🔗 Share this article

Releasing swift keck-keck-keck sounds that resounded through a central Berlin park, the large hawks climbed high over the treetops and circled before swooping downwards to chase off a disorganized group of black birds that had begun to harass them.

"They are essentially a flying Batman enforcing justice to the city," remarked a conservationist, watching the sizable light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are akin to fighter jets."

The Accipiter gentilis is an top predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver awe and delight to UK cities, following its success in European urban areas. In the UK, this fast-moving bird of prey was hunted to near extinction and just began to bounce back in countryside regions during the mid-20th century. It remains widely persecuted on shooting estates and grouse moors.

Thriving in Continental Capitals

In different parts of the continent, the goshawk is doing well – even in bustling capitals such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a large nest rested in the crown of a tree under 100 metres from a monument, the "phantom of the forest" preys on city birds in the streets and even perches on rooftops.

The raptors have adapted to heavy traffic – although high transparent structures still pose a danger – and are much more comfortable with the steady stream of dogwalkers, joggers, and schoolchildren than their woodland relatives would be with people.

"This is similar to any park in the UK, that's the amazing aspect," commented the director of a conservation initiative, which plans to bring these raptors to two UK cities in the initial phase of a program introducing them to urban environments. "It demonstrates this can be accomplished quickly – without difficulty, but with great excitement."

Assisted Colonisation Proposal

The expert is preparing to present a proposal for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the authorities in the coming weeks; the scheme envisions the freeing of 15 birds in both of the two cities, obtained as chicks from natural continental eyries and British aviaries.

He hopes they will come to the rescue of the UK's beleaguered garden birds by hunting mesopredators such as crows, magpies, and small crows, whose numbers have increased without control and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their presence should have an immediate effect on the "bold" mid-sized birds that attack smaller ones that the public adore, explains the scientist, referencing a similar effect observed in canine predators. "It's what's called an ecology of fear. Everyone realizes the big guys are in town."

Potential Hurdles and Dangers

Conservation projects across Europe have encountered fierce opposition from agricultural workers and activist groups in the past decade, as large predators such as wild canines and ursines have returned to territories now inhabited by humans. As their numbers have expanded, they have begun to consume livestock and in certain instances attack humans.

The introduction of the raptor into urban England is not expected to spark a comparable backlash – the birds currently live in other parts of the country, and pet-owners and urban gardeners have minimal to worry about from them – but the bird has caused conflicts even in urban centers it has long called home.

In Berlin, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs represent the highest-known density in the globe, and additional German cities, goshawks have turned into the focus of pigeon and chicken breeders whose birds are being eaten.

A researcher who has researched goshawk adjustment to urban environments used GPS trackers to follow 60 birds as part of her PhD, and says that although there could be possible benefits from using these predators to control mesopredators in UK cities, chicks removed from countryside homes may find it hard to adapt to urban life and emphasized the need to involve all interested parties from the start. "In general, it's a risky endeavour."

Scientific Opinions

An ornithologist who has studied hawk behavior in non-urban England commented it was uncertain if the raptors would decide to stay in urban environments and improbable that the proposed numbers would be sufficient to have a noticeable beneficial effect on garden bird numbers. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he asked. "My guess is they'll probably scatter into the nearest countryside."

The project leader is nevertheless upbeat about the project's prospects. The expert, who has previously been granted a permit to tag the Highland tiger and was a technical consultant for a project that brought the large bird back to the United Kingdom, argues that handling reintroductions in a "humane way" is the key to success.

Previous Reintroduction Efforts

The expert's initial attempt to bring back lynx to the UK was refused by the government official on the advice of the nature body in recent years. A draft proposal for a test release has also faced opposition, although the chair of the nature body recently showed interest about the idea of releasing the feline predator during his 24-month tenure.

If the hawk project goes ahead, the birds will be equipped with GPS transmitters – an task expected to account for almost half of the projected project cost of £110,000 – and be provided a regular supply of nourishment for as long as is required after being released. In Berlin, the expert stressed the psychological benefit of urban residents being able to spot a predator as elusive as the goshawk while they conduct their lives, rather than locating rewilding schemes exclusively in countryside locations.

"It will bring such thrill," he said. "People go to the green space to give food to pigeons. In the future they'll be going to see goshawks."