Klein vogeltje, klein stadje, grote daad

Alarmed by a telephone call (‘big raptor, larger than chicken, is eating chicken’), the author finds an adult male Sparrowhawk (180 g, good condition) as culprit. It was released unharmed. It is suggested that the Sparrowhawk had been attracted by sparrows feeding in the chicken coop, somehow got in, missed the sparrows and froze. One of the chickens (some 1000 g), with a fluffy mob of feathers on the head, may also have ‘frozen’, to be grabbed by the head – mistaken for a sparrow? – as soon as it moved again. When approached, the Sparrowhawk presumably mantled, looking much bigger than it actually was (hence ‘big raptor’).