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Emitting quick keck-keck-keck cries that resounded through a downtown Berlin green space, the large hawks soared far above the canopy and wheeled before plunging downwards to drive away a ragged flock of crows that had started to harass them.

"It's basically a soaring Batman enforcing justice to the urban environment," stated a conservationist, watching the sizable light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They're like stealth bombers."

The Accipiter gentilis is an apex predator – and experts hope it will soon deliver wonder and joy to UK cities, mirroring its presence in German metropolises. In the UK, this swift raptor was persecuted to virtual disappearance and only started to recover in countryside areas during the mid-20th century. It is still commonly persecuted on private lands and hunting grounds.

Thriving in Continental Capitals

In other parts of the continent, the goshawk is doing well – even in busy capitals such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and the Czech capital. From a public garden in the city, where a sizable nest rested in the top of a tree less than 100 metres from a war memorial, the elusive hunter preys on city birds in the roads and even perches on rooftops.

The raptors have adapted to heavy traffic – while tall transparent structures still pose a threat – and are much more at ease with the steady stream of pet owners, runners, and kids than their forest-dwelling counterparts would be with humans.

"It is just like any park in the UK, that's the magical aspect," said the head of a rewilding initiative, which aims to introduce goshawks to two UK cities in the first stage of a project reintroducing them to urban environments. "It demonstrates this can be done swiftly – without difficulty, but with great excitement."

Assisted Colonisation Proposal

The expert is preparing to present a application for the "assisted colonisation" of the goshawk to the regulator in the coming weeks; the scheme foresees the freeing of 15 birds in both of the two cities, obtained as chicks from wild continental eyries and UK aviaries.

He expects they will provide help of Britain's struggling songbirds by preying on mid-sized predators such as crows, black-and-white birds, and jackdaws, whose numbers have grown unchecked and endangered birds further down the food chain.

Their arrival should have an instant impact on the "brazen" medium-sized birds that prey on tiny species that the public adore, explains the scientist, referencing a similar phenomenon documented in wolves. "This is what's called an landscape of fear. Everyone realizes the apex predators are in town."

Possible Challenges and Dangers

Rewilding efforts throughout the continent have faced fierce resistance from agricultural workers and activist groups in the past decade, as big predators such as wild canines and ursines have come back to lands now populated by humans. As their populations have grown, they have begun to eat livestock and in some cases confront humans.

The introduction of the raptor into city England is unlikely to spark a comparable resistance – the birds currently live in different parts of the country, and pet-owners and city residents have little to fear from them – but the bird has caused tensions even in urban centers it has inhabited for years.

In the German capital, where an estimated 100 breeding pairs represent the largest density in the globe, and other German cities, these hawks have turned into the target of pigeon and chicken breeders whose birds are being consumed.

A researcher who has researched goshawk adaptation to city environments employed GPS trackers to follow 60 birds as part of her doctorate, and states that while there could be potential benefits from using goshawks to regulate mesopredators in UK cities, young birds removed from countryside nests may find it hard to adjust to city life and emphasized the importance to include all interested parties early on. "In general, it's a risky business."

Scientific Views

An ornithologist who has examined goshawk behaviour in non-urban England said it was uncertain if the birds would decide to stay in urban environments and unlikely that the suggested quantity would be sufficient to have a significant beneficial effect on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he asked. "My guess is they'll probably disperse into the closest countryside."

The conservationist is nonetheless upbeat about the project's chances. The specialist, who has in the past been granted a licence to tag the Highland tiger and was a scientific adviser for a project that reintroduced the great bustard back to the United Kingdom, contends that handling reintroductions in a "humane way" is the key to success.

Previous Reintroduction Attempts

The conservationist's first effort to bring back wild cats to the United Kingdom was refused by the environment official on the recommendation of the wildlife body in 2018. A preliminary proposal for a trial reintroduction has also met resistance, although the chair of the environmental body lately showed enthusiasm about the idea of reintroducing lynx during his two-year tenure.

If the hawk project goes ahead, the raptors will be fitted with GPS devices – an endeavour expected to represent almost half of the estimated project cost of £110,000 – and be given a steady source of food for as much as is needed after being released. In the German city, the conservationist highlighted the mental advantage of urban residents being able to observe a hunter as elusive as the raptor while they conduct their daily routines, rather than locating rewilding schemes only in countryside locations.

"It'll bring such thrill," he declared. "Individuals go to the green space to feed pigeons. Soon they'll be going to see goshawks."