Pigeon Talk

[Qwerty3159]

The best way to deal with hawks in my opinion is to always let your pigeons out on an unpredictable schedule, and always trust the birds when they don’t want to go out. If at least most of mine don’t immediately fly out the door when it’s opened, there’s a hawk sitting somewhere nearby. If you live in the US on the east coast there is a very good chance you will see significant increases in the local hawk population during the wintertime as many species migrate along the coast during this time.

Cooper’s hawks are certainly the most prolific pigeon-eating hawk that there is the US. Fortunately they’re an ambush predator that will almost never beat a healthy pigeon in a horizontal chase. Pigeons also gain altitude much faster than this species of hawk, which mostly tries to attack them coming in and out of the loft especially if there’s trees nearby.

Falcons on the other hand will test the bird’s stamina much more, but the peregrine’s population has not really recovered enough in the East yet for them to be found far from cities or seriously tall cliffs (for nesting)

Edit: I saw you mentioned Kites so probably not in the USA lol. You can substitute everything I said about Cooper’s hawks with the Eurasian sparrowhawk. I think there are more falcons across the pond as well, definitely way more in Australia too than the US.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

The best way to deal with hawks in my opinion is to always let your pigeons out on an unpredictable schedule, and always trust the birds when they don’t want to go out. If at least most of mine don’t immediately fly out the door when it’s opened, there’s a hawk sitting somewhere nearby. If you live in the US on the east coast there is a very good chance you will see significant increases in the local hawk population during the wintertime as many species migrate along the coast during this time.

Cooper’s hawks are certainly the most prolific pigeon-eating hawk that there is the US. Fortunately they’re an ambush predator that will almost never beat a healthy pigeon in a horizontal chase. Pigeons also gain altitude much faster than this species of hawk, which mostly tries to attack them coming in and out of the loft especially if there’s trees nearby.

Falcons on the other hand will test the bird’s stamina much more, but the peregrine’s population has not really recovered enough in the East yet for them to be found far from cities or seriously tall cliffs (for nesting)

Edit: I saw you mentioned Kites so probably not in the USA lol. You can substitute everything I said about Cooper’s hawks with the Eurasian sparrowhawk. I think there are more falcons across the pond as well, definitely way more in Australia too than the US.

I actually do live in the United States, though I'm not telling where I live any further than that. Red-shouldered hawks and Mississippi kites are the most populous aerial threat I have seen nearby my house, especially because there is a Mississippi kite nest in one of my trees. Not a very safe place for pigeons, I suppose.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I actually do live in the United States, though I'm not telling where I live any further than that. Red-shouldered hawks and Mississippi kites are the most populous aerial threat I have seen nearby my house, especially because there is a Mississippi kite nest in one of my trees. Not a very safe place for pigeons, I suppose.

My mistake, thought you meant red/black kites. The American kites eat a lot of large flying bugs, lizards, and things like that. I guess they could possibly take a fancy pigeon but they definitely wouldn’t bother a flying breed. I don’t think they’re equipped to even take down a bird that big. Same goes for red shouldered hawks. This one hunts voles about 30 feet from my loft and never bothers the pigeons. I’m sure if one was sitting around injured he might change his mind, but the able-bodies ones are safe.

The Buteo hawks as a whole are a lot slower than a good flying pigeon and I’ve only ever had one inexperienced juvenile red tailed hawk try to go for a pigeon. Cooper’s hawks are much faster and bird-specialists.

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you, I find color varieties an interesting thing to study, even if I am not good at understanding genetics. Also, I had forgotten there were other breeds besides the Ice that had feathered feet!

My Satinettes are feather footed.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I got most of mine by accident. My first pigeon was from a breeder and the rest are all birds who got lost whose owners weren’t looking for them. Or injured feral pigeons who can’t be released. I got this fancy guy for free from someone whose entire flock was killed by hawks: View attachment 3585188

Love those little birds, I was given a few, the man called them Turbits & said they made good droppers, meaning when the racers are flying around & you want them to come in, you could take a Turbit & place it on the landing board or just let it fly to the landing board, and the racers see the Turbit, and often fly to it, joining it, because the Turbits really want to be inside the loft. Turbits will venture outside but never far from the loft & will go inside the loft where they prefer to be. I think it's because they know they're not so great at flying, therefore they're more vulnerable to predators, so they always seek safety of the loft. As pigeons flock together, the Homers take that cue & will drop down from flying to follow the Turbits into the loft.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

My Satinettes are feather footed.
View attachment 3586117View attachment 3586116

Satinettes are cute! Are they a good beginner breed?

 

[Qwerty3159]

Love those little birds, I was given a few, the man called them Turbits & said they made good droppers,

I have one older homer that occasionally will fly with the group a bit but he mostly just comes out onto the roof of the loft and goes right back in, so I use him for the same purpose.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Satinettes are cute! Are they a good beginner breed?

They are adorable & sweet, yes a great breed for newbies to pigeons. They're more of a pet, not great at flying so hawks could get them easily, though.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

They are adorable & sweet, yes a great breed for newbies to pigeons. They're more of a pet, not great at flying so hawks could get them easily, though.

Since fancy pigeons are more vulnerable to hawk attacks, do people who own them keep them in the loft and do not let them fly free?

 

[sourland]

Since fancy pigeons are more vulnerable to hawk attacks, do people who own them keep them in the loft and do not let them fly free?

Many keep them in a loft/aviary setup. Aviary must be carefully constructed of hardware cloth as Cooper's hawks will try to attack through the cage.