The last few days, I have seen an enormous Hawk around my house. I just came up out of the woods, and there he(she) is, sitting in the big old pine tree in my back yard.
I have 3 yorkies that are under 3 lbs. I'm assuming, they are his target. Yes, the obvious precautions will be taken, no dogs out without me. I guess i'll put up a run for the small dogs with chicken wire over the top. I just did that for my ducks.
What i'd really like to know is, Does anyone know how to run off a bird like this? I don't think a scarecrow would work either. This bird don't care when you come close to it. It just stays sitting in the tree tops.
I have lots of pigeons in the field cleaning up the horse grain, the hawk don't seem like he's interested in them at all.
Any suggestions how to run him off (killing him is NOT an option)?
I'd get yourself a bigger hawk. Chances are your bird is just passing through, moving with the food supply, winter's coming not nesting time. Until that time, keep an out for the littler critters.
Call you local state wildlife officer. He should be well-schooled enough to give you your options here. Harming the bird is a federal offense, probably with a penalty worse that drug trafficking.
I have one that nested in the backyard when my pups were small, but he probably was kept at bay by their mother. He still nests there but just feels outsized by the prey. He is usually lookin got prey near the wood and stream lines.
Beardog
Do not harm any bird of prey as they are federally protected, and besides its wrong.
Show me a picture, identify the hawk, then I could tell you what it hunts and if your dogs are a possible target, most likely they are not.
These birds are migrating this time of year, it is probably just passing through and means your dog no harm.
But I would still keep track of the dogs till you find out what your looking at.
Just throw something up in the air, most birds will leave.
I'd love to see a picture.
We have many types of hawks and owls here, also Eagles and sometimes Osprey.
I got my camera ready in the front, next time he's out there i'll get a pic. It is VERY big.
I would not, could not hurt it. I will do the responsible thing and keep my little dogs locked up. It's been out there everyday, all week long, so i'm sure it will be back.
I told my son the other day, holy crap look at the size of that turkey buzzard.!!! i'm looking for a peaceful resolution of this.I won't kill any animal. I swerve for frogs!!!!
Describe its color and markings, size as best you can.
There are true hawks, accipiters, also buteos, kites and harriers, falcons, eagles, osprey, buzzards, scavengers, owls.
Wing shape, tails, legs, markings and color are indicators.
I also love all birds of prey and during my time working as a veterinary nurse for an avian vet I saw many of them. They are very special.
I attended an outside funeral service 3 months ago, it was held on our neighbours farm and as the coffin was being placed into the hearse to be taken for burial I happened to look skyward and I saw a huge single Wedgetail eagle, it was a very significant and moving moment.
The thing that was odd though it was alone, I often see them but usually a pair or with their young
Be aware that you can get in deep trouble with the feds for even HARASSING a raptor.
Chicken wire WILL NOT keep the Yorkies safe. You need a heavier gauge wire than that.
I saw one of these hawks on the mountain a few years ago,its a Goshawk. it was really a big bird with a long tail.is this what you saw kitkat? i saw it hanging out by that swamp on mcmullen road and beach hill .it seemed to be hunting what was in the water but i wouldnt count out any thing.
Any type of large birds will target you small pets in your yard, Hawks, Ravens, Buzzards, ect...be aware of all of these large birds.
Two Moon: You can not tell her that her dogs are not at risk of being targets because they are. What is a picture of the bird going to tell you??? You think she posted this thread because she has a sparrow in her back yard?? The bigger the bird the bigger the pray and these wild animals will attack and Fly off with you small dog or cat. The best thing for her to do is to keep them indoors or have a non see thru top on the kennel outside they will still be a threat with chicken wire on the top on the kennel . My sister lost her small dog by one of these large birds last winter and by the way they are around all year long, they do not go away as long as they find food in the area.. IMO it is better to be safe then sorry.....
k9chess,
You seem to know little about birds of prey and scavengers.
Knowing what kind of bird it is will tell volumes about habits and possible prey.
Actually small mammals are fair game for most, thats just the way it is, knowing more about the species involved might help a lot. Some have very specific diets.
Chicken wire can protect pets and poultry from these birds if used correctly.
Although I have seen owls reach through cages and grab a bird off its roost, I have much experience with this.
I'd love to know what kitkat has in her back yard, pictures would help if you could really tell what your looking at.
She could probably find one of Peterson's field guides in a library and easily identify the bird in question.
Sorry for your sisters loss, I have lost much over the years to the wild life here.
Each time you learn something new.
Here is a pic of our resident Red Tail hawk. He comes back every year with his mate...he has had 2 different ones that we know of. When he first came I noticed him "eyeballing" some puppies through an open garage window.......I had to close the screen ASAP as I HAVE lost puppies to owls!
