Bird of prey in garden

[lizwizz]

Yesterday I saw a bird of prey in my garden, but I couldn't identify it from my books. It was quite small, with a brown back, tan chest and a black 'hood'. My books had similar birds, but all seemed to have a speckled chest which this one didn't. Does anyone know what it might have been?

[gessoo]

I would think it was a Sparrow Hawk. Drawings seem to show very pronounced 'speckles' but photos, such as this don't always show them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/images/2005/08/30/sparrowhawk_150x180.jpg

[WendyS]

It also occured to me it might be a sparrow hawk which are one of he smaller birds of prey. We have one around here very occasionally (a rural residential area) but never close enough unfortunately to examine it and compare with the illustrations in the bird books.

[sddsddean]

Agree could be a female sparrowhawk which is browner

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/gary.cox/images/sparrowhawk-4628.jpg

than the grey backed male

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/gary.cox/images/Sparrowhawk-4713.jpg

[Cetti]

Quite small - with a black hood. This is the stumbling block lizwizz. Light is another problem as what appears black might have been brown - did it have a black moustache? Sorry to be a pain, but all these things are important factors for ID.

A Sparrowhawk is a good bet but it's quite a good sized bird and the female can be quite a hefty lady. The nearest I can get is the Hobby as it is the only small raptor with a black hood, but.... it's a summer migrant and usually arrives in May plus only in the southern half of the country as well. It is a possibility though.

[lizwizz]

Thanks for all your replies. I spoke to my neighbour and he said he saw something similar last year. I didn't notice a black moustache and looking at the pictures from sddsddean it looks quite like the sparrowhawk. I only got a side view of it , but the part of its chest I saw looked tan coloured.

[Narolines]

I would think a sparrowhawk is the most likely in an urban garden - last time we had one in our garden it dived spectacularly in pursuit of a small bird and crashed equally spectacularly into our French windows! It was only stunned though - its prey got away, and the hawk itself was soon back in the air.

[pappasmurf]

Could you class a nun as a bird of prey ?