giant wingspan birds... are they a danger?

[krapnet]

I live in Houston, Texas, so far past couple of days I have been spotting massive size birds gliding thru the sky higher then airplanes, in circles, they look like vultures or something. Everytime i spot them I lock up the chickens and put my parrot inside too, just to be sure then they go away. anyone know if they could be a danger?

 

[akelley]

Vultures usually won't go after live prey, but hawks sure will. We have both here in SE TX.

What you're describing sounds more like vultures, but it's hard to say without seeing them firsthand...

 

[fluttervale]

This website might help you figure out what you saw:
http://identify.whatbird.com/

 

[TXchickmum]

We have vultures that fly and circle overhead similar to how you describe. I don't worry about them as they are carrion feeders.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I live in Houston, Texas, so far past couple of days I have been spotting massive size birds gliding thru the sky higher then airplanes, in circles, they look like vultures or something .....anyone know if they could be a danger?

This time of year there are all types of birds on the move. If it migrates it has likely already gotten underway. Raptors tend to be food jealous and thus rarely hunt or feed together. Yea I know someone is getting ready to post a video of bald eagles feeding on a dead sperm whale. But even the national emblem is unable to carry off dead sperm whales. Eating rotten whale flesh then becomes a dine in affair, besides there is more than enough dead whale to go round. Without more info it is impossible to say what kind of bird your seeing. Houston, Texas at this time of year is a Mecca for migrating birds of all kinds.

If these soaring birds are getting higher and higher as the day warms it sounds like they are gaining altitude in an attempt to cross the Gulf of Mexico. I can almost hear the bird conductor shouting....

"All aboard for the Yucatan peninsular, Honduras, Panama and all points South.... ALL ABOARD!!!!"

I feel sorry for the hummingbirds because we have yet to have a hurricane this fall so the little fellows are unable to ride the South Westerly winds on the back side of tropical storms because hummers on the Northern Gulf Coast make the trip across the Gulf of Mexico in only one hop.

Remember, "It is an ill wind indeed that doesn't fill someone's sails!!!"

 

[Wrooster]

.......

I feel sorry for the hummingbirds because we have yet to have a hurricane this fall so the little fellows are unable to ride the South Westerly winds on the back side of tropical storms because hummers on the Northern Gulf Coast make the trip across the Gulf of Mexico in only one hop...........

Be careful what you wish for: Tropical Storm Karen Forms in the Gulf of Mexico: http://classic.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2540

This message brought to you from Northern Florida, about 15 miles as the hummingbird flies from the Gulf of Mexico.

Oh - to return to the topic, if they're that high they don't sound like live-chicken-eaters to me, but I'd still be careful. Waiting until you see them is probably too late. They have much better eyesight than you do. If your chickens have something close to hide under, they have good eyesight, too, and strong survival instincts.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Wrooster made a good point about the eyesight of hawks. The eyesight of hawks and eagles is at least as good or as keen as your eyesight is with the aid of a pair of 8 or 10 power binoculars.

All the back yard chicken people who have reported finding flummoxed hawks in their netting covered pens should convince you of a hawk's eagle eyed eyesight.

A hawk in a shallow dive or stoop has his wings folded back to aid in streamlining his body making it easy for him to zip through the netting and into your pen. No hawk however can fly little less gain altitude or speed with his wings held in this configuration so he is trapped inside your pen or run. If you would take the time to pluck a dead hawk you would be astonished to see how little hawk there is beneath all those feathers. This aids hawks in penetrating netting covered runs and pens. Besides hawks are designed by nature to hunt in the thick cover of woods and forests.

Be of good cheer Wrooster, all or most of your hummers likely spend their winters in extreme South Florida or Cuba. So I am not calling a natural disaster down onto your head but instead onto our friends in Mississippi's head. You folks in Biloxi, I'm just kidding now, you hear?.

We all may as well laugh because it never helps to cry.

 

[krapnet]

Thanks for the response! it turns out the "vultures" were there because of road kill.

 

[akelley]

It doesn't take a lot of dead stuff to bring out the vultures in droves. A few weeks ago, something died in our neighbor's field, and so many vultures showed up that a bunch had to wait their turn in our yard!