Emitting rapid keck-keck-keck cries that resounded across a central Berlin park, the large hawks climbed high over the canopy and circled before swooping down to chase off a ragged flock of crows that had started to mob them.
"It's basically a flying superhero enforcing law and order to the urban environment," remarked a conservationist, observing the large light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are akin to fighter jets."
The goshawk is an apex predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver awe and delight to British cities, following its presence in European metropolises. In the United Kingdom, this swift raptor was persecuted to virtual extinction and only started to bounce back in countryside areas during the 1960s. It remains commonly targeted on private lands and hunting grounds.
Flourishing in Continental Cities
In different parts of the continent, the northern goshawk is doing well – even in bustling cities such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a public garden in Berlin, where a sizable eyrie sat in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter preys on city birds in the streets and even perches on rooftops.
The raptors have adjusted to heavy vehicle flow – although high glass buildings still pose a threat – and are much more at ease with the constant flow of dogwalkers, runners, and kids than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with people.
"It is just like any park in the United Kingdom, that's the amazing aspect," commented the head of a conservation initiative, which plans to bring goshawks to Chester and London in the first stage of a project reintroducing them to urban environments. "It proves this can be done quickly – with little difficulty, but with so much enthusiasm."
Assisted Colonisation Proposal
The expert is preparing to submit a application for the "urban reintroduction" of the goshawk to the authorities in the near future; the scheme foresees the release of 15 birds in each of the selected urban areas, obtained as juveniles from natural European eyries and British breeders.
He hopes they will provide help of Britain's beleaguered garden birds by preying on mesopredators such as corvids, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have increased unchecked and endangered birds lower on the ecological pyramid.
Their presence should have an instant impact on the "bold" mid-sized birds that prey on smaller ones that people adore, says the scientist, referencing a similar phenomenon documented in canine predators. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everybody knows the apex predators are in the city."
Potential Hurdles and Dangers
Rewilding efforts across Europe have faced strong resistance from agricultural workers and political groups in the past decade, as large predators such as wild canines and bears have come back to lands now populated by people. As their numbers have grown, they have begun to eat farm animals and in some cases confront humans.
The introduction of the goshawk into city Britain is not expected to spark a comparable backlash – the species currently reside in different parts of the nation, and pet-owners and city residents have little to fear from them – but the species has created tensions even in urban centers it has inhabited for years.
In the German capital, where an approximate 100 mated couples constitute the highest-known concentration in the globe, and additional European cities, goshawks have become the target of pigeon and chicken breeders whose birds are being eaten.
A scientist who has studied goshawk adaptation to city environments employed GPS trackers to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her PhD, and states that while there could be potential advantages from using these predators to regulate mesopredators in UK urban areas, chicks removed from countryside nests may struggle to adjust to urban life and emphasized the importance to include all stakeholders early on. "Overall, it's a risky business."
Expert Views
An ecologist who has examined hawk behavior in rural Britain commented it was unclear if the birds would choose to remain in cities and unlikely that the suggested quantity would be sufficient to have a significant positive impact on backyard species populations. "What is the fate of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll probably scatter into the closest rural areas."
The project leader is nevertheless optimistic about the project's prospects. The specialist, who has previously been granted a licence to track the Scottish wildcat and was a technical adviser for a program that brought the great bustard back to the United Kingdom, argues that approaching reintroductions in a "humane way" is the key to achievement.
Previous Reintroduction Attempts
The expert's first effort to reintroduce wild cats to the UK was rejected by the environment secretary on the recommendation of the wildlife body in 2018. A draft proposal for a trial reintroduction has also faced opposition, although the head of the nature organization lately showed interest about the prospect of reintroducing the feline predator during his 24-month term.
If the hawk initiative goes ahead, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters – an endeavour expected to account for almost half of the projected budget of £110,000 – and be given a steady source of food for as long as is needed after being freed. In Berlin, the conservationist highlighted the mental advantage of city-dwellers being able to observe a hunter as secretive as the raptor while they go about their lives, rather than locating conservation schemes exclusively in countryside areas.
"It will inject such excitement," he said. "Individuals go to the park to give food to birds. Soon they'll be traveling to see hawks."
