Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

I spy with my little eye
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Hello Princess, you’re looking very well today!

Hi Marie

 

[Ponypoor]

Ah are you picturing a hawk swooping in, grabbing with it's talons and then it keeps flying, carrying off it's prize? Kind of like catching a fish out of a pond?

Yes, a Cooper's or Sharpshin will will try to grab a little bird that's perched on the end of branch, if it can catch it by surprise, or it has gone into shock and can't fly to escape. That may be an in-flight attack.

But just jumping down on prey, a controlled fall / leap down from a branch, is very common among these hawks and others around here, big and small. That's how they catch snakes and lizards, rodents and grasshoppers, and ground birds like chickens (we also have ruffed grouse and turkeys here). Only if the prey is small enough will they try to fly up with it to eat it once it's killed on the ground.

In an attack I witnessed, a huge Red-Tail flew down (more like a controlled drop with some horizontal travel) from above, landing on Butters' tail end, as she saw it at the last minute, ran and squirmed that it didn't get a good grab on her. But she ran into the electric fence, as she wanted to go in a straight line away from the hawk.

I was running over there at this point, but the Red-tail was unperturbed by me, walked up to her and began a ground attack, jumping on her. She kept flapping and fighting and I yelled, but the hawk wasn't paying any attention to me. I was very close when the hawk finally hop/flew up to the back of a chair, but it really wanted / needed this meal and hesitated. It finally decided it would leave when I was going over the fencing.

This particular hawk was hungry and determined. I was dense, stressed and not thinking straight about these attacks (this was the second one), and it later succeeded in killing another poor hen before I learned enough how smart hawks are, finding a way around aerial protection, and how chickens are going to respond. Multiple shelters, escape places and hidey-holes are not enough when the attack is from above and the hen doesn't see it coming in the first place (this is why smart wary hens and roosters help). And the fencing against ground predators (fox, coyote, bobcat, bear) works against the whole situation once the predator is in.

Yes, hawks will swoop in and hit the prey from above and kill them by breaking a neck.

I have seen diff ent species of hawk do this. They either sit in a tree and ambush their pray, or (and this is what I mostly see) hover overhead and then plummet very quickly (so very fast!) to the ground on top of their prey and kill it by breaking its neck.

Clyde is very lucky, a larger hawk would have instantly killed him, but this was a young Cooper’s hawk around the same size as Clyde. If the hawk has attacked Georgie it would have been a different outcome, which is why I was so freaked out scream for Georgie. She is the smallest (next to the bantams) and the most vulnerable. Today she gets a buzz cut - no more cute fluffy topknot. She needs her eyes to use, more than I need to see a cutesy fluffy hairdo.

The funny thing is, the crows where chasing away a larger hawk not half an hr earlier, it was wheeling around high up - I know they can see prey from way up there, and I know they can drop at astonishing speed from those heights to kill prey.

But as I was seeing it being harassed by the crows I didn’t think much of it. But this distraction of the crows with that larger raptor gave the smaller younger one the opportunity to slip in and try to get dinner.

The crows and bluejays were off chasing that big raptor not hanging out here as they normally do.

So this was likely the same hawk that was causing all the ruckus last weekend. Waiting for a break in the alert system (crows and blue jays) to make its move.

Smart birds!

So now my crew has to be kept under cover and they will not like that - too bad, they need to be protected from themselves.

 

[Ponypoor]

Well done Clyde .

Give loads of treats for the brave boy, Kelly

He’s a lucky boy, a bigger raptor would have killed him instantly. He was fighting for his life that is for sure.

 

[Ponypoor]

Ah are you picturing a hawk swooping in, grabbing with it's talons and then it keeps flying, carrying off it's prize? Kind of like catching a fish out of a pond?

Yes, a Cooper's or Sharpshin will will try to grab a little bird that's perched on the end of branch, if it can catch it by surprise, or it has gone into shock and can't fly to escape. That may be an in-flight attack.

But just jumping down on prey, a controlled fall / leap down from a branch, is very common among these hawks and others around here, big and small. That's how they catch snakes and lizards, rodents and grasshoppers, and ground birds like chickens (we also have ruffed grouse and turkeys here). Only if the prey is small enough will they try to fly up with it to eat it once it's killed on the ground.

In an attack I witnessed, a huge Red-Tail flew down (more like a controlled drop with some horizontal travel) from above, landing on Butters' tail end, as she saw it at the last minute, ran and squirmed that it didn't get a good grab on her. But she ran into the electric fence, as she wanted to go in a straight line away from the hawk.

