Sex, nests and dog fighting

Adult collared sparrowhawk thinking about reproducing

The sparrowhawks are back! And they’re ready to make babies. How do I know?… well (ahem)… I’ve been watching. But not taking photos. No, that would be weird.

That said, I have captured the occasional intimate post-coital moment. It seems raptors don’t have a cigarette after coupling – they gnaw on raw flesh and collect sticks. All in all, probably healthier options.

Post-coital moment. Larger female (left) having a snack, male twig hunting.

Watching the pair collecting twigs to renovate the nest in the neighbour’s pine tree has been quite entertaining. Collared sparrowhawks are such poised and elegant birds. But with their finely built frame and long delicate claws they’re not natural construction workers. Their technique seems to be to find some dead branches and leap awkwardly around on them hoping for the best, with a bit of light gnawing thrown in for good measure.

Sparrowhawk biting leaping on twigs crop

Sparrowhawk trying to create bits and pieces of stick for a nest

Sparrowhawk awkwardly hunting sticks

Sparrowhawk trying to grab a twig

Sparrowhawk clocks the currawong

Photobombed by the currawong

And whatever the sparrowhawks are trying to do, the pied currawongs are hanging around trying to stop them doing it.

It didn’t really surprise me to see a gang of six or seven currawongs loitering threateningly while a sparrowhawk tried to pluck and eat their breakfast. I’ve seen the hawks move from tree to tree two or three times trying to get a few minutes without harassment. But why would currawongs want to disrupt nest building? Especially when I’m pretty sure at least one or two of them got take-away chick from that very same nest last summer.

Currawong approaching pine tree distant square

Nevertheless, the sparrowhawks have persisted, chasing off the currawongs whenever they can and fleeing them when necessary. Aerial dogfights are a regular feature around here at the moment – the hawks chasing away cockies and king parrots; currawongs divebombing magpies and hawks; and of course me legging it after everything feathered with my camera. Not that the sparrowhawks seem to care about the activities of the humans down below. All the critical action is happening in the canopy or the sky.