do birds of prey kill full grown ducks?

[desertdarlene]

I was worried about the neighborhood pets. Also, this is the time of day people walk their small dogs.

 

[firsthouse_mp]

Most of my friends who have lost ducks and hens to birds of prey have told me that the hawks generally swoop in for the kill and rarely ever eat the bodies...headless and heartless (and lifeless) poultry found attacked. These prey birds are swift, accurate and determined! We live in a suburban area and have lost a hen to a Cooper's Hawk. My neighbor saw the whole thing......

 

[mom2jedi]

Hawks are amazing birds. Devastating but amazing none the less. I had a two month silkie go missing one night after free ranging with all the big girls. Did my nightly head count and came up one short so went into the run to take a look since it was still light enough to see. All I found was a circle of feathers and nothing else. A couple days later there was a hawk sitting on my privacy fence looking into the chicken run. I locked the girls up right away as they were already in the coop hiding.

Best I can tell a hawk landed on my silkie and took off with her in its talons leaving the ring of feathers behind.

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

Ive seen eagles get ducks....I watched this eagle make the kill and it took me 40 minutes to get close enough to get in camera range

I have seen Osprey kill many things but ive never seen one with an adult duck. It is an amazing feeling when something with a 6 ft wing span buzzes you. This is an osprey.....and it was in our yard 2 weeks before i was able to get on the lake and get images of it. My wife told me 2 days in a row a large hawk was in the yard, I was surprised when it turned out to be one of a mating pair of ospreys. The talons on birds of prey are unreal.

 

[Duckchick2011]

I once had a hawk perched on the side of my quail pen, I'm not sure if he ever would have made it through the wire but he sure looked determined. Luckly I have never lost a duck or quial to a hawk
but I have no doubt it happens.

 

[MysticalMom]

Read our hawk story here. The reprter didn't get ALL the facts right, but she told the story pretty well.

http://www.somdnews.com/stories/02162011/entetop163953_32296.shtml

Unfortunately Peanut is no more. The fox I'm trying to get rid of got her 3 weeks ago.

And aduckstolemyheart... I totally agree about the crows. I used to chase them off the duck food every morning until the first time I saw them attack a hawk and drive it away. Those crows are relentless. They have never taken a duckling or an egg ( though maybe thats due to the fact that they can't get to them) and as far as I'm concerned they can eat the duck food if they want to.

 

[Bananarose24]

I dont have time right now to read this entire thread, but, do want to comment...

Last year we were soooooo excited when we brought our first 4 Ducks home! It was in August..
They were Free Rangers in our backyard, eating bugs, sleeping and hanging out wherever they wanted.. it was great..

Until about 5 days after we got them, my husband came home from working a night shift to find they had been attacked! We realized from the wounds, combined with what we had seen in our area that it was a Red Tailed Hawk that got them. 2 were dead (killed from attacks on the top of their necks---sure sign of a hawk attack). Another had a wing that was ripped to shreds, and one was unharmed.

We buried the 2, stowed the unharmed one in a playhouse for the time being, and took the one with the broken and torn up wing to the vet. She got an amputation and made a full recovery.

We now keep those 2, along with 3 others (and now 2 ducklings) in a pen ALL THE TIME. After the attack it took us a mere 2 days to construct our pen, we worked day and well into the night until it was done.

It is now 9 months later and we have not had a single attack since building the pen!
So, YES Birds of prey will KILL full grown ducks with no remorse.

 

[Bananarose24]

I also wanted to mention, I live just outside of a city, and our ducks were still attacked by a hawk and killed/injured badly.
None of them were carried away (I imagine they were too heavy)..
It was the worst day I've had in recent memory, by far, to wake up @5am to my husband screaming and finding dead bodies and feathers all over our yard

Not to mention the one that made it, with her sister literally shaking hiding in our bushes, the only place they could escape to (which is another reason I KNOW it was a hawk---a mammal of any kind would have kept chasing until they got em because these were Not thick bushes, just enough to cover the tops of them so the hawk couldnt swoop in)

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

Found this diver after an eagle took a swipe at him. We stood off and waited for the final blow but it never came. I geuss the diver dove right as the eagle made contact, the right wing was tore up and the attack was overin a blink, infact we never saw the eagle coming.

 

[mandelyn]

I just heard about a Great Horned Owl taking out two full sized ducks belonging to a friend of mine. It was still daylight too!

Neat pictures.