🔗 Share this article

Producing swift keck-keck-keck sounds that resounded through a central Berlin park, the goshawks soared high over the treetops and wheeled before plunging downwards to drive away a disorganized group of crows that had started to mob them.

"It's essentially a flying Batman enforcing justice to the city," stated a wildlife expert, watching the large light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are like fighter jets."

The goshawk is an top predator – and experts aspire it will soon bring wonder and delight to UK cities, following its success in German urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this swift raptor was hunted to virtual disappearance and just began to bounce back in countryside areas during the mid-20th century. It remains widely targeted on shooting estates and hunting grounds.

Thriving in European Cities

In different parts of the continent, the northern goshawk is thriving – even in busy cities such as the German capital, the Dutch capital, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a sizable nest sat in the top of a tree less than 100 metres from a war memorial, the elusive hunter preys on pigeons in the streets and even rests on rooftops.

The raptors have adjusted to busy vehicle flow – while tall glass buildings still present a threat – and are far more comfortable with the constant flow of dogwalkers, joggers, and schoolchildren than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with people.

"This is just like any green space in the United Kingdom, that's the magical thing," commented the director of a rewilding project, which plans to bring these raptors to Chester and London in the initial phase of a program reintroducing them to cities. "It proves this can be done quickly – without difficulty, but with so much enthusiasm."

Assisted Colonisation Plan

The expert is planning to present a proposal for the "assisted colonisation" of the goshawk to the regulator in the coming weeks; the plan foresees the release of 15 birds in both of the selected urban areas, sourced as chicks from natural continental nests and British aviaries.

He hopes they will come to the rescue of Britain's beleaguered songbirds by preying on mid-sized predators such as corvids, black-and-white birds, and jackdaws, whose numbers have increased without control and threatened birds further down the food chain.

Their presence should have an instant impact on the "brazen" medium-sized birds that attack tiny species that the public adore, explains the conservationist, referencing a similar phenomenon observed in canine predators. "This is what's known as an landscape of fear. Everybody knows the apex predators are in the city."

Potential Hurdles and Risks

Conservation efforts across the continent have encountered strong resistance from farmers and activist factions in recent years, as large carnivores such as wolves and bears have returned to lands now inhabited by humans. As their populations have expanded, they have started to eat livestock and in some cases attack humans.

The introduction of the raptor into city Britain is not expected to trigger a comparable resistance – the birds currently reside in different parts of the country, and animal guardians and urban gardeners have minimal to fear from them – but the bird has caused tensions even in cities it has inhabited for years.

In Berlin, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs constitute the largest concentration in the world, and other European cities, these hawks have turned into the target of bird fanciers whose animals are being consumed.

A scientist who has studied goshawk adjustment to urban environments employed GPS transmitters to follow 60 goshawks as part of her PhD, and says that although there could be possible benefits from using goshawks to control mesopredators in British cities, chicks removed from rural homes may struggle to adjust to urban life and emphasized the importance to involve all interested parties early on. "In general, it's a hazardous endeavour."

Scientific Opinions

An ornithologist who has studied goshawk behavior in rural England commented it was uncertain if the raptors would decide to remain in urban environments and unlikely that the suggested numbers would be enough to have a significant beneficial effect on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he asked. "My guess is they'll likely scatter into the closest rural areas."

The project leader is nevertheless optimistic about the initiative's prospects. The specialist, who has previously been granted a licence to track the Scottish wildcat and was a scientific adviser for a project that brought the great bustard back to the United Kingdom, contends that approaching releases in a "humane way" is the essential element to success.

Previous Reintroduction Attempts

The conservationist's first effort to reintroduce lynx to the UK was rejected by the government official on the advice of the wildlife agency in recent years. A draft proposal for a trial reintroduction has also met resistance, even though the chair of the nature organization recently expressed interest about the prospect of releasing the feline predator during his two-year tenure.

If the goshawk project proceeds, the birds will be equipped with GPS transmitters – an endeavour expected to represent almost 50% of the projected project cost of £110,000 – and be provided a regular supply of nourishment for as long as is needed after being released. In Berlin, the expert highlighted the mental benefit of city-dwellers being able to spot a predator as elusive as the raptor while they conduct their lives, rather than placing rewilding schemes only in countryside locations.

"It will bring such excitement," he declared. "People go to the green space to feed pigeons. Soon they'll be traveling to see goshawks."