Hawks Nesting in our Pecan tree, How do we get rid of them.

[Jhawk]

That is a Red -Shouldered hawk. Bird is too small to bother your dog. A little over a pound average. eats small rodents, bugs, frogs, and such.
If I can answer any questions drop me a e-mail. I have been a falconer for many years and don't think you will have a problem with this species. You have got mostly good advise, enjoy your spring watching them raise the young.
Jhawk

 

[cgmccary]

yep, definitely a Red Shouldered. I have a pair nesting on my property, and I love seeing & hearing them. I don't see your problem. Why would you want to run them off? They do not bother my poultry and not even capable of hurting a dog or cat -- impossible. Your little dog is more a danger to them than they to it. With little dogs, you only need to worry about a couple of kinds of birds of prey: the Great Horned Owl & the Golden Eagle, the former being common and the latter being rare. I've seen large Red tailed Hawks dive mockingly at my mother's very small Yorkshire Terriers (miniature ones about the size of a rabbit or large rat) who would run and bark at the hawks.

 

[BitsyB]

Quote:
Better than television!

I'm so glad that there are people who respect and enjoy wildlife, and try to figure out how we can coexsist with nature, instead of resorting to the "SSS" method right away. I find it makes life more interesting and magical when I take some time to observe the natural world all around us.
After all... "All creatures great and small, the good Lord made them all"

@Kats Silly Chickens- Happy hawk watching!

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

Quote:
The hawks we have are the red shoulder, not the red-tail. We looked into the breed and they don't tend to go after large chickens. And beside we don't free-range our 4 outside chickens, so we aren't worried about them. The type of hawk we've seen around our home, isn't showing any interest in our pecan tree other than a rest spot on it's flight around it nest area. As I explained to woodmort we won't cut down or even butcher the branches of our more than 23 year old tree. Besides the shade in the summer from our huge pecan tree is a pleasure when the temps hit 100.
Now that we know it's a less to not dangerous type of hawk we have no intention on having it removed or stopping it from soaring thru our area.
Thank you for your suggestion, and sorry you lost a bird to a red-tail hawk.

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

Quote:
When I first posted I had no idea what type of hawk it was. Not until I was able to get a picture was I updated on it's type. Don't worry we won't be trying to dislocate it from it's large nesting area. It's their choice where they want to be and it's not up to us to push them away.
If you read all my posts you would see the process it has taken to understand how to coincide.

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

It is our privilege to work with nature, What an honor to have hawks nesting on your place. You have a great responsibility to share the space, protect the innocent and natural inhabitants while giving your animals a place as well. I live on a creek and have had to adapt my setup to avoid the coons, opposums, red and grey foxes, ringtails and bobcats. But I have a wonderful and safe flock of chickens. Any body can do it. The idea of getting rid of species that we lure in with our livestock is outdated and in so many ways just wrong. I wish you much success in finding a productive way of managing your flock and conserving nature.

Sincerely,
Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
Ah, the Golden Eagle may be rare where you live, but we have them all over the place. Now, THOSE are plenty big enough to carry off chickens and dogs, and will. I think the only reason I don't have them nesting in my trees is that the hawks won't allow it.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
Better than television!

I'm so glad that there are people who respect and enjoy wildlife, and try to figure out how we can coexsist with nature, instead of resorting to the "SSS" method right away. I find it makes life more interesting and magical when I take some time to observe the natural world all around us.
After all... "All creatures great and small, the good Lord made them all"

@Kats Silly Chickens- Happy hawk watching!

Living among birds of prey is just another "Well, go figure" moment related to keeping chickens, which in itself was a "Well, alrighty then...." moment. The chickens have opened our eyes to a whole new world, which has been here all along, but we hadn't noticed until the chickens alerted us to their presence. Without the chickens' eye-line RIGHT TO IT, we'd never see the hawks, they blend in so well. Wouldn't have noticed our toads (they swallow them whole) the shrews (OMG they have no eyes!) or the bizillions of grubs that used to make our lawn brown (not anymore).

I wouldn't EVER have wanted to hang laundry outside, if it weren't for wanting to let our chickens roam for awhile while the hawks were close by, now I have a new and much beloved hobby on sunny days. There's just so much out there to be thankful for, its awesome. I know 2 birds of prey, personally, know their voices and their habits, I swear they come by just to say "Hey there". If they wanted to eat our chickens, they could have, easily. Instead, they just come by for strange, but wonderful social visits among our land birds. I think chickens were the inspiration for winged angels. They bless us so.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

I can understand your concern, however prior to nesting they probably had several opportunities to the the little dogs if they wanted to try it. I would just have to go out with the dogs and watch them while they are out. I would give anything to have them nesting on my property. I love birds of prey...

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

D'Angelo N Va. :

I can understand your concern, however prior to nesting they probably had several opportunities to the the little dogs if they wanted to try it. I would just have to go out with the dogs and watch them while they are out. I would give anything to have them nesting on my property. I love birds of prey...

I'm no longer worried about them being around our property, I go outside with my Jack Russell anyways, she insists on it. Yes she's spoiled, but that was why I got her. And our chihuahua doesn't go more than 10 ft from the backdoor.

The hawks come to visit daily, they hang out in the pecan tree for a bit singing away, then they go to check all the other properties with trees. It's like they adopted our cul-de-sac and the larger community just north of us. They hang out here for hours then around 1-2pm they head to wherever their nest is.

You're right they most likely have been around here long before we got chickens, it wasn't until our neighbor saw them land in our tree that we knew they were here. And after getting a camera and zooming in on it did we find out that it wasn't a red-tail. Thanks to many BYC'ers for knowing their hawks.

I take my kindle out and sit near our coop/run and read and watch for the hawks. They are neat to watch.​