Cooper's Hawks Hunt Openings to Coops During Migration!

Boonie Stomper

Crowing
Jan 1, 2018
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DC, MD, VA region
The Cooper's (a.k.a. Chicken) Hawk is a beautiful specimen of nature. But they are not welcome here!

They do not come from here, yet their migration path brings them to my coop. I just lost one of my hopeful future EE pullets to one a few minutes after opening the coop and scattering treats - fresh peas and corn.
Suddenly from the kitchen I heard a commotion in the coop which had a door open and I raced back out thinking maybe a rat was out for the goodies. Caught in the act was a gorgeous assailant just polishing off the right side of BeepBeep's head! My other girls had "vanished" to a tight spot outside the coop and had to be locked back into the coop one by one. They are now terrified of the coop. The hawk is perhaps the same one that got away last spring after attaking my last EE.

So... How long will they stay in an area or how long is a typical migration's duration for these vicious vermicious knids?

On November 17, there was a hawk attack in the yard, to my huge, heaviest hen Donner, assumed a hawk due to only the head, some crop and a bit of liver being eaten, and a mid-day kill.

Very closely supervised the 4 birds left by sitting outside whenever I opened the coop for two weeks after that. It seems that was not long enough, though it is much colder now.

Do hawks remember and return to the same places they ate before during their travels? If so how long will they hang around before moving on?
:(
 
Oh no! I'm so sorry :C I've never lost a chicken to coopers after one tried taking a very well fed and nasty tempered Orpington but it doesn't stop them from feasting on my racing homers .during practice flights :mad: unfortunately I can't help whith migratory times as I live in migration central here in Anacortes and 50% of our accipiters just stay here full time(including the fluffng coopers at my place!)
 
Maybe my replacements should be Orpingtons! Never had one... If they can take on a little sub freezing winter and summer heat, and kill rats then I'm ok with bad tempers...heh heh.

What really irks me is the hawks entering my coop and taking birds :mad:instead of the overly abundant rodents all around the vicinity. :he
 
fall hawk migration worse on days with northwest wind following a cold front
how long they stay depends on the weather, usually a week by me.
major migration supposed to be done mid december, however i had a hawk attack in the coop on Christmas day 2016...
 
Sigh... At least I got to eat 2 year old big bird for my birthday (she was quite the pig with wings and laying less and less). Now I'm hanging up one more to fix this week. Not thrilled though as she was due to start laying. :hmm
 
The Cooper's (a.k.a. Chicken) Hawk is a beautiful specimen of nature. But they are not welcome here!


Do hawks remember and return to the same places they ate before during their travels? If so how long will they hang around before moving on?
:(

Wow, did this just strike a cord with me. I got rid of my pigeons nearly 5 years ago. Today when I came back from TSC there was a Cooper's hawk on top of my aviaries looking into the loft through the bobs. (Yeah, I've had one set open just in case someone found their way back home.) I believe they remember. My question is how long do they live. If someone in your neighborhood is feeding the birds they will remain all winter feeding on the birds eating at the feeders. I feel your pain.
 
@sourland ugh I know! No one even feeds them! But we have a bazilion rabbits and quail all over town so it makes no difference -_- @Boonie Stomper i love orps! But I'll admit I've had multiple wander off when going broody to make a nest and get eaten :/ my most fit multipurpose breed I've owned so far is the Delaware. They re somewhat big, good rangers, they'll let you know if they're a pred and I've watched them go against snakes, cats , rats, to hawks and ravens. They re pretty vocal to though so a coop next to the house may be I'll advised....
 
The average life span of a Cooper's Hawk in the wild is a year and a half, although the oldest known wild Cooper's lived to be 12 years of age https://urbanecologycenter.org/blog/native-animal-of-the-month-the-coopers-hawk.html

The average life span for a coopers hawk in the wild is 10-15 years
The oldest known wild red-tailed hawk lived to at least 21.5 years old.
Is there anyway we can reduce those average ages,, without risking involuntary confinement or hefty fines?
 

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