After two years, we lost our first hen to a hawk

LoveMyChicks2

In the Brooder
10 Years
Jun 2, 2009
43
0
32
Raeford, North Carolina
I wasn't home at the time. My son went outside just in time to see the hawk in the yard eating on our poor hen. All our other birds were hiding under bushes with the roo in front. My son scared away the hawk and we buried our hen. I should have known. For some reason our crows have left. They leave our area once or twice a year and every time, the hawks start aggravating our birds. When the crows are back, we rest peacefully as they chase away the hawks. We actually watched a very big crow go into a hawk nest, pick up two babies (one at a time) and drop them to the ground. I felt sorry for the poor babies but what can you do? I have to have my girls safe. I say "bring on the crows!"

Does anyone know why a crow hates hawks so much? I'm always amazed as the hawk could probably snap a crows neck but the hawk always turns tail and runs!
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this is from this link:

http://www.birdhobbyist.com/articles/BirdHobbyist/Species/Crows.html
Crows chase hawks and owls for the same reason that mockingbirds chase crows: to purge their territory of a potential predator. Crows especially hate Great Horned Owls, their main predator, and take particular delight in harassing these hapless raptors as they nap during the day, often calling in friends to participate in the chase. The few predators that crows, especially fledglings, might face (besides unfriendly humans) are raptors. Adult crows often participate in a behavior known as mobbing, in which they drive the threatening bird out by chasing it en masse. This may also be a means of demonstrating to young crows "this is what trouble looks like."
 
We lost a hen today too, not sure it was a hawk but that's what I suspect. I wonder if its seasonal, if it was a hawk it appears three of us lost a hen to one on the same day...?
 
About 8 years ago I moved from a small city to the country. One of the first things I saw upon arrival was the most impressive aerial battle I have ever seen. It was between a hawk and a crow (or possibly raven). I have never seen an aerial battle like that in my life. The hawk and the crow were battling in mid-air, full out. The crow was actually flying through the air upside down, attacking the hawk with his feet as he was flying. The end result was the hawk getting chased away. It couldn't take the concerted attack that was being aimed at it by a bird that was significantly smaller than it. I have often wished that I had had a video camera that day to get proof of that battle. It was amazing- the feints, the rolls, the feathers flying, the absolute no-holds-barred ferocity that I witnessed. Stunning. I don't know why crows hate hawks, but they do. They really do.
 

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