About The Urban Goshawk Project

This project has never been proposed before and is a completely new way to reverse the decline of our garden bird populations all across the UK.

Many of you will have seen bird nests destroyed by magpies, grey squirrels and other small bird predators. There is simply no top down control of these bird predators and the result is that our garden birds are under constant pressure with breeding success and populations in freefall across the country.

Goshawks are a natural key to reversing this decline. Whilst scarce in Britain, females are the size of Buzzards and they are very efficient predators of corvids such as magpies, crows and jackdaws. Grey squirrels also form a significant part of their diet. In short, they are a natural and efficient control of our small bird predators. They will bring balance where currently there is none and crucially, their impact will be instant.

We have rigorously scrutinised the scientific data before developing this project and the data shows that this project this will be both successful and hugely impactful.

Whilst they are thought of as rare, shy and elusive birds in the UK, the scientific research shows that there are large numbers of goshawks in some European cities, like Amsterdam, Brussels, and Prague. Indeed, Berlin has the highest density of goshawk territories anywhere in the world, happily coexisting with humans. Their preferred prey are corvids, grey squirrels and feral pigeons in these urban settings.

Imagine the sight of a Goshawk hunting in your back garden or seeing one flying through the streets of our cities. The thrill would be indescribable. They are simply astonishing.

Plus everyone can be involved. Release aviaries could be set up in people’s back gardens and everyone can be involved in the monitoring of the Goshawks and all our garden bird species.

Such a project has never been proposed in the UK and so we will now push as hard as possible to make it a reality. We will rewild our gardens, towns and cities and crucially, perhaps ourselves.

This is a totally inclusive project so if you want to offer your garden as a release site or be a volunteer, then you can do so by emailing:

admin@rewildinguk.org