The SSPCA is appealing for information after a sparrowhawk was found cable-tied to a plastic bottle in Carnoustie, Angus.
A member of the public found the bird on Sunday 7 April in a field at the top end of Lochend Road. The SSPCA attended and released the bird after checking it for injuries.
[Photos by SSPCA]
SSPCA rescue officer Dionne Boyack said, “We were notified by a concerned member of the public who came across the sparrowhawk. It was found to be tethered in an unusual way, so we don’t suspect this to be a falconer. The bird was restrained with cable ties and attached to a bottle which was hindering its ability to fly. It is possible the bird got caught up in this unfortunate way by accident. After assessing the sparrowhawk for injury and being satisfied that he had none, I freed him and he flew away.
If anyone in the area has any information about how the bird came to be trapped in this way, please contact our confidential animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”
Raptor Persecution UK 
Some very weird people about…
“It is possible the bird got caught up in this unfortunate way by accident.” Really? If the cable tie was slack enough to allow the hawks foot through it would not have stayed on the bottle in the first place and after that the sparrowhawk decided to tighten it up with its beak? Get real.
This looks like the sadistic revenge of a pigeon fancier or other bird keeper who disagrees with a wild birds right to try and feed itself.
Or a live decoy to lure others in for a shot?
That sounds a more plausible story. Surely a a pigeon fancier or similar having caught the bird would have just killed it.
Sadistic revenge in my opinion. Wouldn’t be released in that location as a decoy.
The pictures show two cable ties. One tie is around the neck of the bottle and the other tethers the bird’s leg to the tie on the bottle. The tie around the leg has been pulled sufficiently tight to prevent the leg becoming free. The ties appear to be 3 – 4mm gauge. Ties of that gauge do not tighten very easily and when ratcheted in to enclose something with a small diameter they become awkward and require much more force. I don’t see there being anything accidental about this event.
Try taking a couple of ties and a plastic bottle attempt to replicate the type of restraint shown. Two hands will be required WITHOUT there being a live bird involved.
Fully agree. In my view there’s not a chance of 1 in 10 million that this was accidental. I’d go so far as to suggest that it more than likely took two people to do this – unless the bird was particularly docile and co-operative! What a totally bizarre thing to do. Begs all manner of questions – not least how they got hold of the bird in the first place. Might it have been in a crow trap and found by its operator when going to check it? He might have had fresh water in a milk container and cable ties in his pocket, these being used to secure the drink container inside the decoy section of a Larsen trap. It was a massive piece of good luck that the bird landed where it could be seen by a caring individual.
Hadn’t seen PVI’s response when I posted this. Pleased it’s not just my mind which went off on this tack. Also, excellent points raised by SB regarding the bird’s condition on release.
I’d missed your point of it needing two people to do this, which seems almost certain. Having handled many Sparrowhawks for ringing purposes, they are usually pretty damned feisty in the hand and know quite well how to use those long legs and talons to good effect. Knowing that, this act of barbarism would indeed have almost certainly needed two people. There is also a trick to doing up small cable ties one handed, having done it when radio collaring Wood Mice but I very much doubt one can do it with a feisty hawk in the other.
I swear to god if I had seen the arsehole that did this…:wtf is wrong with people!? Fuck!
I’d back you up….right or wrong. Some people need educating…..
Yup…round the back of the garage
In the inimitable words of Jim Royle, “accident my arse” this was a criminal act with criminal intent, whatever the culprit intended. I personally would go back to where the bird was found and start looking for either an illegally baited Larsen or crow trap with non-corvid decoy or a pigeon loft and take it from there. Some folk are just beyond belief ( or redemption!)
Certainly no accident.
As a long term raptor rehaber I’m concerned about the issue of injuries.
The leg appears badly abraded and what was the bird’s weight before release ?
I suspect that it was trapped for some time and may well have been underweight as it could not hunt.
It would be usual to ensure that the bird was up to weight and well hydrated before release, otherwise it will die quickly.
A single cold night will kill an underweight Sparrowhawk.
It appears that these protocols were not followed.
I wonder what training these employees are given in raptor care ?
They are complex birds and the ability to fly is just one of their needs before release takes place.
Keep up the pressure !
Clearly not an accident
Paul is dead right as always. Just go and look for the nearest pigeon lofts then write a letter in the nearest local paper praising birds of prey and you will soon find your culprits believe me. I speak from experience from the gory days of my work in West Cumbria in the 1970’S. Hullo Bill B. Glad to see you are still ticking from those far off days!
Thanks Tony, what I should have said at the end was if you find that illegally set Larsen contact RSPB investigations, if you just find a pigeon loft I would follow what Tony suggests and write that letter. Make it brief but punchy in praise of our beloved raptors.
What’s the madness behind this, why has somebody done this too such a beautiful bird . It’s beyond belief what do they get out of this stupid people.
“Stupid people” ……………. no, most certainly not that category.
People who do these things are depraved, sadistic and remorseless. They obtain psychological gratification from inflicting pain and cruelty. They are continuously on the lookout for further opportunities to carry out such acts.