Should I worry about hawks in Portland, OR?

[matimeo]

I live in a very urban setting with a small backyard and two very large mature trees. However, there is a large forested park nearby. I am in the Portland, OR area. Anyone else around here ever had trouble with hawks? They are really the only daytime predator I've thought to worry about.

 

[Ibicella]

Absolutely.

 

[tallyho]

Oh Yeah! I lost one to a hawk in the winter (no leaf cover) and a friend experienced and attack on his chicken while she was right next to him in the yard. He fought the hawk off her.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'm right outside Portland and we usually have one to three hawks in the sky. Also I've seen them down off the 205 on the Wash. side near the river.

 

[sourland]

Absolutely X 2!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm starting to wonder if there are more hawks inside the city than outside the city where I live. I live in an urban area and I have hawks visiting my small yard nearly every day. The bad thing is they have no fear. I've stood in the yard and waved my arms as a red tailed hawk swooped about 6' from me (repeatedly) to try to grab at one of my birds. My neighbor has an owl decoy on his water cistern and the hawks love to perch on it's head. So, decoys and scarecrows won't be much of a deterrent. I also worry about dogs in the city. Hardly a week goes by that I don't see a dog wandering by itself down the street. A few times they even got over my 6' wall and into the back yard. I don't worry too much about cats--my girls terrorize them, but we have a giant feral Manx that roams the neighborhood. It's nearly bobcat-sized. Fortunately, I only see it at night. Anyway, I thought I'd share what urban day-time predators I have to think about.

 

[andythescot]

You should worry about hawks wherever you are. ESPECIALLY in the fall-- its when they migrate.

 

[matimeo]

Thanks for the input. I've never seen any around, but doesn't mean there aren't any. We have lots of crows, I wonder if that makes a difference. I guess I'll be a little more careful about letting my girls out unsupervised until they get full size.

 

[FinsUp]

full sized doesn't make a difference. Either does a dog in the yard. My husband and I were sitting on the back portion of our deck, close to the house, when lots of squawk just in time to see hawk belly flying towards the sky not 20' from us! I'm pretty sure it was bombing for Lola. I thought she jumped off something and sprained her leg a couple days ago. Now I'm thinking it may have been a hawk then too. She is one of the largest of our girls and one of two Delawares (nothing like a bright white beacon in the middle of the yard). Our dog had just come back from making a tour of the yard.

So, nature will take it's course if you don't guard against it, no matter where you live. Needless to say, the girls are mad at us, but they are in lock-down for a while til the hawk moves on.

 

[Lbrad7]

Hawks can be a problem in all 50 states in both rural and urban areas. It's always better to be safe than sorry.