The wild birds need your help!!!

[notmyrealnamebutclose]

Yes, the prey birds will freeze and wait out the sparrowhawk's visit if they can. I've seen sparrowhawks repeatedly try to chase the smaller birds out of the hedge.

One of my neighbours told me recently that when they had a sparrowhawk visit the garden a woodpecker simply froze in full view on the feeder and the hawk ignored it or didn't see it.

Wow that woodpecker got lucky. Yes it seems to be a strategy that can work sometimes but not always as the raptors are quite capable of bursting through hedges if they are airborne and target an unaware bird.
Their legs are pretty powerful so they can clamber through an hedge with ease also the males are surprisingly small, about 25% smaller than the female hawk

 

[notmyrealnamebutclose]

In all seriousness, firing a catapult at a bird of prey is an offence. (and, yes, I know you weren't trying to harm it)

I suppose when people think of catapults they will picture in their minds a lethal looking weapon that fires ball bearings
or small pebbles etc. Just so you know mine is nothing like that. It is home made and is powered by nothing more than
knicker elastic from the sewing section at boyes. It literally couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding.

I made it to deter cats from the feeders, you see I feed the magpies too, whom I adore, cat kibbles and sometimes when I
see it reduced, chicken wings as well as chicken skin leftovers from dinner etc. These are put in tin feeders screwed to
the garden fence which a few local cats have sussed out and now and again I have witnessed them attempting to raid
the tins, usually in the evenings after I have pre filled the tins ready for the early morning magpie visits.

I know that raptors are gonna raptor. I've found the occasional feathers scattered in my yard, recently found just the
beaks of a sparrow, tiny tongue intact, a bit gruesome but it's just nature doing its thing.