Hawk attack!!!

[Kessel23]

I think he will make a recovery, hopefully, he might have some deeper puncture wound than I originally thought but he still should be fine.

 

[BeeDuckley]

http://www.themanitoban.com/2009/10/ask-a-scientist-2/296/
Hopefully, that link leads to the report I found. If not:
TOPICS:Birds

BY LEIF LARSEN
ON OCTOBER 19, 2009

What does it sound like when doves cry?

Much to the dismay of the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince, according to some cursory research, very few non-mammals actually cry. So asking the question “is this what it sounds like when doves cry?” is akin to asking what the sound of one hand clapping is, and I don’t think Prince was that deep.

While some animals do make sounds of distress — mostly mammals trying to get the attention of their mothers — crying when you’re upset or injured seems to be a uniquely human attribute. If you look at the issue from the perspective of a predator/prey relationship, vocalizing the fact that you are injured and vulnerable to things that want to eat you is rarely a good idea. This does not, however, mean that bird eyes are not super cool.

While the average human has a field of vision — or the amount of area your eyes can cover at any one time — of 180 degrees out of a possible 360, some birds can see a full 340 degrees around their head. This is important since, unlike us humans who can swivel our eyes all around in their sockets, most bird eyes are fixed in place. This is also why birds move their heads around so much when looking at things.

Bird eyes also differ from ours in the department of head-to-eye ratio. Human eyes only make up a measly one per cent of the total head in terms of weight, while bird eyes can make up almost 15 per cent. This is partially due to the fact that birds have larger eyes for a given size of head than humans, and partially due to the fact that bird skeletons are very light, to facilitate flight.

And finally, assuming that just because birds don’t cry means that they don’t have the ability to cry would be a mistake. According to Scott Forbes of the University of Winnipeg, like humans, birds have tear ducts which secrete watery tears that protect the eye. Furthermore, some birds, such as those which live near salt water, even have ducts which make oily, waterproof tears.
So birds could cry if they wanted to, they just choose not to.

One more unrelated bird-eye-fact: there are moths in Madagascar who actually feed on the tears of sleeping birds by pushing a “harpoon like” projection into the bird’s tear-duct. W-eye-ld!
And so, what may be occurring is that he is so mortified that he's barely blinking, and so is compensating by producing an excess of liquid. This is his first brush with death, so hours he very well could be quietly seeping salt water because he's 11 months old and got away, and that was the scariest $h!t ever!! She was huge!!!!

 

[Pigpie]

My Prescott was attcked by a hawk today, in his "sanctuary", while U was cutting wood for it!!! She flew in through a hole in the framework, cause that's all I had so far, and he kicked her ass!!! He fought her off, and went to the pool to dive. She tried one more time before he was under water, when I got the door open and next to her. She flew out another opening, and he swam around frantically fluffing lopsided. He got out, and I scooped him up carefully to inspect him. He didn't resist, and he had one drop of blood where head meets neck. I daubed it with a peroxide paper towel, then squirted peroxide at the wound, and patted it with the paper towel. He was dazed. He wandered around aimlessly for a minute, very slowly, passing up beloved mealworms! He walked still slowly, into Goerge's food bowl, knocking it over, then barely touched the tip of his beak in the dogs' water. We then wandered toward his bedroom, the 2'×4'×3' dog traveller, and took a couple of sips from his own water. Then, he got into his bowl, so I ran to the bathroom to fill up our biggest tupperware with water, so he would fit. I set it up in his room, scooped him up and gently set him in it. He began to gingerly move his tail, not wagging like normal, and get some water in there.
I sat with him for about 20 minutes cooing to him about how awesome he is and what a good job he did, then headed back out to block those holes with chicken wire during the last of daylight.
When it was dark and I had completed all but the roof, I came in to watch the last of daylight with him on my lap. He was under my jeweler's bench, facing the corner! I picked him up and saw a tear from each eye!!!!! Then, I saw washed out blood on his lower abdominal feathers!!!!! It hadn't bothered him when I picked him up, so it's not deep. View attachment 1299216 View attachment 1299218
I'm still sitting with him, and he doesn't insist on facing the corner, but is still eventually shifting to it. He is verrry quiet and still. Anybody else had a duck win a fight like this?? How was your baby afterward? How long were they in shock like this?

To everyone making comments on the tear statement, I don't think the OP was trying to be politically correct or trying to start a debate on whether ducks can or can not cry. No, he probably doesn't have an immediate eye infection the duck was injured and survived an attack, I'd call it a tear too just because that's what it looks like. On another note, glad your duck got away, should make a full recovery and maybe when he's not so shooken up give his wounds a good look over to see how deep they are and maybe spary some vetricyn on to help healing and prevent infections.

 

[BeeDuckley]

To everyone making comments on the tear statement, I don't think the OP was trying to be politically correct or trying to start a debate on whether ducks can or can not cry. No, he probably doesn't have an immediate eye infection the duck was injured and survived an attack, I'd call it a tear too just because that's what it looks like. On another note, glad your duck got away, should make a full recovery and maybe when he's not so shooken up give his wounds a good look over to see how deep they are and maybe sorry some vetricyn on to help healing and prevent infections.

Thank you! He is quietly quacking at me now, after finishing the dishes juuust in his eyeshot! He's been so quiet. He's gonna be fine!

 

[Raenh]

Soo, out of curiousity as there are two hawks that hang out around here, will bird netting/deer netting keep them out if its attached like an awning, and draped down?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Bird netting deer netting will most likely keep out a flying pred if attached securely but anything else no raccoons can rip through netting with out any trouble and they climb real well. Raccoons can get through chicken wire, about the only thing that will keep out predators is hardware cloth.

BeeDuckley How is your boy doing this morning?

 

[BeeDuckley]

Soo, out of curiousity as there are two hawks that hang out around here, will bird netting/deer netting keep them out if its attached like an awning, and draped down?

I am still learning, but, if it is secured in a way that cannot be moved by a strong bird of prey, or flown through, yes. If the netting is secured to a corner post 4' + and layed on it's side along the basd of thr structure, I think that would work. It would need to drape down tightly though. I might do something like that while I'm finishing the roof on my home made "coup"! Thanks for inspiring the idea!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd go on Predators and Pests and ask about bird netting if it will keep out a large bird of prey.

 

[BeeDuckley]

Bird netting deer netting will most likely keep out a flying pred if attached securely but anything else no raccoons can rip through netting with out any trouble and they climb real well. Raccoons can get through chicken wire, about the only thing that will keep out predators is hardware cloth.

BeeDuckley How is your boy doing this morning?

Ugh, really? Thank you!! It means more work, but I'm doing it to keep them safe and secure. My frame is 9.5 ft. tall at the eve, so you can see my plight!
Prescott is doing great this morning! He's still pretty quiet, I think he's still in pain, but curious again!!

 

[BeeDuckley]

Now, I will block off the dog door, and let Prescott roam the house for 4 and a half hours while we go pick out 3 hens for him, as planned!! We shall see if tnat perks him up past normal. I still have the ladder work to do on their sanctuary. Thank you, everybody, for your help, advice, and concern!!