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Producing quick keck-keck-keck calls that resounded across a downtown Berlin park, the large hawks soared high above the canopy and wheeled before plunging downwards to chase off a disorganized flock of black birds that had begun to mob them.

"It's basically a soaring superhero enforcing justice to the urban environment," stated a wildlife expert, watching the large pale-bellied birds through a telescope. "They are like stealth bombers."

The Accipiter gentilis is an top predator – and experts aspire it will soon deliver awe and delight to British cities, mirroring its presence in German metropolises. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving raptor was persecuted to near disappearance and just started to bounce back in countryside areas during the 1960s. It is still widely targeted on private lands and hunting grounds.

Flourishing in European Capitals

In other parts of Europe, the goshawk is thriving – even in bustling capitals such as Berlin, the Dutch capital, and Prague. From a park in the city, where a sizable eyrie rested in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the elusive hunter hunts pigeons in the streets and even perches on building tops.

The raptors have adapted to heavy vehicle flow – while tall glass buildings still present a danger – and are much more at ease with the constant flow of dogwalkers, runners, and kids than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with people.

"It is similar to any park in the United Kingdom, that's the amazing aspect," said the head of a conservation project, which aims to introduce goshawks to two UK cities in the initial phase of a program introducing them to urban environments. "It demonstrates this can be done swiftly – with little much fuss, but with great excitement."

Urban Reintroduction Plan

The expert is planning to submit a proposal for the "assisted colonisation" of the goshawk to the regulator in the near future; the scheme foresees the release of 15 birds in both of the selected urban areas, obtained as juveniles from natural European nests and UK breeders.

He expects they will come to the rescue of Britain's struggling garden birds by preying on mesopredators such as corvids, black-and-white birds, and small crows, whose numbers have increased without control and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their presence should have an immediate impact on the "bold" mid-sized birds that prey on tiny species that the public adore, says the conservationist, pointing to a comparable phenomenon observed in wolves. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everyone knows the apex predators are in town."

Potential Hurdles and Risks

Rewilding efforts across the continent have faced fierce resistance from agricultural workers and activist groups in the past decade, as large carnivores such as wild canines and bears have come back to territories now populated by humans. As their numbers have grown, they have begun to eat farm animals and in certain instances confront individuals.

The introduction of the raptor into city England is unlikely to trigger a comparable resistance – the species already reside in different parts of the country, and animal guardians and urban gardeners have minimal to worry about from them – but the bird has caused conflicts even in urban centers it has inhabited for years.

In the German capital, where an approximate 100 breeding pairs constitute the highest-known concentration in the globe, and additional German cities, goshawks have turned into the focus of pigeon and chicken breeders whose animals are being eaten.

A researcher who has studied raptor adaptation to urban settings used GPS transmitters to follow 60 birds as part of her PhD, and says that although there could be possible benefits from using goshawks to control mesopredators in UK urban areas, young birds removed from rural nests may struggle to adjust to urban life and stressed the need to include all stakeholders early on. "In general, it's a hazardous business."

Scientific Views

An ecologist who has examined goshawk behavior in non-urban Britain said it was uncertain if the birds would decide to remain in cities and unlikely that the suggested quantity would be enough to have a significant positive effect on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll likely disperse into the closest rural areas."

The project leader is nonetheless optimistic about the initiative's prospects. The expert, who has in the past been granted a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a scientific consultant for a project that reintroduced the great bustard back to the UK, argues that approaching releases in a "welfare-based manner" is the essential element to achievement.

Previous Reintroduction Efforts

The expert's first attempt to reintroduce lynx to the United Kingdom was rejected by the environment secretary on the advice of the wildlife body in 2018. A draft proposal for a trial reintroduction has also faced opposition, although the head of the environmental body lately showed interest about the prospect of reintroducing the feline predator during his two-year term.

If the goshawk project goes ahead, the raptors will be equipped with GPS transmitters – an endeavour expected to account for almost 50% of the projected project cost of £110,000 – and be provided a steady source of food for as much as is needed after being freed. In the German city, the expert highlighted the mental benefit of city-dwellers being able to observe a predator as elusive as the raptor while they go about their lives, rather than locating rewilding projects exclusively in countryside areas.

"It will bring such excitement," he said. "People go to the green space to feed birds. Soon they'll be going to see hawks."