Little Hawk a visiting!

[Pupsnpullets]

I saw Newhen's hawk but I think this guy is different. I live in the desert near Palm Springs California.

It was on my driveway after missing a quail on it's swoop. When it saw me it flew up into the palm tree and shook off it's frustration while I went a got a camera. My chickens were all safe.

 

[cindy99]

He is beautiful! It would be a lot easier to hate them if they were ugly.

 

[desertdarlene]

That looks a lot like a Cooper's Hawk, very common in your area. I think it's a female, very beautiful markings. I would keep your chickens protected just in case it decides it wants to try for something bigger than a quail. Where I live, they like squirrels and black-colored birds the most. But, they'll take a killdeer or dove if they can catch them.

 

[Lbrad7]

That was one lucky quail!!!

 

[Pupsnpullets]

I don't think that hawk will be gone soon as there are 4 quail families in my yard! Little babies everywhere! There are also a lot of doves, mockingbirds, finches and black birds which I think are phoebes. It's like a McDonalds for hawks. I think my chickens, all three of them, won't be much of a temptation for the hawk (I hope

)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

If we are talking about a small hawk, it is likely a sharp-shinned (look very similar to Cooper's, but are significantly smaller. Also, all males raptors are a good bit smaller than their females counterparts.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
Sharp-shins are also mainly winter residents in So Cal, especially in the desert. But, I could be wrong and we have an aberrant. There's always one of those in every species.

I love baby quail, would hate to see them actually get caught. But, you never know how good they are at staying alive. We had killdeer chicks grow up right under a Cooper's hawk's nose. One time, while dad was doing a distraction display because of me, I think the hawk tried to attack him, but the killdeer ended up attacking the hawk instead.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Your visitor looks a lot like mine. It comes every day and spends far too long hanging around my back yard. Before we got chickens we used to feed the local birds and it attracted Cooper's and American Kestrals like crazy. I stopped that just prior to getting chickens and that lessened the frequency and duration of their visits. However, I'm now having a problem with the local birds eating my chicken feed. Sometimes I go out there and it's like the Hitchcock movie. We've now realized that we're attracting the hawks again, not with chickens, but via the food and smaller birds. I have to get the food separated from the wild birds. Early yesterday I saw a cooper's take a mouse out of the garden and right near dusk I saw it take a large lizard off the wall around the property. Both events happened when my six chickens were out foraging just feet away and the disturbing thing is, they didn't even react to it like they used to. They have so much contact with the darn thing they have lost their fear of it. That makes me worried about what will happen when the big red-tail shows up. We've also noticed a huge decline in large lizards in the yard in the last month. I don't think we'd have had such a decline if the hawk wasn't hanging around for such a smorgasbord. I like hawks, but it is unsettling to go get your eggs and find one on your coop.

This was on my coop yesterday:

 

[TCollier]

That looks like a Coopers hawk. Had a nest in my back yard for 4 years. This is not an ideal situation but what I did was lure in doves and blackbirds by feeding them. Then used a pellet gun to dispatch doves and blackbirds and as soon as the hawks saw feathers fly they would get the dove or blackbird. You only need to do this when they look like they are stalking your birds. It kept mine safe but as I said it is not an ideal situation. I would rather do that than take a chance on someone seeing me use the 3 S method and pay the price for that. I live in a neighborhood so the chance would be very good someone would see it happen.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
That's an interesting solution. The Cooper's hawks in my area love black birds like grackles and starlings. I've seen them with doves and try for pigeons, too. Sad to see those birds die, but the hawk has to eat something. I rather see them eat those than eat my favorite ducklings or the killdeer family I enjoy seeing every day.

We have people who love squirrels and leave out food near a walking path every day for them. Well, after the people leave and the squirrels start feeding, here comes the hawks. It's like setting up a dinner table for them. I don't think that was the original intention of the people feeding the squirrels, though. But, because they do, a little duckling nearby lives another day.