Unusual Fishing Behavior of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk (<i>Accipiter nisus</i>)

Mester, Béla; Mérő, Thomas Oliver

doi:10.3356/jrr-17-34.1

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The Peregrine Falcon, a diurnal bird, is also reported to prey on bats (Pierson & Donahue 1983), and some even during dusk or at night (Rejt 2001). Mester & Oliver (2018) reported an unusual fishing behavior of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk during winter when the prey are scarce. Their report suggested, 'Raptors may be able to adopt unusual hunting or foraging behavior and prey selection in response to changing environmental conditions and changing availability of potential prey resources.'…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crepuscular hunting of swiftlets (Family: Apodidae) by Besra (Family: Accipitridae) in the urban areas of the Andaman Islands, India

Dhamorikar¹,

Kawalkar²,

Gurjarpadhye³

et al. 2020

J. Threat. Taxa

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We report the crepuscular hunting behavior by the Besra Accipiter virgatus, on the Glossy Swiftlets Collocalia esculenta affinis and the Edible-nest Swiftlets Aerodramus fuciphagus inexpectatus in urban areas the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Unlike other raptors in the islands, the Besra hunts at twilight often in the absence of moonlight or/and artificial light. Glossy and Edible-nest Swiftlets have been ranched in human habitations and their nests harvested for livelihood support of local communities under an ex situ conservation program. Using the focal animal sampling method, we recorded the hunting behavior of the Besra (the predator) on the swiftlets (the prey) for 40h (120 min/day for 20 days) at the ex situ swiftlet colony established in a house in the Middle Andamans. The Besra made 84 hunting attempts, with the highest success rate (15.4%) between 17.00–18.00 h. The catch rate was a mean of 4±11 (SD) per day. The maximum time that was used for attempt to kill the prey was two hours. Depredation of the Edible-nest Swiftlet by the Besra could affect ex situ conservation efforts, which can also lead to economic losses and retaliation against the raptor. Restricting perch sites for the raptor around ranching houses might reduce predation risks for the swiftlets.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crepuscular hunting of swiftlets (Family: Apodidae) by Besra (Family: Accipitridae) in the urban areas of the Andaman Islands, India

Dhamorikar¹,

Kawalkar²,

Gurjarpadhye³

et al. 2020

J. Threat. Taxa

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“…Negative sentiment can be provoked by the raptors' indiscriminatory predation on financially or culturally valuable animals. Depredation of ornamental fish and house sparrows, which are in decline, are some examples we found in the literature reviewed that may be unpopular or escalate conflict (Bell et al 2010;Mester and Mérő TO 2018). While their ability to control feral pigeon populations may bring welcomed benefits to some (Solonen 2008;Pagel et al 2018), their inability to discern feral and racing pigeons has become contentious among others, leading to much attention on the subject (Rutz et al 2006a; UK Raptor Working Group 2019).…”

Section: Raptor Habitat Use In the Urban Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in the concrete jungle: a review and socio-ecological perspective of urban raptor habitat quality in Europe

2021

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Raptors can be important components of urban ecosystems due to their role as apex predators, the presence of which may bring benefits to people. Urban environments may provide good quality habitats, and the raptors’ ability to utilize resources found here can contribute to their success. However, urban environments are socio-ecological systems and such mechanisms shaping habitats and ecological resources therein are less understood. This paper explores how raptors utilize urban resources, and the socio-ecological processes influencing their quality and availability. It begins with a systematic mapping of the literature to summarize the utility of urban resources by raptors with European distributions. Eighteen species were documented in the literature successfully exploiting novel hunting and/or nesting opportunities in both green and built-up locations of urban areas. We discuss how these may be consequential of human activities, some of which intentionally provided as subsidies, and how their utility by raptors create opportunities for human-raptor interactions further shaping public perception and decisions which potentially affect the raptors. Finally, we demonstrate these concepts by drawing on our experience from an urban peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) conservation site in London, UK. The paper concludes with a call for urban raptor conservation and research to consider social and ecological aspects together, appropriately reflecting urban environments as socio-ecological systems.

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Unusual Fishing Behavior of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

Cited by 2 publications

References 6 publications

Crepuscular hunting of swiftlets (Family: Apodidae) by Besra (Family: Accipitridae) in the urban areas of the Andaman Islands, India

Crepuscular hunting of swiftlets (Family: Apodidae) by Besra (Family: Accipitridae) in the urban areas of the Andaman Islands, India

Living in the concrete jungle: a review and socio-ecological perspective of urban raptor habitat quality in Europe

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