SPORTING ANSWERS

Sparrows on hawk’s menu

BIRDS

Q It seems a silly question, but is the sparrow really the sparrowhawk’s favoured prey?

A Sparrows are certainly a staple diet of the sparrowhawk, or at least they were until the house sparrow’s calamitous decline.

Sparrowhawks depend almost entirely on birds for their food and will take virtually any bird species available in their locality. Because of their considerable difference in size and weight — on average a female weighs 100g more than the male — the sexes take different prey, so do not really compete with each other.

A male usually takes prey up to 40g, occasionally up to 120g. The more powerful female frequently kills birds weighing up to 150g, sometimes as much as 500g.

If house sparrows are the most numerous birds in a male sparrowhawk’s territory, he will probably kill more sparrows than any other species. Studies have found