Dealing with the COOPER HAWK !

[re lee]

It sound like the cooper not being able to get a bird in flight while loft flying Is that the bird is 1 conditioned, 2 in good health, 3 more alert with its natural instinct. Now far as vet check on a per bird it would be very high.sendind stool samples in for a check for average loft health is much cheaper and can be done 1 time yearly or 2 times. Good management ventilation, exersise for condition, feed and healthy practices you see less desease. Check a college that trains vets. They often will do samples at a fare cost. And remember in the race the hawk can chase a bird many a mile. birds panic get lost , evade or get caught. This is different then the loft flying. And the owner really never new the hawk took the bird in a race just the bird never made it back. Around here red tail hawks really never bother the birds much at all. Coopers during the hawk season oct through march is the problem time. The old kite hawk is a welcome bird when it returns some how they keep the cooper chased away and the cooper moves on. Hawks are here to stay stronger then in the past. Pigeons are food in the sky or on the loft. you will lose a bird or 2 to the hawk if you know it or not.

[LokotaLoft]

the problem is your birds do have to come down sometime and these coopers just get smarter and smarter all the time with their ambush tactics . I do believe thou that lofts out in the open fair much better then the ones that have trees all around such as mine in which the art of sneak attacks can come at anytime ..I must admit the presence of the coopers makes your bird far more weary in the long run but that is little help when you have young birds just starting out off the loft .. here the coopers do let up in the summertime but they are never that far off that they dont come for a regular visit every now an then ..

[lawman]

Hello guys and gals,

For starters your right Re lee that a bird that is 1 conditioned, 2 in good health, 3 more alert with its natural instinct, has a much better chance of survival both at home and on the race course.

Although it could happen, I've personnely never seen a Cooper hawk chase anything farther than a couple hundred yards before it breaks off the attack and goes after something else.

Now out on the race course we have no way of knowing if the bird was caught in the air or if it went down for water and got caught by a fox or some other predator. Or if it did as I have personely seen happen and was flying nap of the earth as it crossed a freeway nearer to your home and splatted on some big semi (no joke, it was and ugly sight)....... Or, well the possibilities are endless out on the race course.

I do believe though that just as the hawks get smarter and trickier in the tactics. Our pigeons adapt to the ever present threat, if they are occasionaly flown at the time the hawks are out and learn to adapt to them. Otherwise when the birds are out on the race course or have Mr. Cooper suddenly come from out of the tree line and attack the birds will panic. In the case of the birds out on a race they may go miles out of their way before they make the corrections and head back for home. Course if they just kick in the after burners and head for home all the faster, that could be a good thing too

Anyway just food for thought,

Lawman

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by SmithFamilyLoft

My purpose in opening this new thread is to invite your comments who how you might be dealing with this magnificent predator.

I had a young bird escape from the loft the other day, and within minutes, my resident Cooper claimed his first victim for 2005. I am hearing of a lot of fanciers who are now keeping their birds secure in the loft till as late as June.

This is a radical departure from years past, when the Cooper was not as common. I also have heard that some fanciers are conducting business as usual, and that the YB's soon adapt to the Cooper, and even will have "Look Outs" which will warn the rest of the flock.

In talking with local fanciers, the "Cooper" is now the number #1 subject of discussion. If you have a sure fire way of discouraging the Cooper, in a humane way, without any harm to this protected bird, then please share your methods. I want to add this warning, that this site does not condone, any discussion which will harm any bird or animal, so please keep this in mind.

These questions keep coming up, so I thought perhaps some of the newer people might want to review this older thread !

[Nosferatu09]

I guess I'm rather glad Im not planning to keep a very large loft when I do get one, just a few pidgys... In my temper seeing a predator take something so dear from me without retailiation seems highly unlikely, as I love pigeons very very dearly and even other people's losses hurt me deeply -sad to say I guess, but oh well for know my only achille's heel are pigeons haha-... So I guess I'm rather turned off from having a large population of pigeons if some damn hawk is gonna keep trying to kill them or not, I'd rather have them in side with one another and let them be safe and happy as I guess Im not quite "interested" in racing and all that anyway..... as for the hawk haha I was thinking for some reason on whether they sell machines that shoot out tennis balls... that'd be practical... aim fire, deflect hawk

oh well... interesting topic, disheartening to hear of all the loses of poor pigeons and that picture with the torn apart pigeon was just heartwrenching... well good luck to all of you and keep your little birds safe, they're lovely and I love them all the same... heh

[TheSnipes]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu09

I guess I'm rather glad Im not planning to keep a very large loft when I do get one, just a few pidgys... In my temper seeing a predator take something so dear from me without retailiation seems highly unlikely, as I love pigeons very very dearly and even other people's losses hurt me deeply -

Guess I'm with you Nosferatu; mine will just have to stay prisoners. They have a nice big pen. At least they are safe from most kinds of harm. That is an image (seeing one taken as prey) that would haunt me for life.

[kalapati]

the crows are breeding with squeakers on their nests and i am not seeing mr cooper around.

