Dealing with the COOPER HAWK !

[elvis_911]

Pigeon Raiser is correct i recently got one..i havent seen a hawk in days.. and espeically the owls!

Elvis

[WhiteWingsCa]

Owl decoys don't work -- our neighbour put one up on his TV tower to keep our pigeons off it --- didn't keep the pigeons away, and doesn't bother the hawks either.

I would imagine a Crow decoy would be the same. Might work for a little while, but then it would have no effect.

Mirrors only work in the vicinity of the mirror - the theory is, the hawk sees his reflection, and is distracted or startled by it, and hopefully the pidgie has time to get inside before Mr. Hawk makes his grab.

Hubby heard last year that if you glue old CD's to the loft roof - in pairs -- it looks like giant owl eyes to the hawks, and scares them off. This works to some extent -- but only when the hawk is flying right over the loft. If your birds are up in the air, it doesn't do much. (We actually watched the hawk swoop down over the loft one day -- see the CD's, and he braked and flew away. LOL)

Hawks are always going to be a problem, and nothing you do is going to be 100% effective, unless you never let your birds out at all. Hubby saw a Cooper's try and grab one of our birds as it came in for a landing -- the hawk KNEW that the bird would land on the roof edge, then jump down to the landing board -- and it aimed for the board, figuring on arriving there the same time the pidgie did. Smart pigeon caught sight of the hawk at the last minute, and dove UNDER the board -- the hawk grabbed at empty air.

A friend of ours has had a Cooper's hawk fly right over his head, just about hitting him, and grab a youngster off his landing board - three feet away from him.

Crows in the neighbourhood help, a lot. We put out food for the crows, to encourage them to stick around.

And colour (the pigeons') does play a part -- but it is the "odd man out", not the particular colour, that is the problem. A white (or red) pigeon in a flock of blue bars will most likely get picked off first (the hawk can more easily zero in on one particular bird, instead of trying to pick a blue from a bunch of blues). Likewise, a blue in a flock of whites will get nailed first.

Hawks are wonderful creatures, I love watching them. It is upsetting to lose one of your favourite pigeons to them, I know -- but that's part of having pigeons, unfortunately. If you don't want to lose them - keep them inside.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Whitewings and nice to have you back

Thanks for offering your experienced perspective of hawks and pigeons and what does and doesn't work. I wish you were around more to help out in giving your take on things.

[WhiteWingsCa]

Originally Posted by Pigeonpal2002

Hi Whitewings and nice to have you back

Thanks for offering your experienced perspective of hawks and pigeons and what does and doesn't work. I wish you were around more to help out in giving your take on things.

Hi Brad!

Thanks for the welcome back.

I've been busy busy with work and family life, and haven't spent as much time on my forums this winter as I'd like to.

Things seem to be changing a bit though, and I hope to be hanging around a bit more again.

Just have to get used to the 'new' set up here..... not as easy to to navigate as the old one, but I'll manage!

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Two days ago, I was attempting to resettle 10 YB's. To make a long story short, 8 YB's are now AWOL. Mr. Cooper was sitting not 10 feet from my loft when I came home. If anyone reading this, wants to make a quick, $100,000 or so, design a legal device to keep Mr. Cooper away from a pigeon loft.

[TerriB]

Warren,

How heartbreaking! So sorry about your young birds and the lost potential.

[Norwich-guy]

I found an article on this subject i will quote it. i hope it helps

How i control the problem with very few losses,from about March to mid-summer to sometimes late summer. I'm talking of losses from cooper's hawks,falcons, and other birds of prey large enough to take our birds. My remedy is the rusty crowned falcon, known to most as the sparrow hawk. A subspecies of the peregrine falcon, too small to pose a threat to pigeons whatsoever. They just don't bother each other at all. But put a box for a nest in the winter well before spring (nesting time) in a nearby tree or a pole 10 feet high or more. They can't resist! They soon claim territory which they fiersely protect from other birds they consider a threat. Crowned falcons are very fast and maneuverable flyers and "kick butt" on the above mentioned. Instead of hawk killing pigeons its the little falcon to the rescue. And its very entertaining to watch. But the show doesn't last long. Much better than shooting,trapping, snaring or mirrors. I have four boxes in a three acre area. two of them fifty yards from my loft. Sparrow hawks are not shy of people when it comes to a nice nest box. Just don't tamper with it. I live in a bad area for coopers hawks and i have had heavy losses in the past. But for six months now i have seen almost none in the area. Another good thing is that crowned falcons nest in the same box year after year. I know this from experience as i was a falconer for many years. I know they will be back next spring. Some feed stores have nesting boxes for sale that can be modified. Caution: Entrance holes must not be larger than three and a half inches in diammeter and must be round. Otherwise, owls may steal young from the nest and that wouldn't help us or the sparrow hawk. When completed put two inces or sawdust or pine needles in the bottom of the box.

