"Firing off rapid keck-keck-keck cries that rang out through a park in central Berlin, the goshawks soared high above the trees and circled before swooping down to chase off a ragtag bunch of crows that had begun to mob them from below. It's basically a flying Batman bringing law and order to the city, said the conservationist Dr Paul O'Donoghue, peering through binoculars at two breeding pairs of the large pale-bellied birds as they dipped and dived through the sky. They're like stealth bombers."
"The goshawk is an apex predator and, if O'Donoghue has his way, it will soon be bringing awe and delight to British cities as well as German ones. In the UK the fast-moving raptor, which was hunted to virtual extinction and only began to recover in rural regions in the 1960s, is still widely persecuted on shooting estates and grouse moors. In other parts of Europe, the goshawk is thriving even in bustling capitals such as Berlin, Amsterdam and Prague."
Firing off rapid keck-keck-keck cries, goshawks soar and circle above urban parks, swooping to chase off mobbing crows. The large pale-bellied raptor hunts pigeons in streets and perches on rooftops, showing marked adaptation to traffic and human presence, though tall glass buildings remain a threat. The species recovered in UK rural regions since the 1960s after near-extinction but continues to face persecution on shooting estates and grouse moors. Rewilding UK proposes assisted colonisation to introduce northern goshawks to cities such as Chester and London and plans to submit a proposal to regulator Natural England.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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