Hawks and other birds of prey--kill or not?

[deerman]

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I have never lost a bird to redtail hawks....they prey mostly on small animals. Yes they will take birds , but i never worry about them, have alot of the wild prey they like. now the coopers got the nickname chicken hawk for a reason

that almost makes me laugh, the only chickens I've ever had Killed by a raptor has been red tailed hawks.

I watch those little coopers hawks catch mice in the pasture all the time... Little devils, I bet those mice are just appetizers. They're trying to play innocent

You sure those are coopers, about size of a pigeon....they are bird hawks...lost many pheasants and chicken to them. Now sharpshin are small hawks that look like coopers. Check this site you will see they feed on birds up to size of ringneck pheasant(chicken size)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk

 

[deerman]

Link to the tracking info on Peregrine Falcons raised in Columbus Ohio. I follow these birds for years.. Just something about a bird that can dive up to 200 mile per hour.







http://ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/falcons/tracking.aspx

 

[KCchickens]

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that almost makes me laugh, the only chickens I've ever had Killed by a raptor has been red tailed hawks.

I watch those little coopers hawks catch mice in the pasture all the time... Little devils, I bet those mice are just appetizers. They're trying to play innocent

You sure those are coopers, about size of a pigeon....they are bird hawks...lost many pheasants and chicken to them. Now sharpshin are small hawks that look like coopers. Check this site you will see they feed on birds up to size of ringneck pheasant(chicken size)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk

I checked out that link, they're definitly coopers hawks. They're belly really doesn't look like the sharp shinned. I had no idea that they were the little ones causing all the problems, I always thougt it was the red tailed hawk, poor guys got a bad rap. Thanks for pointing out the coopers were trouble makers. I guess I'll have to start shooing them away too.

 

[gritsar]

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[6littlechickies]

Lost several birds to hawks this year. Thought about having it shot for a minute and really just decided it was not the right thing to do. We all can get frustrated with our little ones getting picked off. The birds as many have stated are just trying to eat and also take care of many rodents in the area. Decided to shoo one off several times by walking down to the barn when it got so bold as to sit on the top waiting for chicken morsels. Finally just made sure any free roaming chickens weren't free to roam until afternoon. No more hawk problems after that. Glad that most everyone is in agreement to leave the hawks alone.

Aren't they great to see when we aren't worried about chickens?