The box size is 10" wide by 15" high by 10" deep with the 3 1/2" hole in the middle of the box.

Its to late to start now but maybe this winter you could try it.

[Birdmom4ever]

I just gave up on flying and focused instead on breeding beautifully colored rollers for show--I'm concentrating on baldheads. I also raise some American fantails for show. I've talked to other roller fanciers in my area and they said the same thing, that they lost birds every time they flew them. Coopers hawks are abundant in our area and there are lots of big trees in our residential neighborhood for them to hide in. I miss seeing my pigeons fly, but I don't miss losing them. From what I've heard around here, the Bay Area, you may as well give up on flying rollers. It's homers or nothing. At least the homers are strong and fast enough to get away much of the time.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Norwich guy,

I have to say....I really like your suggestion to deter Coopers and other would be avian predators from stalking and hunting domestic pigeons. I think this is the FIRST positive and workable plan I've heard yet. I know sparrowhawks aren't very big but I did think that they would try to take on a full grown pigeon if able. I know they are smaller than your average pigeon, but hawks of any nature are just that...hawks. Good thinking on this and on a "natural" and pro-active way to help pigeons rather than a preventive method. I can see this way working to a good degree. The thing is, can people successfully attract these hawks in a more confined space, rather than only sprawling acres of land?

[Norwich-guy]

Hi pigeonpal2002,

I hesitated writing this too.Only because i thought a sparrowhawk would attack a pigeon too.I havn't flown birds in over 20 years and can't remember if any of my birds were ever chased off by a sparrowhawk,The article i quoted was from a roller breeder in California,So in reality i really don't know if it would work or not. But if it does, he may be on to something here. And good call on letting Canadian fanciers know about the C.P.F.A im new to this site and wasn't sure if anybody had posted the site before, i've been a member for many years now.


Bill

[Grizzled]

Originally Posted by SmithFamilyLoft

Two days ago, I was attempting to resettle 10 YB's. To make a long story short, 8 YB's are now AWOL. Mr. Cooper was sitting not 10 feet from my loft when I came home. If anyone reading this, wants to make a quick, $100,000 or so, design a legal device to keep Mr. Cooper away from a pigeon loft.

The Cooper Hawk is similar to the Goshawk, which creates problems in much of Canada.
I have found that pigeons loitering on rooftops from November to March are prime targets. This creates a problem where settling youngsters is concerned. I got into the habit of breeding a little later in the season and locking my birds inside during the period from November to March and found that I had very few problems with hawks as a result. This system may not be suited for everyone depending on their race schedule etc., but hawks are a constant threat for all of us and once they lock on to your loft they can be very difficult to deal with.

[Birdmom4ever]

I really like your suggestion, Norwich-guy. Especially since all cavity nesters could use a little help because humans have depleted their nest sites by removing dead trees that would otherwise provide nesting cavities. We had a family of kestrels in nesting in the palm trees across the street 7 or 8 years ago. The trees were removed and I haven't seen much of them since. They are beautiful little hawks.

[ZigZagMarquis]

*cough*

... well, not really.

[elvis_911]

A family of Crows would do wonders to keep the Hawks away,due to the west nile virous,even the Crows are begining to disappear.I read about putting 2 CD disks together to look like Owl eyes on top of your loft somtimes works to fool the Hawks,It might be worth a try.

[whitesnmore]

I just happened to watch a Hawk try to have Easter Dinner at my loft yesterday afternoon, his approach was twarted by a 10 year old German Shepard female that is very territorial of her yard and is very protective of the Pigeons. She must have seen him take the last one and is now "the lookout" My pigeons are used to her (except for the new ones) and will land right in the yard by her and not give her a second glance. Best deterrent I can think of!!!!!