11 raptors attacking my chickens this morning!

[gjensen]

I believe based on your description of the birds, the behavior, and your location that you witnessed a colony of mississipi kites. They are a medium sized bird of prey that will nest in colonies out your way (they do not tend to here). They are primarily insect eaters, but oppurtunistic as most predators are will eat small birds, reptiles, amphibians etc. They do not dive as most raptors do but swoop down on their prey. Many have greyish upper bodies, but are lighter underneath with black markings. Farmers have noted them feeding in groups behind their tractors taking advantage of the stirred insects and occasional rodent, snake etc. Their descriptions remind me of the behavior you witnessed.
Based on your description I am guessing that you got a good enough look to tell if they were vultures. Sea Gulls is a possibility, but it seams you would have recognized them as sea gulls. Mississipi Kites are nesting in your area (I believe). Google them and see if they do not look like what you saw.

 

[HLAC]

Quote:
Ospreys eat fish, and don't hunt in groups

Man, I'm stumped on this one. What birds of prey native to Alabama DO hunt in groups though? I've tried to figure this one out but I'm still coming up short.

Did you look up Northern Harriers? (not Harris hawks) They're found all over the USA. Also look up Mississippi Kites.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Any raptor raising young will teach them to hunt; that said, 11 birds is beyond the size of a typical set of raptor parents and young.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Did you look up Northern Harriers?

I see lots of Harriers and have never seen more than two at any one time, and they weren't "hunting together"

The Kite sounds possible, but we don't have those here so I don't know much about them

Gulls are about the only birds I can think of that would be in a group that large, have brown, white and black markings, and would eat small birds

Also they weren't easily scared away​

 

[centrarchid]

I suspect gjensen is correct.

Description of birds, their numbers, what they were doing matches my experiences with Mississippi kites. I am familiar with other possibilities mentioned and behavior does not jive with my observations of those species.

What is odd is such a bird going after chickens. When going after birds, normally the birds are sparrow sized which quite a bit smaller than 1.5 week old chickens. I am used to seeing kites going after dragon flies and katydids in tree canopy and near bodies of water.

They also hunted around my fish ponds as I fed fish. The birds largely ignore people.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I am used to seeing kites going after dragon flies and katydids in tree canopy and near bodies of water.

Maybe they were after grasshoppers in the pasture, and the chickens were stirring them up

I'd think with 11 predators, if they were REALLY after the birds, they would have caught some while being observed​

 

[12304]

the other day i let my chicks out and out of the blue all of these voltures started flying low toward my chicks but did not attack

 

[mrpekinduck]

Turkey vulture?

 

[Dchicken207]

Quote:
thats what I was thinking.

 

[gavinandallison]

I suggest - if you want to keep your flock - not to let them free-range anymore. Sad to say, but it is the truth!!

Happy 4th July!!