Berlin's City Goshawks: A Model for UK Cities?

Emitting swift keck-keck-keck cries that resounded across a downtown Berlin park, the goshawks soared high above the treetops and wheeled before diving downwards to chase off a ragged group of black birds that had started to mob them.

"It's basically a flying Batman bringing law and order to the city," stated a conservationist, observing the large light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are like fighter jets."

The goshawk is an apex predator – and conservationists aspire it will soon bring awe and delight to British cities, mirroring its presence in European metropolises. In the UK, this swift raptor was hunted to virtual extinction and only started to recover in rural regions during the mid-20th century. It is still commonly targeted on shooting estates and grouse moors.

Thriving in Continental Cities

In other parts of Europe, the northern goshawk is thriving – even in busy capitals such as Berlin, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a park in Berlin, where a large nest rested in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a war memorial, the elusive hunter preys on pigeons in the streets and even perches on rooftops.

The raptors have adjusted to heavy traffic – while high glass buildings still pose a threat – and are far more at ease with the steady stream of pet owners, joggers, and schoolchildren than their woodland counterparts would be with people.

"This is just like any park in the United Kingdom, that's the magical thing," commented the director of a rewilding initiative, which aims to introduce goshawks to Chester and London in the first stage of a project introducing them to urban environments. "It demonstrates this can be done quickly – with little difficulty, but with great enthusiasm."

Urban Reintroduction Proposal

The expert is preparing to submit a application for the "urban reintroduction" of the northern goshawk to the authorities in the near future; the scheme foresees the release of 15 birds in each of the two cities, sourced as chicks from wild European nests and British breeders.

He expects they will come to the rescue of the UK's struggling songbirds by preying on mid-sized predators such as corvids, black-and-white birds, and small crows, whose numbers have grown without control and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their arrival should have an immediate impact on the "brazen" medium-sized birds that attack tiny species that people adore, explains the conservationist, referencing a similar phenomenon documented in wolves. "This is what's known as an landscape of fear. Everyone realizes the big guys are in the city."

Potential Hurdles and Risks

Rewilding efforts throughout Europe have encountered fierce resistance from agricultural workers and activist factions in the past decade, as big predators such as wolves and ursines have returned to lands now populated by people. As their numbers have grown, they have begun to eat livestock and in certain instances confront humans.

The introduction of the raptor into urban Britain is unlikely to trigger a similar resistance – the species already reside in other parts of the nation, and animal guardians and city residents have minimal to worry about from them – but the species has caused tensions even in urban centers it has long called home.

In Berlin, where an estimated 100 breeding pairs represent the highest-known concentration in the world, and other German cities, these hawks have turned into the target of bird fanciers whose birds are being eaten.

A scientist who has researched raptor adaptation to urban settings employed GPS transmitters to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her doctorate, and states that although there could be possible advantages from employing goshawks to regulate mesopredators in British cities, chicks removed from countryside homes may find it hard to adjust to urban life and stressed the need to involve all stakeholders early on. "In general, it's a risky endeavour."

Expert Views

An ecologist who has examined hawk behavior in rural England commented it was unclear if the raptors would decide to stay in cities and improbable that the proposed quantity would be sufficient to have a significant beneficial effect on backyard species populations. "What is the fate of those 15 birds?" he asked. "My guess is they'll probably scatter into the nearest rural areas."

The conservationist is nonetheless optimistic about the initiative's chances. The expert, who has previously been granted a permit to tag the Highland tiger and was a scientific consultant for a program that brought the large bird back to the United Kingdom, contends that approaching releases in a "welfare-based manner" is the key to achievement.

Previous Reintroduction Efforts

The conservationist's initial effort to reintroduce wild cats to the United Kingdom was refused by the government secretary on the advice of the nature agency in recent years. A preliminary application for a trial release has also faced resistance, even though the chair of the environmental body lately expressed interest about the prospect of reintroducing lynx during his two-year tenure.

If the hawk initiative goes ahead, the birds will be equipped with GPS devices – an task projected to represent almost 50% of the projected budget of £110,000 – and be given a regular source of nourishment for as much as is required after being released. In the German city, the conservationist stressed the psychological advantage of urban residents being able to observe a predator as secretive as the raptor while they go about their lives, rather than placing conservation projects exclusively in rural locations.

"It'll bring such thrill," he said. "Individuals visit the green space to feed pigeons. In the future they'll be going to see hawks."