village yesterday - at least 100 metres from the woods. I couldn't see what species the victim was, but the sparrowhawk was plucking a lot of white feathers out of its chest.
Amazing video. I had one in my garden today that had brought down a jackdaw. They tussled in the garden for a few minutes but the jackdaw managed to escape. The kids wanted me to go and chase it away but it's nature. Not my place to interfere
*+Michael Koser* "There is no such raptor known as a sparrow hawk. That is a coopers hawk. Still a cool video." Don'tcha just love internet experts? Mr Koser, read a book once in a while, preferably one that includes birds that aren't indigenous to *your* country.
amazing clip! i just saw a sparrowhawk in my tiny, paved back yard. i googled 'sparrowhawk' and this was the first clip that came up. now i'm just having a giggle at the outraged responses.
@eddiehowland Thats amazing. I never knew a sparrowhawk would try to kill something as big&tough as a magpie! When you shot the magpie did the sparrowhawk come back quickly to feed?
This is some INCREDIBLE footage. Kudos, to whomever was capturing this on film. I've been in the avian field, for nearly 25yrs now, and it still never ceases to amaze me, the sheer beak power the "Corvid" family of birds possess. Indeed as one other poster commented about, this was in fact large prey, for this particular hawk to catch, but not impossible either.
Just this one reply then you can all emulate the bird and tear me to shreds. I can't deny it's a good piece of film, capturing something most of us don't get to see. To get things correct though, the filming was post 'take out'. There's no shot of the chase or capture, simply a dwelling on the gory aftermath - with soundtrack.
Brilliant footage mate. It lets people know what is really happening in the natural world like there back garden. A magpie is easy for them to catch but very difficult to kill & eat, a blackbird or chaffinch is a bit more difficult for them to catch but easy to kill. What you caught on the film is not rare but that wee hawk must have been very desperate. Good show...
Huh? He didn't film a serial killer taking out a victim here, he filmed a natural event and the footage is really rather incredible. I've never seen a sparrowhawk taking out a magpie. Thanks Eddie Howland for this footage.
U are right... sometimes people forget that animals are not what we see in disney's movies.. stop humanising animals and love them for what they are. Thanks for posting this clip. p.s. I'm pretty sure u haven't feel that great looking at the show ;)
I am so happy that you have put this up, I have had good and bad feedback on mine, please leave all your good and bad for others to view, I support you effort great filming of nature at it's best.
Brilliant photography Eddie. I currently have an infrared camera set up on a feeding station in my garden in the Cotswolds to film foxes and hedgehog's. I can see them live, but at the moment I don't have the ability or equipment to video the interaction between them and my cat's. Only some dodgy video from my mobile phone. Fascinating stuff as the foxes are terrified by my cats and when the cat attacks the foxes run for their lives!
@eddiehowland so how did it end?? did you kill the magpie or did the hawk manage to do so? it looked like it was a juvenile magpie, still the hawk hat serious trouble to kill it... dont think they usually hunt prey of that size. He really risked to get injured by the magpie. thanks for the post!
Magpies are lesser corvids and are not that difficult to catch for Sparrowhawks but, like in this scene, Magpies often screech to alert other Magpies to their help. It's their primary defense and also it annoys the raptor to no end. Crows on the other hand are much more defensive but Goshawks often take them down.
Today a view from my garden while i just wanted to enter my back door. Sparrow hawk passes me 2 meters from me 30 centimeter from the ground. Go's in like 90 degrees angles up by my gate 180 degrees over it 90 degrees dive over the road crosses the street another 90 degrees by the fence of my neighbor with an 180 degrees angle over that fence. Some birds on that side of the wall were surprised....
No. This went on for over 40 mins. The magpie seemed to be geting weaker and weaker and the sparrowhawk just sat on him. Almost seemed as though he didnt know what to do. After I finished filming I made the decision to end it. By this ime the magpie was too weak to do anything, half its chest was ripped out and it was obviously in a lot of pain... but thats nature I guess.
Yes . Its nature. Who am I to stop a wild bird from feeding? What would you have done? I am also cameraman. Do you complain when you see bbc documentaries of wild animals feeding and killing?
Nature is very cruel, but the morning chorus as they call it , (most asleep, and never hear it) is wonderful Leonard Cohen, American poet and singer, says they , the birds are saying and singing "START AGAIN" at every new dawn, every day-they still have hope I think he is is trying to say, we should think like these beautiful creatures
so how did it end?? did you kill the magpie or did the hawk manage to do so? it looked like it was a juvenile magpie, still the hawk had serious trouble to kill it... dont think they usually hunt prey of that size. He really risked to get injured by the magpie. thanks for the post!
