"The story of a goshawk, a bird of prey that has advanced into the city"
This blog introduces the life of a goshawk, a wild drama that unfolded in front of the caretaker in an urban park from July 2017 to December 2018.
Mother bird awaiting prey from treetops, June 14
When the chicks were small and white, the mother bird, which had been taking care of the chicks, often went out as the chicks grew up.
There is less concern that the chicks will be attacked by foreign enemies.
It seems that there was a good reason for the mother bird to go out.
This time, I will talk about the situation at that time.
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As the chicks grew and grew larger, they were less likely to be attacked by foreign enemies such as crows.
But this time, I was worried about food to cover the chicks.
The chicks grow daily, and the amount of food they eat increases accordingly, and the amount of food the chicks before fledging needs to be equal to or greater than that of their parent birds.
It is quite difficult for one male parent to cover all the meals of three chicks, a mother bird, and a total of five hunting male parents.
The hoarding hidden around the nest soon bottomed out, and the mother bird itself seems to feel that it has to hunt for prey.
Around this time, mother birds often went out of their nests and did not return to their nests much.
Even if you go out, you don't go somewhere far like a male, but around the nest.
It is a place where you can go to help immediately even if a crow or the like comes to attack.
Mother birds began to climb the treetops of nesting forest trees, where they await their prey.
The target seems to be a guarded prey unaware of the existence of goshawks.
The reason for the mother bird going out seems to be trying to catch the chicks and their prey for their own diet.
Male parents do not hunt much around the nest, so pigeons and other animals who are not careful come to the area around the park from time to time.
A mother bird that is one size larger than the male parent, and even if the small turn does not work, the blow will be stronger than the male.
The target seems to be focused on big pigeons.
Once the target's prey is squeezed, use its height to glide, accelerate, and hit the prey from behind.
Even pigeons are at the end of the volume if they are hit by a goshawk.
As expected, he killed the rock pigeon despite being a goshawk, a master of hunting, and a sluggish body while raising children.
A mother bird that brought prey to a place where thick branches lay down, a moderate cooking place.
Immediately, we started dismantling work so that the chicks could eat easily.
Before dismantling, the mother bird, not far from the nest, looked at the chicks and said, "I caught the prey, I'll bring it right away, so wait!"
Hold the body of the rock pigeon with your feet and pull out the wings of the prey one by one with your beak.
It is a work while rotating the prey from time to time to pull out the whole feather.
As expected, a goshawk, he is unrelenting in everything he does, and his concentration is tremendous.
Anyway, during the work, I will proceed with the work with all my heart.
As was the case when male parents were building their nests, their concentration was tremendous.
This concentration may be a testament to the fact that they have caught and lived their prey that escaped at the risk of their lives.
The mother bird took less than 30 minutes to dismantle its prey.
Jump to a place with a good view and check if there are any foreign enemies around the nest
The dismantled prey is not taken straight back to the nest, but first moved to a place where the surroundings of the nest can be seen.
After confirming that there are no foreign enemies around, carry the prey to the nest.
It must be itching to bring food to the chicks inwardly.
Many birds and animals likewise do not go straight to their nests to protect their important children during breeding, but instead try to detour and deceive the enemy's eyes.
"There are no mischievous crows and it looks okay!" Mother bird carrying prey to the nest
When the rock pigeon also pulled out its wings, it became so small.
Many prey of this size are needed every day before fledging the chicks.
The chicks around this time are still small enough to be fed by their mother.
Today, the three chicks will be full with this prey.
Then the prey that my husband brings will be sent to hoarding for tomorrow.
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to be continued
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