New Visitor to Front Garden Birdbath

[deerman]

Quote:
No not a Peregrine Falcon , they have black marking below eyes. They take birds right out of the air, at dives of up to 200 mile per hour. Mostly pigeon.


Cooper Hawk

Have to agree with deerman, it looks bigger than a sharp shinned so it is probably a coopers. Very pretty bird and would definitely watch for it when allowing your chickens to free range!

Does look large in the pic, but still cooper. Look at the tail feathers.

For sure keep your chicken locked up. They got the nickname CHICKEN HAWK for a reason. they feed almost 100% on birds.

 

[Suechick]

I've had one of these visit us several times this week. It is getting closer to my chickens each time. I don't have a safe place for them right now. How long will it stay in the area? We're a little frightened.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
My experience with Cooper's hawks is that they stay in the area until the food source is gone or becomes difficult to get. Do you have any kind of outbuilding like a garage or shed that you can temporarily keep them in until it's gone?

 

[Debbi]

Yes, looks like a Cooper hawk to me. In the 16 years I have lived here, I've never seen one. Now, since I built the coop and put the chooks outside, I have a PAIR of them! They do a regular fly-over at 7am, right after I let the chooks out of the coop. They stay right around my yard, and also dive-bomb my cats who like to sit on the roof of the house! Luckily for me and my birds, they are in a securely covered run, and that's where they will stay, at least until they are full grown!

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

This looks definitly like a Coopers to me, look at those yellow feet! and from the stippling on the breast, and the time of year that the OP took the photo, I would say a young one too! So regal. We have them here, along with Northern Harriers, and tho I will never SSS or intentionally injure one, there are times.....

They will stick around as long as there is a food supply, and then they will cleverly check back every once in a while to see if a previous resource has regenerated. I know this, only because we have a banded one that makes a regular appearance, so I know it is the same bird, she swoops in low around our house, so she is low to the ground when she comes zipping around towards the pens. I have put some shrubs in her flight path to slow her down, but she is clever.

My roosters are on to her tho, so she hasnt been successfull in a while, but it is only a matter of time. Once they find you, it is rather inevitable. Give your girls lots of places to get to for cover, and feed thier treats under bushes or near buildings where the hawks cant reach them, and you can co-exist.

Beautiful picture, you are quite fortunate!
Good Luck!
A~

 

[Suechick]

Quote:
My experience with Cooper's hawks is that they stay in the area until the food source is gone or becomes difficult to get. Do you have any kind of outbuilding like a garage or shed that you can temporarily keep them in until it's gone?

I don't have any place for them right now, other than the coop. But that is def not big enough for day time. There is some fencing in the garage, I'm not sure how fast I can rig something up. Are there times of day that are safe to let them out or could the hawk come at any time?

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Looks like a Coopers Hawk. If anyone follows Molly the Owl there is a picture of one on the blog. It tried to follow Molly into the owl box. She has 2 owlets and you can see them on ustream.
http://mollysbox.wordpress.com/blog/

 

[deerman]

A good rooster will sometime fight them off. I know gamecocks will. Had one after my peachicks (they were penned) my pet goose was after it.

I have them here alot plus redtails, redtails don't go after my birds .

 

[desertdarlene]

They tend to hunt any time during the day. Where I live, they are seen most in the early morning because people put food out for the doves, pigeons and squirrels at those times. So, the hawks know what time to wait for their prey to gather. But, I've seen them later in the day, too.

I know Molly the owl, too! I don't live terribly far from her and I live close to the same type of environment. I watched the first clutch grow up, but I only peek in the second clutch now and then. I've also been on a meetup, too. Carlos and Donna have all kinds of birds in their yard. We don't have Sharp-Shins in our area this time of year, so you know it's a Cooper's in their photo for sure.

 

[WillieBoy]

I stand corrected...it does look like the Coopers hawk in my Audubon field guide of NA birds...
Deerman, so far the Redtails in my area haven't nailed one of my hens either. They do have allot of cover, evergreen trees, to hide...plus the crows chase them...