Houston, We Have a Hawk Problem

[Redhead Rae]

Well the hawk gave up on the littles pen and started dive bombing the bigger chicks’ pen he couldn’t get in but was scaring the crap out of the chicks.

So, my mom loaned me their fake owl. We have him on a step in post and we’ll move him around any time we are outside. Seems to be working so far.

 

[Redhead Rae]

The hawk hasn’t shown up at all today. We are moving the owl a couple times a day to keep it guessing. The pair of cardinals that like to get in the pens to steal the chicks feed are back. I take that as a hopeful sign. They haven’t been around the past few days. The owl doesn’t seem to bother them or my chicks.

 

[Folly's place]

Often hawks will come back for a kill every three or four days, not daily. That meal was then, so beware, and plan on seeing it back.
Mary

 

[Rldad1]

I blew up you picture and it is looking like a Coopers Hawk with the striped tail. If it is a Coopers Hawk they generally won't mess with a full sized Chicken but will go after the little ones. My comment earlier was that it may be a Red Tail but the striped tail is basis of Coopers Hawk. It is possible it is a Juvenal Red Tail but I'm not convinced.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Often hawks will come back for a kill every three or four days, not daily. That meal was then, so beware, and plan on seeing it back.
Mary

He hasn’t gotten any of my birds (chicks at least). I think it really was the owl that’s scaring it off. The Hawk was SUPER persistent and was coming back every hour or two to harass the chicks and after we put the owl up it didn’t come back. It didn’t get any satisfaction from its efforts. We’ll keep an eye out over the next few to see if it comes back.

I blew up you picture and it is looking like a Coopers Hawk with the striped tail. If it is a Coopers Hawk they generally won't mess with a full sized Chicken but will go after the little ones. My comment earlier was that it may be a Red Tail but the striped tail is basis of Coopers Hawk. It is possible it is a Juvenal Red Tail but I'm not convinced.

It looks like the small one that took out 5 of my banty hens over the winter. I changed the configuration of the pen so that it was long on the tree side of the pen and narrow so it couldn’t drop out of the trees onto my banties anymore and that stopped the killings. Most of my birds are Heritage Cornish, so they are way too big for this bird to pick on.

 

[centrarchid]

The hawk pictured is an immature Red-tailed Hawk. Look at V-shapped pattern on back. Size is outside range of Coopers Hawk female where immature would appear most like immature Red-tailed Hawk. A size reference in image would help.

 

[Redhead Rae]

The hawk pictured is an immature Red-tailed Hawk. Look at V-shapped pattern on back. Size is outside range of Coopers Hawk female where immature would appear most like immature Red-tailed Hawk. A size reference in image would help.

The pen the hawk is next to in the in the first post is 5 ft W x 5ft L x 2ft H. Hope that helps.

 

[centrarchid]

Everything I see says Red-tailed Hawk.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well, we caught something in our hawk net. Unfortunately, it was one of our guineas. She was fine, just tangled. I think it is time to take the net down because the owl seems to have done its job. We are still moving it around every now and then. Also, we had a flock of crows that had disappeared for a while and now they are back.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Still no signs of the hawk. The owl worked.