Press statement from North Yorkshire Police (25th March 2024):
APPEAL AFTER SPARROWHAWK SHOT AT NOSTERFIELD NATURE RESERVE
We’re appealing for information following the shooting of a Sparrowhawk at Nosterfield Nature Reserve.
The Sparrowhawk is thought to have been shot dead with a pellet gun on either Wednesday 20 or Thursday 21 March. Sparrowhawks are classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5.
If you saw anyone in the area of the nature reserve with an air rifle or similar weapon please email colin.irvine@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC Colin Irvine.
If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org
Please quote NYP reference 12240050719 when passing on information.
ENDS
Raptor Persecution UK 
Oh goodness , ospreys are returning now from migration and many stop off at Nosterfield , so awful that a Sparrowhawk has been shot there
Time for the licensing of air weapons in England, as has been the case for some time now in Scotland.
We very much need licencing for airguns in England.
Time to licence airguns
Was the Sparrow hawk shot with air rifle or not? at the moment it is only thought to have been shot with a pellet gun, as yet not proven, why don’t they know what it was that killed it if they have the body.
Licensing air rifles wont stop dickheads from killing Birds of prey. if you take away guns altogether you’ll still get the idiots using something else to kill them.
If the round went through the body without hitting bone it would be difficult to tell. Could be 0.17 or 0.22 . There is actually a 0.303 air rifle on the market but you need FAC for this. Shot gun pellets are tiny and tend to stay in the body. But what moron would go onto a nature reserve to do this or was it done from outside?
shot on a nature reserve WTF these people are just scumbags with no care or conscience.