Hawked out again!

[RodSD]

Because my birds got accidentally escaped today, a hawk ended up swooping them from the air. An hour later a smaller hawk swooped from below after my birds landed on our loft. So that is 3 times I got attacked this month. Last week was on lock down. The first week of this month I got attacked. Another lock down is to come.

That was a beautiful hawk though. I like the second smaller younger one better. The other one was too big to look cute.

[Timber]

Last year, YB's I had the same thing happen to me! It pretty hard to train and ship your young bird team when they are constantly being hit by Mr. Hawk. Even worse when they are locked down.

Personally, the hawk has his place in the world and I respect that. I just hate how brazen he can be when your standing 3-4 feet from the loft and he swoops right past you to snatch that bird from the board.

I dont care how pretty they look, I wish they were over populated, I would love to thin them out......

[ace in the hole]

Originally Posted by RodSD

Because my birds got accidentally escaped today, a hawk ended up swooping them from the air. An hour later a smaller hawk swooped from below after my birds landed on our loft. So that is 3 times I got attacked this month. Last week was on lock down. The first week of this month I got attacked. Another lock down is to come.

That was a beautiful hawk though. I like the second smaller younger one better. The other one was too big to look cute.

It is just that time of year. They are just drifting around looking for food.

Oh, by the way, the ones I like are the slow ones!

Ace

[Pegasus]

Originally Posted by Timber

I just hate how brazen he can be when your standing 3-4 feet from the loft and he swoops right past you to snatch that bird from the board.

You know what I do when I see hawks swooping down when I'm on my roof? I have this fishing net with a long handle, there will be a time that hawk will swoop down closer, able to catch it...I did this one time and the hawk just about 10 inches away from my net and I felt his wings tap the edge, I swang and almost got it, he knows I'm trying to catch him too, but after that late afternoon (almost dawn) I stayed and he just flew away and left my birds alone...I asked myself once I caught it , what am I going to do with it? NOTHING, so since then I just get a long pole with a black bag tied to the end just to flag my birds and flag the hawk away...So far so good....

[Kal-El]

Most likely, the hawks are working as a team, husband and wife style. The bigger one is the female, and the smaller one is the male. Is it legal to trap them in your area?

[RodSD]

I think it is not legal to trap them unless you have a license. Today I find more trouble. The hawk now has made my next door neighbor's eucalyptus tree a roosting site. That tree is literally like 30 feet from my loft. I also see some semblance of a nest. I have now more trouble than previous. My loft seems to be just right below that tree. I am sitting duck! Damn predator might start nesting near my loft.

[homeseeker]

This will be my first year with pigeons but not with hawks. I live next to a large field and the hawks are typically hunting rodents in there. Also at any time there are 20-30 doves and 10 20 feral pigeons in mine or my neighbours yard along with many smaller birds. My hopes are that with all that other natural game my birds will stand a better chance. Mornings and evening we have crows around too so I hope that helps. Owls used to be a problem here when my Brittany was a pup I had to walk around the yard hovering over her to keep them from taking her. Losing a pigion is bad but hundreds of dollars in a puppy would realy suck.

[fastpitch dad]

Originally Posted by RodSD

I am sitting duck! Damn predator might start nesting near my loft.

I would let it build it and then tear it down, and I would do so until it left.

[Kal-El]

Hawk problems are inevitable. Pigeons versus hawks will always be an eternal struggle.

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by fastpitch dad

I would let it build it and then tear it down, and I would do so until it left.

It's illegal to do that .. if you get caught, it's a pretty hefty fine and possibly jail time. If you like, I will find the actual part of the Federal Migratory Bird Treat Act that makes it so. I just don't want anyone here doing anything that is A) illegal and B) going to get them in trouble.

Terry

[fastpitch dad]

Originally Posted by TAWhatley

It's illegal to do that .. if you get caught, it's a pretty hefty fine and possibly jail time. If you like, I will find the actual part of the Federal Migratory Bird Treat Act that makes it so. I just don't want anyone here doing anything that is A) illegal and B) going to get them in trouble.

Terry

Then let me rephrase that .
If the tree was on my land that the bird was trying to nest in, I would trim the limbs back.
I never suggested to them to do that, I was only stating what I would do .
And if I did (which I haven't) I surely wouldn't post it here.

[LUCKYT]

AMEN! Most likely a pair of coopers, it is not very common for two species to hunt close to each other, although it does happen. We have a pair of coopers that have nested 2 doors down the last 3 years, they do not let other hawks hang around! ( four chicks last year, they have a clear view of my loft exits from the nest.
The trick is to get a few hawk smart pigeons to teach the hawks it is not worth the effort.
This year i used my last homer hen, (She can spot a hawks intentions a mile away!)
and six or seven high fling tipplers. The hen spots the hawks, the high flyers take of and go higher than the hawk cares to. I only lost ONE young bird this year, a small mixed flock of rollers, tipplers and the "body guard" (15 BIRDS)
I love the hawks as much as the pigeons. At the end of the season, the young gave up and the old birds found it hardly worth the effort.
There are times of the year, the coopers do not hunt near the nest, THEN they let the youngsters hunt the local area. The art is to settle young birds in the period when the parents are letting the area repopulate with song birds.
IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUNG BIRDS IN A SETTLING FLIGHT UNTILL THEY CAN FLY STRONG!!!!
Then make sure, at least at first,to let the "trained" birds out, and if the hawks are not "checking" the menu, let the youngsters out.
This method will not work with fantails, runts, and non flying breeds mind you. But if a pigeon breed is not flight oriented the breed is not for me ! Dave.

[LUCKYT]

learn to deal with it.

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by fastpitch dad

Then let me rephrase that .
If the tree was on my land that the bird was trying to nest in, I would trim the limbs back.
I never suggested to them to do that, I was only stating what I would do .
And if I did (which I haven't) I surely wouldn't post it here.

Nuff said! Thank you for the rephrasing.

Terry

[RodSD]

Well, I see the hawk(s) now around 5 pm or around sunset roosting on that tree. I decided to work around it by calling my all my birds in before 5 pm. These predators used to live 3 or 4 houses down. Now they decided to live next door. They actually have a nice spot overlooking my loft. What a way to start 2009! Last year I've been plague with constant attacks which led me to not fly my baby birds until they are 6 or 8 weeks old, strong on the wing. My birds are very hawk aware.

The last time a pair of coopers hit me I lost one bird and had an injured bird. They are very clever hunting. If I get really pissed I am going to ask the animal control agency what they can do. My worst fear is when these hawks decided to build a nest on top of our pine tree where my loft happened to be below. That would be like free dinner!

In the end I think I will either get wiped out or I will end up with a very hawk, smart, aware bird that is very fast to escape.