MYTH BUSTER! Tiny hawk kills full grown chicken inside the coop in middle of the day!!

[knightie]

Ive never heard any chicken of any age was safe from hawks... that's new to me...

 

[1muttsfan]

I had the very good luck of seeing a Merlin take a pigeon that was twice its size once, they are very rare hawks and we are at the southern edge of their habitat. The pigeon was scooped up and carried away by the smaller bird. Last spring I watched a large hawk bounce off the heavy-guage poultry netting covering my run - looked like a trampoline. Did I ever laugh! It flew up into a tree next to the run to think about it, then finally flew off.

 

[centrarchid]

Almost every winter I see a merlin in central Missouri. They are more ballsy than slightly smaller American kestrels but not big enough to pack off a pigeon (rock dove) unless most of prey item already consumed. One might be able to with a great deal of effort fly in level flight from an elevated start with a mourning dove. These birds can kill prey bigger than they are but can not fly any distance with something more than 1/3 their own weight. Bigger raptors are even more physically limited relative to their size.

 

[sourland]

Although Merlin can not 'fly off' with pigeons, they can strike/kill and glide off with prey a considerable distance from the point of kill. Sharp shins and Coopers also frequently use the strike and glide hunting technique. These three species with some help from a pigeon smart resident red tail have put me out of the pigeon business.