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Emitting rapid keck-keck-keck calls that rang out across a central Berlin park, the large hawks climbed far over the treetops and wheeled before plunging down to scatter a disorganized flock of black birds that had started to mob them.

"They are essentially a soaring superhero bringing justice to the city," stated a wildlife expert, watching the large light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are akin to stealth bombers."

The goshawk is an top predator – and experts hope it will soon bring awe and joy to British cities, following its success in German urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving raptor was persecuted to virtual disappearance and only began to bounce back in countryside areas during the mid-20th century. It remains widely persecuted on shooting estates and hunting grounds.

Flourishing in European Cities

In different parts of Europe, the northern goshawk is doing well – even in busy capitals such as Berlin, the Dutch capital, and Prague. From a public garden in Berlin, where a sizable nest sat in the top of a tree under 100 metres from a war memorial, the elusive hunter hunts city birds in the roads and even rests on rooftops.

The birds have adjusted to heavy traffic – although high glass buildings still pose a danger – and are far more comfortable with the steady stream of pet owners, runners, and schoolchildren than their woodland counterparts would be with humans.

"This is similar to any green space in the UK, that's the magical thing," said the head of a rewilding project, which aims to introduce goshawks to Chester and London in the first stage of a program introducing them to cities. "It demonstrates this can be accomplished swiftly – with little much fuss, but with great enthusiasm."

Urban Reintroduction Proposal

The conservationist is planning to submit a proposal for the "assisted colonisation" of the northern goshawk to the regulator in the near future; the plan foresees the freeing of 15 birds in each of the selected urban areas, sourced as juveniles from natural European nests and British aviaries.

He expects they will come to the rescue of the UK's struggling songbirds by hunting mesopredators such as crows, magpies, and small crows, whose numbers have grown without control and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their arrival should have an instant effect on the "bold" medium-sized birds that attack smaller ones that the public love, explains the scientist, pointing to a comparable effect observed in wolves. "This is what's known as an ecology of fear. Everybody realizes the apex predators are in town."

Possible Challenges and Risks

Conservation efforts across the continent have faced fierce opposition from agricultural workers and political factions in recent years, as big carnivores such as wild canines and ursines have returned to territories now inhabited by humans. As their populations have grown, they have started to eat farm animals and in certain instances confront humans.

The introduction of the raptor into city Britain is not expected to spark a similar backlash – the species already live in other parts of the country, and animal guardians and urban gardeners have little to fear from them – but the bird has caused tensions even in cities it has long called home.

In Berlin, where an estimated 100 breeding pairs constitute the largest concentration in the globe, and other German towns, these hawks have become the target of bird fanciers whose birds are being consumed.

A scientist who has studied goshawk adaptation to city environments used GPS trackers to follow 60 goshawks as part of her PhD, and states that although there could be potential benefits from using these predators to control mid-level predators in British cities, young birds removed from rural homes may find it hard to adjust to city life and stressed the need to include all interested parties early on. "Overall, it's a hazardous endeavour."

Scientific Views

An ornithologist who has studied goshawk behaviour in rural Britain commented it was uncertain if the birds would choose to remain in urban environments and unlikely that the suggested numbers would be enough to have a significant beneficial effect on backyard species populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll likely scatter into the closest countryside."

The conservationist is nonetheless upbeat about the project's chances. The specialist, who has in the past been awarded a licence to tag the Scottish wildcat and was a scientific consultant for a program that reintroduced the large bird back to the UK, contends that handling reintroductions in a "welfare-based manner" is the essential element to success.

Past Reintroduction Attempts

The expert's first attempt to bring back wild cats to the United Kingdom was refused by the government official on the advice of the nature body in recent years. A draft application for a trial release has also faced resistance, even though the head of the environmental body recently expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of reintroducing the feline predator during his 24-month term.

If the goshawk project proceeds, the birds will be fitted with GPS transmitters – an endeavour projected to represent almost half of the projected project cost of £110,000 – and be given a steady source of food for as long as is needed after being released. In Berlin, the conservationist stressed the psychological advantage of city-dwellers being able to observe a hunter as secretive as the raptor while they conduct their lives, rather than locating rewilding schemes only in rural locations.

"It will bring such excitement," he said. "People visit the green space to feed pigeons. Soon they'll be traveling to see hawks."