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Producing quick keck-keck-keck sounds that echoed across a downtown Berlin green space, the goshawks soared high over the treetops and circled before swooping down to scatter a disorganized flock of crows that had begun to mob them.

"It's basically a soaring superhero bringing justice to the city," stated a conservationist, watching the sizable light-breasted birds through binoculars. "They're akin to fighter jets."

The goshawk is an apex predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver wonder and joy to UK cities, mirroring its success in German urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this swift bird of prey was persecuted to virtual disappearance and only started to recover in countryside areas during the 1960s. It remains widely persecuted on shooting estates and hunting grounds.

Thriving in Continental Cities

In other parts of the continent, the goshawk is thriving – even in bustling cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a large nest sat in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the "phantom of the forest" hunts city birds in the streets and even rests on building tops.

The birds have adapted to heavy traffic – while tall glass buildings still pose a threat – and are much more at ease with the steady stream of dogwalkers, runners, and kids than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with people.

"It is just like any park in the UK, that's the amazing thing," commented the director of a conservation initiative, which aims to bring these raptors to two UK cities in the first stage of a project introducing them to urban environments. "It demonstrates this can be done quickly – with little much fuss, but with so much excitement."

Assisted Colonisation Plan

The expert is preparing to submit a application for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the authorities in the coming weeks; the scheme envisions the freeing of 15 birds in both of the two cities, obtained as juveniles from natural European eyries and UK aviaries.

He expects they will come to the rescue of Britain's struggling songbirds by preying on mid-sized predators such as crows, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have grown without control and threatened birds lower on the ecological pyramid.

Their arrival should have an immediate impact on the "brazen" mid-sized birds that prey on smaller ones that the public adore, explains the scientist, referencing a similar effect documented in wolves. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everybody knows the big guys are in the city."

Potential Hurdles and Dangers

Rewilding projects across Europe have encountered fierce opposition from farmers and political factions in the past decade, as big predators such as wolves and bears have returned to territories now inhabited by humans. As their populations have expanded, they have begun to consume farm animals and in certain instances confront individuals.

The reintroduction of the raptor into urban Britain is unlikely to spark a similar backlash – the species already reside in other parts of the nation, and animal guardians and city residents have little to worry about from them – but the bird has caused conflicts even in cities it has inhabited for years.

In Berlin, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs represent the largest concentration in the world, and other German towns, these hawks have turned into the target of bird fanciers whose animals are being consumed.

A researcher who has studied raptor adaptation to urban settings employed GPS transmitters to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her doctorate, and says that while there could be possible advantages from employing these predators to regulate mid-level predators in UK urban areas, chicks taken from countryside nests may find it hard to adapt to urban life and stressed the importance to include all interested parties early on. "In general, it's a risky endeavour."

Scientific Views

An ecologist who has examined hawk behavior in rural Britain commented it was unclear if the raptors would decide to remain in cities and unlikely that the suggested numbers would be enough to have a noticeable positive effect on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll likely scatter into the closest rural areas."

The project leader is nonetheless upbeat about the project's prospects. The expert, who has in the past been granted a licence to track the Scottish wildcat and was a scientific consultant for a program that reintroduced the large bird back to the United Kingdom, contends that handling releases in a "welfare-based manner" is the key to success.

Previous Rewilding Efforts

The expert's initial effort to bring back lynx to the United Kingdom was refused by the environment secretary on the recommendation of the wildlife body in 2018. A preliminary proposal for a test reintroduction has also faced opposition, although the head of the environmental body recently showed enthusiasm about the idea of reintroducing the feline predator during his two-year tenure.

If the hawk initiative goes ahead, the raptors will be equipped with GPS devices – an endeavour expected to represent almost half of the estimated budget of £110,000 – and be given a regular supply of food for as much as is needed after being released. In Berlin, the conservationist stressed the mental advantage of urban residents being able to observe a predator as elusive as the goshawk while they go about their lives, rather than placing rewilding schemes only in rural areas.

"It will inject such thrill," he said. "Individuals go to the green space to give food to pigeons. Soon they'll be traveling to see hawks."