This is a beautiful female sparrow hawk,
which I had just disentangled from the hedge after she had taken a low
flight path to escape from me, when I caught her pinning down one of my
fantails.
Sparrow hawks - damage limitation
It
is the distinctively coloured female of the species, who preys on much
larger birds than her name suggests. The male lives up to his name,
preying on sparrows and smaller birds. I have witnessed the way the male
attacks, launching himself at groups of sparrows perched in the bay
tree in our garden. It's a strange tactic, he slams into the tree
scattering the poor sparrows in all directions. The female uses the same
approach on my fantails, she waits until there is a group displaying on
the roof and then swoops in scattering them and knocking one to the ground.
The Female of the Species
'deadlier than the male'
Birds of prey, like rats and other predators of poultry are opportunists and my fantails parading up and down the roof ridge are invitation enough. The whole of our garden has been planned to give our birds as much protection as possible to free range. My strategy has always been to plant up our garden in such a way as to prevent easy access by fly-through and thereby also give my fantails, if ever attacked, the chance to escape. Knowing my birds as I do, I am well aware of that avian memory retention is better than that of most humans. A sparrowhawk, may return after I have scared her off, alerted by my hens and cockerels, to see if she can get the abandoned prey but she rarely makes a third mistake with the hens and I on duty.
The brave little pigeon who got away
There's not much comparison really when you think of the fighting capabilities of fantail versus sparrow hawk. I hadn't associated this young female seemingly sitting on eggs under the workbench with the drops of blood and few feathers on the stone path in front of the workshop. Unfortunately I just presumed this was evidence a new sparrowhawk had carried off one of my birds and so I left her alone for a couple of days. By the third day however, as I hadn't seen her come out to eat, I thought I should remove her from the nest. Young birds can become fixated on sitting and forget to look after themselves. It was then that I found that she had been badly injured under her wing and this left untreated had become infected. Perhaps if she had been out and about instead of cowering under the bench the wound would have begun to dry and heal, even though deep, but now it needed intervention. This is what I did and I hope if this ever happens to one of your birds it will be of help.
Interestingly enough she had obviously not been affected by stress, although a previous attack had left a fantail flat out on the ground and completely unable to stand purely from stress. In this case I had administered emergency stress treatment, you can find that HERE It can be used on all sorts of poultry and I have also used it with great success on rescued wild birds.
Step-by-step treatment
Montmorillonite - Illite or (French Green) clay is one of the most amazing natural minerals, its primary use is as a detox for the body. Always choose a good quality sun-dried, powdered clay from a reputable source, it is not expensive.
It can remove bacteria from wounds and also pull heavy metals and even radiation from the body, with both internal and external application. I have also used it to great effect on sprains and a friend has used it to successfully set her dog's broken leg!
In the case of my pigeon, she was in such a bad state that I didn't consider how I would remove the clay. Normally a clay compress is only left on until dry. I just knew I needed to pack the wound in her side. This was both to seal it from further infection and remove that which already was within the wounded tissue.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOx2r9HtaNkfxvAdGau0eFSnMB_uteAeU0fDzZg_PnuRRofCEy-UIVvpMNw63s88-6igXGGEhckcWwCrs8RRRowRAPZnugXNsmMQbu8JSW3q9kuREa_2Q10e65QS8VrtqdNThdJUH3dgQ/s400/Pigeon+patient+clay1.jpg)
Update - I have since found, that the metal spoon will have an ionic reaction on the clay that is in direct contact with it - a tiny amount but even so in future I will use a wooden, glass or ceramic spoon.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSjU5zuZmXOdeTSG3SwQLgiQmh-7oxK2pRBEMV-Vu2BWC7cyKDEwSOO0LgnlnUpUu8146aQSmr6Zkqc3mEyORbrhYu6FpmShgpZCOBSlKReBNY_r-eIojBva9_4gpXyFv-SKIxfaz5WA/s400/Pigeon+patient+drop+of+GSE.jpg)
Just a word about this pigeon, I knew from the start, despite the gravity of her wound that she was OK because she was eating and drinking and responding to me in a normal manner.
There are essential oils which can be used as an initial cleanser for wounds, these are Lavender (lavandula angustifolia) and Tea tree, which I will deal with in another post, these also have the ability to anaesthetise and deaden pain. For the post on cleansing wounds follow this: LINK
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44axGTLnD8KAciKvx3BiXze9a_m-I5dMzlELfF1bLea5SCVX6qJEBa7ygC68zJuUSpsDyIRRM49DjewSR5we8aiH6t6l-k5keRxT1MNfS0X4VVOcnau_l__IQOEx8v-xW9oCfcTEqJW8/s400/IMG_4058a.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxZuVIq_pf9q_zj2kw6KnELixL1u84UpLhG_6-DvX-h8F114iQbqBOyCc9ghyphenhyphenSJkWPeoTkfnkMj3Ct2zRkq5wZZIPm2ZHBpXe1GO2oyAJ7jqfj11BEIAqyyjbGIYPNx3X5A2JkHf7RlE/s400/Pigeon+patient+essential+oil.jpg)
Here she is at the pigeon lido wondering whether to go for a dip!
If you'd like to watch the film.
Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube, Odysee or BitChute Channel or even supporting us on Patreon or
It all helps to keep me going!
Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie!
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© 2013 Sue Cross
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© Sue Cross 2016
© Sue Cross 2016