Can anyone ID this bird of prey in the garden?

[GlitteryFluff]

I'm sorry for the terrible quality photos.

I'd say it was slightly bigger than a pigeon but not as rounded.
In Essex.
Stripes on underside tail.
I thought hobby but they are smaller I think?
Is it a sparrow hawk? Too small for a goshawk?

Anyone know for sure?

Just curious.
Thanks.

Sparrow hawks aren't particularly agile. Ours eats mostly pigeons which it hits while they are on the ground, because they are fairly slow easy prey.

Thanks everyone. Sparrowhawk it is.

Don't think there's any church towers/anything by particularly tall etc near by, we only moved here at the end of September so I'm not 100% with what's nearby. Definitely no cliffs. Forests and fields though so lots to eat I suppose.

Sparrowhawks also tend to have 'plucking points' where they take their prey to pluck the feathers off before eating. There's one down the road from me, and whenever I encounter the sparrowhawk there when I'm out walking or running with the dog, that bird gives me the most evil side-eye I have ever encountered.

Exactly this 👆 A few months ago there was a mound of feathers outside our front door, nothing else, just feathers. My husband has spotted one a few times in the garden.

We have regular sparrowhawk visits - one recently did a last minute swerve to avoid a neighbour drinking tea in her garden and clattered into the fence with a huge bang.

Goldfinch 1 Sparrowhawk 0

I think you are thinking of Peregrines, which do nest on cliffs and tall buildings. Sparrowhawks nest in trees.

I would say sparrowhawk.

Of course I am. D’oh!

I second this! I’ve learnt so much about my local birds since downloading Merlin bird app having read about it on here.
incidentally a sparrow hawk dropped a half eaten pigeon almost on top of Dh and me once as we were chatting in the garden.

Interesting about plucking point and side eye!
I saw a flurry of birds in the garden and went out to check what had happened - around the corner of the house on a path was a sparrow hawk standing on a wood pigeon's chest pecking into it. The bird gave me such a look as if saying what are you doing here interrupting me and no move to fly off. I left him to it

Yep. Sparrowhawk. We have a regular who takes out pigeons. He sits in the hedge and takes them out as they rise from the garden. Amazing to watch. We have a disabled pigeon due to him. No tail feathers, and the girls won't mate with him despite his best efforts! I noticed this week he has now lost some wing feathers ..... We call him spud, because he looks completely round without his tail, and kind of plummets from tree to tree.