The birds are using my yard as hunting grounds?! (photo)

[ll]

How can I get them to leave? There must be something they don't like?
I don't want to get another dog, we started having predator problems after he died.

Heard bird screaming on Saturday.
I knew that didn't sound good.....
Sunday found remains in the furthest corner of our property.

After some googling I identified these as: Yellow Shafted Flicker (woodpecker)

I saw the hawk culprits too. They were finishing it off for breakfast.
Yes, there was a pair - I wish I got their photo.
Cooper's Hawks ~the one I saw up close had a dark brown head. (Juvenile?)




See the blood in the top right corner of the photo below (yuck)


Alot of thrashing around going on in that deep snow. (15")
This is also along a deer path, this is now marked with a massive fresh pile of dung balls.

Below is a pic of some nice deer tracks on the path to the henhouse too.
My DH saw 5 deer in our yard this morning on the path we shoveled!


We have found many piles of feathers over the years - mostly Mourning Doves.
We ALSO had a bluejay attack & kill a baby cardinal fledgling with a single blow to the head while holding it on it's back with it's feet ~ while it's parents and I watched. That was in the summertime ~ and traumatizing. For no other reason that it was the bluejay getting rid of competition. The cardinals try a nest every year in our yard & the bluejays ruin it every year.
Is there ANY way to discourage them?

I don't want our yard to be desirable hunting grounds!
I have pinwheels placed around the yard, but this current snow cover is making them hungry. *sigh*

 

[subhanalah]

If you saw a pair, it could be a nesting husband and wife protecting their territory. Bad news is they will raise their baby and teach it how to hunt on your land.

 

[Bert2368]

Yes. Just another food source, no professional courtesy is extended.

Makes sense. It's a meal, and there's less competition for the next meal too

Great horned owls will also take smaller owls in their territory, such as snowy owls. They will even knock off hawks as large as red wings in the night. I've used plastic owl decoys around my garden, and had a large hawk smash them right off their bases.


"The big ones eat the little ones- So the little ones got to be fast!"

 

[REDNECK TRAPPER]

Shoot them and you shouldn't have any problems

 

[subhanalah]

Depending on the species, you might need to call wildlife management to come get them.

 

[aart]

Only guaranteed way to protect your chickens from hawks is a covered run.
Dogs can help, as you know.
If you're lucky enough to have a lot of crows around, they will drive off hawks.

This is what I did...and it works as you can see.

 

[Nava]

I started with one crow, and I threw an egg out in the yard and he ate it and now I have a good size flock of crows that hawks don't come around,

 

[4 the Birds]

For large free range areas it is great to have bunkers or places for the chickens to take cover. A rooster will help and sound the alarm when he sees trouble. We use a couple large decoy owls right on the coop to discourage hawks from hanging out in the area. The hawks hunt field mice and smaller birds on our land but don't bother our chickens.

 

[cmom]

I have encouraged the crows to stay around. If a hawk come around and the crows are around they will chase off the hawk.

 

[Bert2368]

Shoot them and you shouldn't have any problems

Not allways the best way. If you kill everything that eats rodents on your property, suddenly you'll find an awful lot of mice & etc. living with you and in your chicken feed-

I've got 2" snow rated mesh over a 30'x60' run. The chickens eat the mice inside, the hawks and owls eat the ones outside- I haven't seen an indoor mouse all winter. There is a great grey owl hanging around that dives right into snow banks to grab mice from their tunnels, it's amazing. Took me a while to figure out what all the strange marks on the snow were from- I hope it stays around!