Berlin's Urban Goshawks: A Model for UK Urban Areas?

Producing rapid keck-keck-keck cries that rang out across a downtown Berlin park, the goshawks climbed high above the canopy and circled before swooping down to chase off a disorganized flock of crows that had started to mob them.

"They are essentially a flying superhero enforcing justice to the urban environment," remarked a conservationist, watching the sizable pale-bellied birds through a telescope. "They're like stealth bombers."

The Accipiter gentilis is an top predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver awe and delight to British cities, following its success in German metropolises. In the United Kingdom, this swift bird of prey was persecuted to near extinction and only started to recover in countryside areas during the 1960s. It is still commonly persecuted on shooting estates and hunting grounds.

Flourishing in Continental Cities

In other parts of the continent, the goshawk is doing well – even in busy cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, and the Czech capital. From a park in the city, where a large nest sat in the top of a tree less than 100 metres from a war memorial, the "phantom of the forest" hunts city birds in the streets and even perches on building tops.

The birds have adjusted to busy vehicle flow – although high glass buildings still pose a danger – and are much more comfortable with the steady stream of dogwalkers, joggers, and schoolchildren than their forest-dwelling relatives would be with humans.

"It is just like any park in the United Kingdom, that's the magical aspect," commented the head of a rewilding project, which aims to bring these raptors to two UK cities in the first stage of a project reintroducing them to cities. "It demonstrates this can be done quickly – without difficulty, but with great excitement."

Assisted Colonisation Proposal

The conservationist is planning to submit a proposal for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the regulator in the coming weeks; the plan envisions the release of 15 birds in both of the two cities, sourced as juveniles from wild European eyries and British aviaries.

He hopes they will come to the rescue of Britain's beleaguered garden birds by hunting mesopredators such as corvids, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have grown without control and endangered birds lower on the food chain.

Their presence should have an immediate impact on the "bold" medium-sized birds that prey on tiny species that the public adore, says the scientist, pointing to a comparable effect observed in canine predators. "It's what's known as an ecology of fear. Everybody realizes the big guys are in the city."

Potential Hurdles and Dangers

Conservation efforts throughout the continent have faced strong resistance from agricultural workers and activist groups in the past decade, as large carnivores such as wild canines and ursines have come back to lands now inhabited by people. As their populations have expanded, they have begun to consume farm animals and in certain instances attack individuals.

The introduction of the goshawk into urban England is unlikely to spark a comparable backlash – the birds already live in other parts of the nation, and animal guardians and urban gardeners have little to worry about from them – but the bird has caused tensions even in urban centers it has inhabited for years.

In the German capital, where an estimated 100 mated couples represent the highest-known density in the globe, and other European cities, these hawks have become the focus of pigeon and chicken breeders whose animals are being consumed.

A researcher who has researched raptor adjustment to urban settings used GPS transmitters to follow 60 birds as part of her doctorate, and states that while there could be potential advantages from using these predators to control mid-level predators in British cities, young birds removed from rural nests may find it hard to adapt to city life and stressed the need to involve all stakeholders from the start. "Overall, it's a risky endeavour."

Expert Views

An ornithologist who has examined goshawk behavior in non-urban Britain commented it was uncertain if the birds would decide to remain in urban environments and improbable that the proposed quantity would be enough to have a noticeable positive impact on garden bird populations. "What is the fate of those 15 birds?" he asked. "I suspect is they'll likely disperse into the nearest rural areas."

The project leader is nonetheless upbeat about the initiative's chances. The expert, who has previously been granted a licence to track the Scottish wildcat and was a technical adviser for a project that brought the great bustard back to the United Kingdom, contends that handling reintroductions in a "humane way" is the essential element to success.

Previous Reintroduction Attempts

The expert's initial attempt to reintroduce wild cats to the UK was refused by the environment secretary on the recommendation of the wildlife agency in recent years. A preliminary proposal for a test reintroduction has also met opposition, even though the chair of the environmental body recently expressed interest about the prospect of reintroducing the feline predator during his two-year term.

If the hawk initiative proceeds, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters – an task projected to represent almost 50% of the projected budget of £110,000 – and be given a regular supply of nourishment for as much as is needed after being released. In Berlin, the expert highlighted the mental advantage of urban residents being able to observe a hunter as secretive as the goshawk while they conduct their lives, rather than placing rewilding schemes exclusively in countryside locations.

"It'll inject such thrill," he said. "People go to the park to give food to birds. Soon they'll be going to see hawks."