I was running over there at this point, but the Red-tail was unperturbed by me, walked up to her and began a ground attack, jumping on her. She kept flapping and fighting and I yelled, but the hawk wasn't paying any attention to me. I was very close when the hawk finally hop/flew up to the back of a chair, but it really wanted / needed this meal and hesitated. It finally decided it would leave when I was going over the fencing.

This particular hawk was hungry and determined. I was dense, stressed and not thinking straight about these attacks (this was the second one), and it later succeeded in killing another poor hen before I learned enough how smart hawks are, finding a way around aerial protection, and how chickens are going to respond. Multiple shelters, escape places and hidey-holes are not enough when the attack is from above and the hen doesn't see it coming in the first place (this is why smart wary hens and roosters help). And the fencing against ground predators (fox, coyote, bobcat, bear) works against the whole situation once the predator is in.

Exactly, perimeter fencing has to keep the predators out, once they are in, the only way the chooks will be protected is if them can get to protected cover or fly up onto a tree. Heavy chooks are doomed.

Once a raptor gets into the pen it’s likely game over, all my chooks ran for cover, even the Roos, and Mr LC who is really aggressive was hiding with the rest. Bert was inside.

So the best protection is to have birds that are alert enough to spot a predator, warn the group and be fast and agile enough to run and find protection inside or with a human or livestock dog.

Clyde wasn’t fighting to protect anyone, he was fighting for his life. If I hadn’t been there I am not sure he would have survived. The hawk and he were same sized but the hawk had agility with flight and sight. And experience hunting. Clyde had limited sight, no flight capacity and no experience in survival. Well he has that now a bit.

So I will crop back his hairdo and keep him under wraps - no more wandering around outside without me watching them.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you for your sympathy, Marie! But I don’t blame them for their existence and doing what they need to do to survive. They usually go after prey we really don’t want a lot more of. So I think of it the other way around, that they are part of the whole balance of nature, just doing their thing, and it is our job to guard our special pets.

The way I look at it ~ as much as I detest House Sparrows that have all but obliterated other small birds from our yard, and Sparrows are an invitation to hawks, it is because of these Sparrows' screechy hawk alerts that will signal our hens to instantly go silent & hide.

DH & I have waaayyy too much time on our hands to observe these animal behaviors !!!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Exactly, perimeter fencing has to keep the predators out, once they are in, the only way the chooks will be protected is if them can get to protected cover or fly up onto a tree. Heavy chooks are doomed.

Once a raptor gets into the pen it’s likely game over, all my chooks ran for cover, even the Roos, and Mr LC who is really aggressive was hiding with the rest. Bert was inside.

So the best protection is to have birds that are alert enough to spot a predator, warn the group and be fast and agile enough to run and find protection inside or with a human or livestock dog.

Clyde wasn’t fighting to protect anyone, he was fighting for his life. If I hadn’t been there I am not sure he would have survived. The hawk and he were same sized but the hawk had agility with flight and sight. And experience hunting. Clyde had limited sight, no flight capacity and no experience in survival. Well he has that now a bit.

So I will crop back his hairdo and keep him under wraps - no more wandering around outside without me watching them.

Chickens, at least my chickens here, also don’t “think on their feet” like a cat might. Both Queenie and Butters ran straight for where they could see directly away from the threat, regardless of the fence in between them, and didn’t turn to the side. A cat, finding an obstruction, will dodge 90 degrees and dart to another escape way.

 

[featherhead007]

Hawk vs Kitten

As we are onto hawk discussions and google has told youtube, this video came up today. Crazy!

Now what do I tell my insurance company about the scratches on my car?

 

[featherhead007]

Or feather lice. Before we had chickens we rescued a Sparrow chick that fell out of its nest & was totally infested w/feather lice ~ not a way to start out its new life. To me, Sparrows are a scourge compared to other types of wild birds ~ they are nasty to other birds & chase off finches. blackbirds, Phoebes ~ Sparrows squabble amongst themselves, kill other nesting birds & throw out the eggs to take over the nests, & they aren't afraid to swarm a Crow on the ground by flock-pooping on the Crow so that its wings are too wet to fly away from the Sparrow swarm. Sparrows don't even have melodious voices, just shrill angry raspy noisy annoyances!

I take it that sparrows are not on your Christmas list.

 

[featherhead007]

I need eyes for sure ~ I saw laWyers at first!

 

[featherhead007]

Pumpkin!

I put a pumpkin out for the ladies to carve again this year. After 1 day in the usual spot no pecking had occurred. So I moved over under the apple trees where Hattie hangs out. I know she is a pumpkin fan.

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After 1 day sitting by Hattie.....
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After 2 days sitting by Hattie the seedy inside has been breached!

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In real estate terms, it’s “location, location, location!”