Sperwer Accipiter nisus verdrinkt Spreeuw Sturnus vulgaris

On 26 June 2007, an adult male Sparrowhawk captured a juvenile Starling in a garden, close to a shallow pond. The still screaming victim was taken to the pond (a distance of only 30 cm), and held under water, meanwhile ‘kneading’ the prey altemately with the left and right foot. After a few minutes the now dead Starling was lifted to the nearby lawn, then transported out of sight. Another instance is related (January 2005, by Gerda Thomas), in which a female Blackbird Turdus merula collided with a window. The stunned bird was captured by a Sparrowhawk, taken to a nearby ditch, and held under water (the Sparrowhawk wing-flapping to stay clear of the water) until drowning had commenced.