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Releasing swift keck-keck-keck sounds that echoed through a central Berlin green space, the goshawks soared high above the treetops and wheeled before plunging down to chase off a ragged flock of crows that had begun to mob them.

"It's essentially a flying superhero enforcing law and order to the urban environment," remarked a conservationist, watching the sizable light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are akin to fighter jets."

The goshawk is an apex predator – and experts hope it will soon bring awe and delight to UK cities, mirroring its success in European urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving bird of prey was hunted to near extinction and just began to bounce back in rural regions during the mid-20th century. It remains commonly targeted on shooting estates and grouse moors.

Thriving in European Cities

In different parts of the continent, the goshawk is thriving – even in busy cities such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a large eyrie rested in the top of a tree under 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter hunts pigeons in the streets and even rests on rooftops.

The raptors have adjusted to heavy traffic – while high glass buildings still pose a threat – and are much more comfortable with the constant flow of pet owners, runners, and schoolchildren than their woodland counterparts would be with humans.

"This is similar to any green space in the United Kingdom, that's the amazing aspect," commented the head of a conservation project, which plans to bring goshawks to Chester and London in the initial phase of a program reintroducing them to cities. "It proves this can be done quickly – with little much fuss, but with so much enthusiasm."

Urban Reintroduction Plan

The expert is preparing to submit a application for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the regulator in the near future; the plan foresees the freeing of 15 birds in both of the selected urban areas, obtained as juveniles from wild continental eyries and British breeders.

He hopes they will provide help of the UK's struggling garden birds by hunting mesopredators such as corvids, black-and-white birds, and small crows, whose numbers have increased unchecked and endangered birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their presence should have an instant effect on the "bold" medium-sized birds that prey on tiny species that the public adore, explains the conservationist, referencing a comparable effect observed in canine predators. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everyone knows the big guys are in town."

Potential Hurdles and Risks

Conservation projects throughout Europe have faced strong resistance from agricultural workers and political groups in recent years, as large carnivores such as wolves and ursines have come back to lands now populated by people. As their populations have expanded, they have begun to consume farm animals and in some cases attack individuals.

The reintroduction of the raptor into urban England is unlikely to trigger a similar backlash – the birds already reside in other parts of the nation, and pet-owners and city residents have little to worry about from them – but the species has created tensions even in urban centers it has long called home.

In Berlin, where an estimated 100 mated couples constitute the highest-known density in the globe, and additional German towns, these hawks have turned into the target of pigeon and chicken breeders whose animals are being eaten.

A scientist who has researched raptor adaptation to city settings employed GPS transmitters to monitor 60 birds as part of her PhD, and states that although there could be possible advantages from employing goshawks to control mesopredators in UK cities, young birds removed from countryside homes may struggle to adapt to urban life and emphasized the need to include all stakeholders early on. "Overall, it's a hazardous endeavour."

Scientific Views

An ornithologist who has examined goshawk behavior in rural England said it was uncertain if the raptors would decide to stay in cities and improbable that the suggested numbers would be enough to have a noticeable positive effect on garden bird numbers. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll probably disperse into the closest countryside."

The project leader is nevertheless upbeat about the initiative's prospects. The expert, who has in the past been granted a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a technical adviser for a project that reintroduced the large bird back to the UK, contends that approaching reintroductions in a "welfare-based manner" is the essential element to achievement.

Past Reintroduction Attempts

The expert's initial attempt to bring back wild cats to the United Kingdom was refused by the government official on the recommendation of the nature agency in recent years. A draft application for a test reintroduction has also faced resistance, even though the head of the nature body lately expressed enthusiasm about the idea of reintroducing lynx during his two-year tenure.

If the hawk initiative goes ahead, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters – an endeavour projected to represent almost half of the estimated budget of £110,000 – and be provided a regular source of nourishment for as long as is required after being released. In the German city, the conservationist highlighted the psychological benefit of city-dwellers being able to observe a hunter as secretive as the goshawk while they conduct their daily routines, rather than locating conservation projects only in countryside areas.

"It will bring such excitement," he declared. "People go to the green space to give food to pigeons. In the future they'll be traveling to observe goshawks."