Can an owl carry off a grown duck?

[desertdarlene]

Yes, an eagle would definitely pick up a medium or large duck with no problems at all.

 

[Bleenie]

I would just DIE if i heard that poor baby crying as it got carried off

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[desertdarlene]

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I know back when I was watching Molly the owl on Ustream, that was one of my biggest worries--that Molly or McGee would bring home a live kitten or killdeer chick. But, it never happened.

 

[Wifezilla]

Someone here had a duck carried off by a hawk. The duck got away somehow and turned up at a family members house a few miles away.

 

[pekinduck<3er]

could a hawk or regular not barn owl carry off a cayuga?

 

[roracrittercorner]

Know no one has wrote on this topic in a long while but, I have lost adult cats and ducks to Great Horned Owls. Now they are even after my peacocks!! They hunt all the time! Day and night! Impossible situation without locking everything up around the clock! So sorry for your losses

 

[Piper Bear]

I have seen a Great-horned owl carry off a large Peking duck with my own eyes! Our ducks had been vanishing without a trace for a couple of years. No feathers, no tracks. Nothing! We set live traps and everything, but nothing! It was such an infuriating mystery until one evening I went out for my run later than normal. The sun had set about 30 minutes prior. I ran out past our pond and surprised an owl (we nearly collided!) as he was flying away with one of my Peking ducks! Because I startled him he dropped the duck (already dead but in one piece still) and flew away. My husband looked over the duck and it looks like it was killed before the owl was taking it away probably to its nest to eat. After some research we realized that we had a pair of these owls that we had been "feeding" for years! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never thought a Great-horned owl could kill and carry off a large duck without a trace. Even though we have a floating covered house for them in the middle of pond, it was not enough to protect from owls. We now drive them up out of the pond at least an hour before sunset to a pen overnight. However, we recently learned that it we let them out too early in the morning the owls can still be hunting-- even after sunrise! (Lost one duck at 8am!) We now play it safe and they are only at the pond from 9am-4pm. I hope this post helps anyone who is living the mystery of the vanishing birds like we did for years.

 

[ETC]

I have three GH owls harassing my chickens and ducks even in the day time. They hang out just waiting for me open their coop in the morning. I have to keep them in their covered run. They are out all day. Their are a lot of rabbits around for them.
Any advise on how to get rid of the owls.
BTW our dog is always with my ducks and chicks.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I have three GH owls harassing my chickens and ducks even in the day time. They hang out just waiting for me open their coop in the morning. I have to keep them in their covered run. They are out all day. Their are a lot of rabbits around for them.
Any advise on how to get rid of the owls.
BTW our dog is always with my ducks and chicks.

I don't know how to get rid of owls but you're doing the right thing by keeping them in the covered run all day. Keep on doing that because those owls know where they are and they won't give up. Same with any predator!

 

[LeahPaige]

I've been losing a bunch of ducks lately - mostly Welsh Harlequins and a few Harlequin/mallard hybrids. All of them were mid-size ducks - not too big or small.

Usually they just disappear without a trace, but I did find one completely headless one. She was killed at about 4:00 or 4:30 in the afternoon on a damp, grey day. We have 2 good dogs and it's hard for me to believe that a raccoon or mink would attack during the day with them around.

The frequency of attacks, headless duck, and presence of guard dogs makes me think it's an owl. Plus, we've actually seen barred owls around here recently.

I've read that owls will eat the heads off prey that's too heavy to fly with. But can they actually carry off a duck so that it just disappears without a trace? I'd sure like to identify the culprit who took my Buttercup.