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Releasing rapid keck-keck-keck calls that resounded through a central Berlin park, the goshawks soared high above the treetops and wheeled before swooping down to scatter a ragged group of black birds that had begun to harass them.

"They are essentially a soaring Batman bringing law and order to the city," stated a wildlife expert, watching the sizable light-breasted birds through a telescope. "They are like fighter jets."

The Accipiter gentilis is an top predator – and conservationists hope it will soon bring wonder and joy to British cities, following its presence in German urban areas. In the United Kingdom, this fast-moving bird of prey was hunted to virtual disappearance and just began to bounce back in countryside areas during the mid-20th century. It remains widely persecuted on private lands and grouse moors.

Flourishing in European Capitals

In other parts of Europe, the goshawk is doing well – even in busy cities such as the German capital, Amsterdam, and Prague. From a public garden in the city, where a sizable eyrie sat in the crown of a tree less than 100 metres from a monument, the "phantom of the forest" hunts city birds in the roads and even perches on building tops.

The raptors have adapted to heavy traffic – while high glass buildings still present a danger – and are far more comfortable with the steady stream of dogwalkers, joggers, and schoolchildren than their forest-dwelling relatives would be with humans.

"It is just like any park in the UK, that's the amazing aspect," said the head of a conservation initiative, which aims to bring goshawks to two UK cities in the initial phase of a program introducing them to cities. "It proves this can be accomplished quickly – without much fuss, but with so much excitement."

Urban Reintroduction Proposal

The expert is planning to submit a application for the "urban reintroduction" of the northern goshawk to the authorities in the near future; the scheme foresees the freeing of 15 birds in each of the two cities, obtained as juveniles from natural European eyries and British breeders.

He expects they will provide help of Britain's beleaguered songbirds by preying on mesopredators such as corvids, magpies, and jackdaws, whose numbers have increased unchecked and threatened birds further down the ecological pyramid.

Their arrival should have an immediate effect on the "brazen" mid-sized birds that prey on tiny species that the public love, says the scientist, referencing a similar phenomenon documented in canine predators. "It's what's called an landscape of fear. Everyone realizes the apex predators are in town."

Potential Hurdles and Dangers

Rewilding projects throughout the continent have faced strong resistance from agricultural workers and activist groups in the past decade, as big carnivores such as wolves and bears have returned to lands now populated by people. As their numbers have grown, they have begun to eat farm animals and in certain instances attack humans.

The reintroduction of the raptor into urban England is unlikely to spark a comparable backlash – the birds already live in different parts of the country, and pet-owners and city residents have minimal to fear from them – but the species has caused tensions even in cities it has inhabited for years.

In Berlin, where an approximate 100 mated couples constitute the largest density in the globe, and other European towns, these hawks have become the focus of bird fanciers whose animals are being consumed.

A researcher who has researched goshawk adjustment to urban settings used GPS trackers to monitor 60 goshawks as part of her PhD, and states that while there could be possible advantages from using goshawks to control mid-level predators in British urban areas, young birds taken from countryside homes may struggle to adapt to city life and stressed the need to include all stakeholders early on. "Overall, it's a risky business."

Scientific Views

An ornithologist who has examined hawk behavior in non-urban England commented it was uncertain if the birds would decide to remain in urban environments and improbable that the suggested numbers would be enough to have a significant beneficial effect on garden bird populations. "What will happen of those 15 birds?" he said. "My guess is they'll probably scatter into the closest countryside."

The project leader is nevertheless optimistic about the project's prospects. The expert, who has previously been awarded a licence to track the Scottish wildcat and was a technical adviser for a project that brought the large bird back to the United Kingdom, contends that handling releases in a "humane way" is the essential element to success.

Previous Reintroduction Efforts

The expert's initial attempt to reintroduce wild cats to the United Kingdom was rejected by the environment official on the recommendation of the nature agency in recent years. A draft application for a test reintroduction has also met resistance, although the head of the environmental organization lately showed interest about the idea of reintroducing lynx during his two-year tenure.

If the hawk project goes ahead, the raptors will be equipped with GPS transmitters – an task projected to account for almost 50% of the projected budget of £110,000 – and be given a regular source of nourishment for as much as is needed after being released. In Berlin, the conservationist highlighted the psychological benefit of city-dwellers being able to observe a predator as elusive as the raptor while they conduct their lives, rather than locating conservation projects exclusively in countryside locations.

"It will bring such thrill," he said. "Individuals go to the green space to give food to birds. In the future they'll be traveling to observe goshawks."