He is a very bold bird and isn't affraid of people. He has cut down our squirl population tremendously and will snatch a squirl off the ground even if it is 10 feet from you! He also has eaten most of my neighbors Wedding/Funeral Doves! Neighbor gave up on that venture!!! LOL!
I have a couple Redtails here. There's a bald eagle pair nesting about 1/2 mile away. I see them flying every now and then. Ospreys are very common and I see one or two of those every month. There's also a pair of little screech owls about but I've never seen them. The eagles and ospreys don't bother anything. The redtails decimate the ducklings every year especially when the young are learning to fly and hunt. Sometimes take a full grown bird and they have snatched my neighbors chickens. Between me and the hawks hunting them, squirrels are scarce around the house.
LOL Vickie!
I decided to raise quail one year. I have no idea why, just did it. I built this huge chicken wire and 2x4 pen and got 500 baby quail. A redtail started raiding that thing and I lost every single one of those quail. I'd fox-proofed the thing but never could find out how the hawk was getting the quail out of there. I gave up on that venture too!
I have lost more to owls than anything else, but the hawks were very hard on my pigeons during the daytime.
If they can spook their prey into flying into the wire of your cage, they can grab them through it, they can eat parts of them through the wire as well.
Diane,
It would be hard to know what that is in your picture. There is nothing to reference size and the picture is too blurry to see detailed markings.
Moons, I do not know much about birds of prey-would like to learn more. They are fascinating. I do know that my macaws have extremely powerful beaks and claws and have dismantled chain link fencing. Dogs fear them. They also make some intimidating noises. Chicken wire would be a joke to them. I might be wrong, but am sure it is the same for the birds of prey.
I'm not sure I know what dismantle a chain link fence means, but Macaws are also fascinating, beautiful, very intelligent.
I've never seen any hawk or owl rip through wire with their claws or beak. A Macaw can open doors, not to mention tearing open fruits and nuts, perhaps one could break the weaker (chicken wire) if the motive to do so was there, I dunno.
I have always had a thing for birds ever since my first memories of climbing tree's to look at bird eggs. Fell out of a couple of those trees.
I was introduced to Falconry in my early teens, about the same time I had been raising pigeons and about the same time I saw my first Bald Eagle in the flesh, caught my first owl in the pigeon loft, a Screech owl.
I can't remember ever spending time indoors, I was in the barn or my loft, or the chicken coop which also housed our Rabbits, or in the woods, usually on my horse.
No matter what you read, seeing and watching birds, or any wild creature in their natural habitat doing what they do is more enlightening and far more rewarding. After a while you learn things you didn't know you knew.
I've seen a Great Horned owl feed and hunt for its injured mate for at least the year that I was aware of them.
I've seen Macaws get so emotionally depressed over the loss of another bird companion that it almost died.
I had a Silver Pheasant once who would follow me everywhere around the yard and try to come in the house when it could.
I dunno, I have as many bird stories as anything else I guess.
Your never too old to learn something new.
I'm beginning to think this may be a golden eagle in my yard.(this is NOT the
actual bird, but it is what the bird looks like)I've been through all sorts
of websites with hawks, and see none that are similar to the bird in my yard,
which is dark on the bottom. I guess thats why I thought it was a turkey buzzard
due to the darkness of it's under feathers. We also have several bald
eagles these days in our area that can be seen soaring the river banks. They
really give you a nice feeling when you spot the bald eagles. If this
does turn out to be an eagle that has chosen to live in let's say, "my neck of
the woods", my little dogs are going to have to resign themselves to the smaller
run in the back yard!!!!<
A Turkey Vulture has a fleshy head, if the size is similar it could be a Golden Eagle, but if you see Bald Eagles then this could more likely be an immature, juvenile Bald Eagle. If you see a Golden Eagle in the sun light you will know where they got the name. There are other large dark Hawks but they would not compare to an Eagle in size and there has to be markings.
Eagles are usually pretty shy around humans, they like to catch fish and will take ducks on the wing.
I think your little dog Toto could be on the menu but it would be at the bottom of the list.
This time of year the adults would be teaching the juveniles how to do Eagle stuff....fly, fish, all the little tricks for survival including a careful respect for humans.
I agree it does give you a special feeling to see these great birds in action.
The shape of the wings and how they fly will tell you from a distance if its an Eagle.
Plus there are markings, they all have some sort of markings, none are a solid color.
Either way I think your wise to keep an eye on the pooch for a while.
And lucky to have such creatures to look at.
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Chances are your bird is just passing through, moving with the food supply, winter's coming not nesting time. Until that time, keep an out for the littler critters.
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