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Producing rapid keck-keck-keck cries that rang out through a central Berlin green space, the large hawks climbed far above the canopy and circled before plunging downwards to drive away a disorganized flock of crows that had started to mob them.

"It's basically a soaring Batman enforcing law and order to the urban environment," stated a conservationist, watching the large light-breasted birds through binoculars. "They're like fighter jets."

The Accipiter gentilis is an top predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver wonder and joy to UK cities, following its success in European metropolises. In the United Kingdom, this swift bird of prey was persecuted to near extinction and only started to recover in rural areas during the mid-20th century. It remains commonly persecuted on private lands and hunting grounds.

Thriving in European Cities

In other parts of Europe, the goshawk is thriving – even in bustling capitals such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and the Czech capital. From a park in the city, where a sizable nest sat in the crown of a tree under 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter hunts city birds in the streets and even rests on building tops.

The raptors have adjusted to busy vehicle flow – although high glass buildings still present a threat – and are much more at ease with the steady stream of pet owners, joggers, and kids than their woodland relatives would be with humans.

"It is similar to any green space in the United Kingdom, that's the amazing thing," said the director of a rewilding project, which plans to introduce goshawks to two UK cities in the first stage of a project reintroducing them to cities. "It demonstrates this can be accomplished swiftly – with little difficulty, but with so much enthusiasm."

Assisted Colonisation Proposal

The expert is preparing to present a application for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the regulator in the coming weeks; the scheme envisions the release of 15 birds in both of the selected urban areas, obtained as juveniles from natural continental eyries and UK breeders.

He hopes they will come to the rescue of Britain's struggling songbirds by hunting mesopredators such as corvids, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have grown unchecked and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their arrival should have an immediate effect on the "bold" mid-sized birds that attack smaller ones that people adore, says the conservationist, referencing a comparable phenomenon documented in canine predators. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everybody realizes the big guys are in the city."

Possible Hurdles and Dangers

Rewilding efforts throughout Europe have encountered fierce resistance from agricultural workers and political factions in recent years, as big predators such as wolves and bears have returned to lands now inhabited by people. As their numbers have expanded, they have begun to consume farm animals and in certain instances attack humans.

The reintroduction of the raptor into city England is not expected to trigger a comparable resistance – the birds currently reside in other parts of the country, and animal guardians and city residents have minimal to worry about from them – but the species has created conflicts even in cities it has inhabited for years.

In Berlin, where an estimated 100 mated couples constitute the largest density in the world, and additional German cities, goshawks have turned into the target of pigeon and chicken breeders whose birds are being consumed.

A researcher who has researched raptor adaptation to city environments employed GPS transmitters to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her doctorate, and says that while there could be possible benefits from using goshawks to control mid-level predators in British cities, young birds removed from countryside homes may find it hard to adapt to urban life and stressed the importance to involve all interested parties from the start. "Overall, it's a hazardous business."

Scientific Views

An ornithologist who has studied goshawk behavior in non-urban Britain commented it was uncertain if the birds would choose to stay in cities and unlikely that the suggested quantity would be enough to have a noticeable beneficial effect on backyard species numbers. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "I suspect is they'll probably disperse into the closest countryside."

The project leader is nevertheless upbeat about the initiative's prospects. The expert, who has previously been granted a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a scientific consultant for a program that brought the large bird back to the UK, contends that handling reintroductions in a "humane way" is the essential element to success.

Past Rewilding Attempts

The expert's first effort to reintroduce wild cats to the United Kingdom was rejected by the government secretary on the advice of the nature body in 2018. A preliminary proposal for a test reintroduction has also faced opposition, even though the head of the nature organization recently expressed interest about the prospect of reintroducing lynx during his two-year tenure.

If the goshawk project proceeds, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters – an task projected to represent almost 50% of the estimated project cost of £110,000 – and be given a regular source of food for as long as is needed after being freed. In the German city, the conservationist stressed the mental benefit of city-dwellers being able to observe a predator as elusive as the goshawk while they conduct their lives, rather than placing rewilding projects only in countryside areas.

"It'll inject such thrill," he declared. "Individuals visit the green space to feed pigeons. Soon they'll be going to observe goshawks."