Berlin's City Goshawks: A Model for British Cities?
Producing rapid keck-keck-keck calls that echoed through a downtown Berlin park, the goshawks soared far above the treetops and wheeled before diving down to scatter a disorganized flock of black birds that had started to mob them.
"It's essentially a flying Batman enforcing justice to the city," stated a wildlife expert, observing the large pale-bellied birds through a telescope. "They're akin to fighter jets."
The goshawk is an top predator – and conservationists aspire it will soon bring wonder and delight to UK cities, following its success in German urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving bird of prey was persecuted to virtual disappearance and just started to recover in rural regions during the 1960s. It is still widely persecuted on private lands and grouse moors.
Flourishing in Continental Cities
In other parts of Europe, the goshawk is doing well – even in busy cities such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and the Czech capital. From a public garden in Berlin, where a large nest rested in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter hunts pigeons in the streets and even perches on rooftops.
The raptors have adapted to busy vehicle flow – while high glass buildings still present a danger – and are much more comfortable with the constant flow of pet owners, joggers, and schoolchildren than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with people.
"It is similar to any green space in the United Kingdom, that's the amazing aspect," commented the director of a rewilding initiative, which plans to bring these raptors to Chester and London in the initial phase of a project introducing them to urban environments. "It proves this can be done quickly – without difficulty, but with great excitement."
Urban Reintroduction Plan
The expert is planning to submit a proposal for the "urban reintroduction" of the northern goshawk to the regulator in the near future; the scheme foresees the freeing of 15 birds in both of the selected urban areas, sourced as chicks from wild continental nests and UK breeders.
He expects they will come to the rescue of the UK's beleaguered songbirds by preying on mesopredators such as corvids, black-and-white birds, and small crows, whose numbers have grown unchecked and threatened birds lower on the food chain.
Their arrival should have an immediate impact on the "brazen" mid-sized birds that prey on smaller ones that people love, explains the conservationist, referencing a comparable phenomenon documented in wolves. "This is what's called an ecology of fear. Everybody realizes the apex predators are in town."
Potential Challenges and Dangers
Rewilding efforts across the continent have faced fierce resistance from agricultural workers and political factions in the past decade, as large carnivores such as wild canines and bears have returned to territories now populated by humans. As their numbers have expanded, they have started to eat farm animals and in some cases confront individuals.
The reintroduction of the goshawk into city England is unlikely to trigger a similar resistance – the species currently live in other parts of the nation, and animal guardians and urban gardeners have minimal to worry about from them – but the bird has caused conflicts even in urban centers it has long called home.
In Berlin, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs represent the highest-known density in the world, and other German cities, these hawks have turned into the focus of bird fanciers whose animals are being consumed.
A scientist who has studied raptor adjustment to urban environments used GPS trackers to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her doctorate, and states that while there could be possible benefits from employing goshawks to regulate mesopredators in UK cities, young birds removed from countryside nests may struggle to adjust to urban life and emphasized the importance to involve all stakeholders from the start. "In general, it's a risky business."
Scientific Opinions
An ornithologist who has examined hawk behavior in rural Britain commented it was uncertain if the raptors would decide to remain in cities and improbable that the suggested numbers would be sufficient to have a significant positive impact on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he asked. "My guess is they'll probably disperse into the closest countryside."
The project leader is nevertheless optimistic about the initiative's prospects. The expert, who has in the past been awarded a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a technical consultant for a project that reintroduced the great bustard back to the UK, argues that approaching releases in a "welfare-based manner" is the essential element to success.
Previous Rewilding Attempts
The conservationist's initial attempt to bring back lynx to the UK was refused by the environment official on the recommendation of the nature body in recent years. A preliminary proposal for a test reintroduction has also met resistance, although the head of the nature body lately expressed interest about the prospect of reintroducing lynx during his 24-month tenure.
If the hawk initiative goes ahead, the raptors will be fitted with GPS devices – an endeavour projected to account for almost 50% of the estimated project cost of £110,000 – and be provided a regular source of food for as much as is required after being freed. In Berlin, the conservationist stressed the mental advantage of city-dwellers being able to observe a predator as secretive as the raptor while they conduct their lives, rather than placing rewilding schemes only in countryside locations.
"It'll bring such thrill," he said. "Individuals go to the park to feed pigeons. In the future they'll be traveling to observe hawks."