2 weeks ago 4 of my YBs would just fly around for about 30 minutes and now as soon as i open the aviary they'll burst out to the sky and be out of sight for about an hour. this time of the year is the best to loft fly in my place i think. these YBs have develop a routine i guess because on regular days at 7 AM i would serve their breakfast before heading to work. and now everytime i release them at 6 AM they are always back by 7 AM inside their loft for their meal. and the same also in the late afternoon - they'll be gone at 4PM and be back 5 PM for their dinner.

how i wish the crows would just breed the whole year round.


kalapati
San Diego
http://myracingpigeons.mypets.ws:81/jview.htm

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Additional threads have come up lately, as it appears Mister Cooper has not gone away, so I thought I would bring the subject back from the 2005 starting point, and to also add my lastest two cents which was posted on another thread.


As a side note, this YB season, I attempted to avoid losses by hawk attacks early in 2008, by keeping my YB's locked down while they got "Strong on the Wing"....my personal experience with this was a much greater loss from fly offs, then I had experienced in actual hawk kills, (that I know of), from the previous five years. It is one of those things where you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't. And there are "relative" degrees of "bad hawk problems", one fancier's "bad problem" will be seen by another fancier as very moderate, or not a problem at all. One thing for sure, for many areas of the country, Mister Cooper is going to eat some percentage of your birds, and that is simply a fact of life.

One of the things I have taken notice to, is that Mister Cooper seems to prefer well fed "fat" YB's from a fanciers loft, then the young "skinny" feral's which live close by. I don't know what this might mean, but I am working on some theories in that regard. One of them is that certain lines within my pigeon's family tree, seem to have been better able to avoid Mister Cooper. These same lines also do quite well during racing events, and thus I have called them the "Blue Falcon" line....will take a number of more generations in order to determine if there is indeed a genetic link between avoiding Mister Cooper and racing ability, or if it has simply been dumb luck.
__________________

[LokotaLoft]

I would just like to add that if people think that just because their birds outfly mr cooper hawk today it doesnt mean they will tomorrow as well .. how many storys have we heard of mr cooper taking someones best bird ?? I think one to many to hold onto the theory that having hawk savy pigeons means that streak will last forever.. rest in peace all those that lie in the belly of the beast ..

[kalapati]

PEREGRINE FALCON



Falco peregrinus

Description:

The Peregrine Falcon is on the increase after an alarming decline in the 1950s and 1960s due to eggshell thinning pesticides. One of the world's fastest birds, this falcon can reach speeds close to 320 km-h in a downward dive (called a "stoop"). Both fast and agile, these birds can catch other birds in mid-air. Their prey ranges from sparrows to ducks, which may be why this bird is sometimes referred to as the "Duck Hawk".

The falcon was worshiped in the religion of ancient Egypt as Horus, god of the sun, the great falcon whose devine eyes were the sun and moon. A sign for "god" in hieroglyphics was a falcon on a perch. Like pharaohs, falcons were sometimes mummified.


Appearance:

Slate-gray upperparts. Buff-white underparts, marked with fine black bars and spots. Black hood and wide black "mustaches". Short, dark, hooked beak with pale-yellow base. Underwings barred black and white. Wings are long and pointed and extend to tail tip when at rest. Yellow feet. Long, thin tail with gray and white bands. Arctic race is paler than Northwest race. Immature birds have a dark brown hood, mustaches, and upperparts. Some races have paler heads. Underparts are heavily streaked on immature. 15 to 21 inches in length.


Habitat:

Coasts, marshes, canyons, cities. Primarily migrates along coasts.


Nesting:

2-4 cream or buff eggs marked with reddish-brown spots. The eggs have a 29-32 day incubation period. Fledging occurs in 35-42 days. The nest is a poorly lined scrape on a cliff, building ledge, or abandoned bird's nest. Both adults help incubate the eggs. Sixty percent of the young will not survive due to their inexperience in flying and hunting.


Observed Locations: San Diego Bay









COOPER'S HAWK




Accipiter cooperii

Description:

Like its smaller counterpart, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, this bird mainly preys on other birds, but also feeds on lizards, snakes, and small mammals. It can and will relentlessly pursue its prey, even through wooded regions.


Appearance:

Blue-gray upperparts and crown. White neck and underparts. Rust-brown barring on lower chest and leg feathers. Short rounded wings. Long tail. Red eye. Yellow legs. Yellow bill with black tip. 14 to 20 inches in length.


Habitat:

Deciduous forests, especially those with meadows and clearings.


Nesting:

4-6 gray or blue-green eggs, laid at 2 day intervals, with a 32-36 day incubation period. Fledging occurs 27-34 days after hatching. The nest is a large mud mound lined with feathers and down. The nest is constructed around March-May and is usually found near a lake, pond, or marsh edge.


Observed Locations:

Lake Murray, La Mesa
FRNC, Point Loma
Mission Trails Park, San Diego
Kate Sessions Park, Pacific Beach
Lindo Lake, Lakeside








kalapati
San Diego
http://loftdekalapati.mypets.ws:81/Jview.htm