That little Accipiter nissus, aka English Sparrow Hawk, is an immature bird trying to survive away from its parents, during its first months after they drove it away. For an any Sparrow Hawk to attack and hold such a relatively large quarry is an indication that for either one the situation is a matter of life or death. For the Sparrow Hawk to be so desperate as to attack such a relatively large and quarrelsome quarry, it must be near starvation. Losing this magpie would be it's death knell.
Pretty dangerous to go after most of the members of the crow family. In the days of my dad being in the army, he saw aboard a hawk try to go after a crow. At the last second, the crow turned around (for what reason, no one knows?), a lucky turn of events (pun intended) as it happened. The hawk couldn't void fate at that speed and impiled itself on the crows beak . Obivously, the hawk died pretty much instantly with a gapping big crows beak in its chest and all. Crow escaped unharmed.
I did say in earlier comments I did shoot the Magpie when i realised it had no chance. However, this is nature, so how long should you leave it before you intervene?
You forget just how subjective and misguided people can be when viewing a quite natural act like this. It's happening everywhere (though concerningly less so than ever) all the time under their noses. People need to no only realise this but, importantly, that in the grand scheme of thing we would cease to be without it.
Yeah, some Magpies nowadays are quite agressive. We had one in our garden yesterday that went upto a Pigeon from behind, clamped it's beat on to the Pigeon's tail and the Pigeon struggled but got away but there was a pile of feathers left after.
Mi meraviglio che qualcuno rimane scandalizzato da episodi come queso che in natura succedono normalmente e continuamente.Ogni essere umano carnivoro,dovrebbe comunque assistere almeno una volta nella vita a come muore un pollo,un agnello oppre un manzo;ed a scuola dovrebbero sempre spiegare ai bambini che la fettina di petto di pollo che mangeranno a pranzo,due giorni prima apparteneva ad un animale che saltava,zampettava e cantava.Complimenti per questo video,crudo ma reale.
Wow, this sparrowhawk got some balls, it looks smaller than that magpie,and the magpie's beak is 3 times larger than the hawk's and still this latter displays great technique to stay out of its reach !! Do sparowhawks usually feed on magpies, or this is really an exception ?? Anyway, THANKS for posting this, mother nature is amazing and for once, it looks like it was a pro cameraman who film this !
Most of the time, smaller "bird hawks" in the Accipiter family, won't tackle such large prey. Just for the sheer fact, especially in the Corvid family of birds, they can and often do fight back viciously. It would be extremely difficult, for a male sharp-shinned hawk, which is much smaller than an American Crow, to tango with a bird that large.
@cozmium Hiya, thanks for the comment. I agree to a point about us interfering and being compassionate, but think about it, if we interviened we would indeed be helping the magpie... but being cruel to the hawk by depriving it of a meal. Cant be compassionate to both as by interfering we would change the nature of things and if every one did this the whole food chain would be well and truley screwed up.
Dear eddie, Thanks for your response. My friend has magpies coming on his roof every afternoon creating a nuisance. How could he get rid of them with out buying a Saparrowhawk. . Buying a further bird seems like throwing good money after bad. He has a criminal record already so he can't use a gun. . Any ideas? . Cheers. from del-boy.
I saw one killing a pigeon the other day,also in Sussex,I wanted to try to stop it,but as you say,it's nature,survival,and if I saved one pigeon another would have died instead,nature is both beautiful and ugly
Wow, this sparrowhawk got some balls, it looks smaller than that magpie,and the magpie's beak is 3 times larger than the hawk's and still this latter displays great technique to stay out of its reach !! Do sparowhawks usually feed on magpies, or this is really an exception ?? Anyway, THANKS for posting this, mother nature is amazing !!
Magpies are violent, thuggish creatures. They're basically striped crows. The fight could've gone either way. The hawk was obviously young and inexperienced.
A lot of hate for magpies here! I enjoy them. Beautiful coats, and great character. He's the only bird that's picky enough to grab the food we put out for the birds and dunk it in the bird bath to soften it up! I understand people's dislike of them raiding birds' nests though. Great to watch. But birds of prey are my favourite birds. I see them circling above often here, but have only seen them in the garden 2/3 times. BTW - the sparrowhawk here looks wild. This honestly happens in the UK.
The magpies living near my condo have raided every robin nest around and have killed every single robin hatchling in every nest as they were born. They are miserable birds in their own right and if this magpie got away inside of two hours it would happily be killing some other smaller bird given half the chance. These are two birds of the same feather, only one had the upper hand on the other this time.
