# Hawk trouble



## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

All things considered, hawks do good work.


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Ya, doves are pretty easy pray. I usually have then in my gravel driveway, they need the rocks. But I do see piles of feathers and then no doves. Just mother nature at work.

Hated it when we had a nest of red cardinals just outside one window, then something ate them, left parts all over my front steps.

But in the big picture we now have a better variety and more of them for all birds, and that probably includes the hawks.

I feel your pain.

Bud


----------



## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

When I read the thread title, my first thought was, " I have two hawks and have never had any trouble with them, what gives? "
LOL, (mud hawks)


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I was painting some new houses in Lake Mary Fla back in the 80s. While eating lunch I watched a small bird repeatedly attack a hawk. The fight would only last a few seconds and then the small bird would tumble towards the ground, recover and then fly back up and attach the hawk again. This lasted for a good 10 minutes, it was amazing to watch. I assume the little bird was protecting it's nest.


----------



## Roxygal (Sep 4, 2019)

Yeah, I always feel bad for the animals that are dinner for others, but they gotta eat too. It's just part of nature.


----------



## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

I'm sure animals look at prey, same as we would look at a Quarter Pounder w/cheese!


----------



## roughneck (Nov 28, 2014)

It’s the basic food chain, really. 
You put out bird food. 
That brings in food for predatory animals. 
Don’t put out food and the Doves go away. Then the Hawks go away, too.


----------



## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Try not putting your feeders out for a couple of weeks. Once the hawk realizes your yard is no longer a target rich environment it will probably move on.
Years ago we watched a small raptor (Kestrel or Merlin, can't recall) nail a Mourning Dove in our back yard that was surrounded by a chain link fence. With the weight of the dove in its talons, it took about five tries to clear the fence. Gotta love ambition.


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Brazen Hawk flew low straight across my yard this a.m.

It never bothers my cardinals or chickadees. But they’re quick to duck into a shrub. I felt sorry for the doves cause there wasn’t anything for them to eat. Daughter just bought me 50 lbs of safflower seeds for them. 

The hawks should stick to snakes an rats. 

A common daily sight in summer is a hawk flying with 2 mockers chasing it.... away from nests. They harass it until it leaves. Also had several bluejays screaming near my fence. Went out and a hawk was sitting there but he finally left. Jays didn’t attack him just surrounded him screaming.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I used to have chickens. I could always tell when a hawk flew over as they'd all get quiet and hide. My wife saw 2 chickens fighting on the side of the hill so she walked over and kicked them yelling at them to stop. She was really surprised to find out one was a hawk!


----------



## Larryh86GT (Feb 2, 2013)

There are red hawks nesting a couple blocks from our house and a few days ago there were 4 of them hunting over our back yard. 2 of them landed in trees and sat there awhile. I never realized how large these hawks are and after a little bit I spotted feathers drifting down from 1 tree as the hawk plucked it's catch before eating it.


----------



## Porsche986S (Dec 10, 2017)

We live in the Georgia mountains and my wife has lots of bird feeders . We get the full variety of birds including doves . Every once in a while while walking the yard I'll come across the " explosion zone " :biggrin2: of grey feathers , at that point I know a hawk has nailed another one . It's just nature recycling .


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

mark sr said:


> I was painting some new houses in Lake Mary Fla back in the 80s. While eating lunch I watched a small bird repeatedly attack a hawk. The fight would only last a few seconds and then the small bird would tumble towards the ground, recover and then fly back up and attach the hawk again. This lasted for a good 10 minutes, it was amazing to watch. I assume the little bird was protecting it's nest.


Small birds love to "mob" hawks and larger birds like crows.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

I live in a place where hawks like to hang.

One day a peregrine falcon set its sights on a couple of dopey doves. Falcon sees them and “stoops”

Dives

200+ mph 

Oh my gahd

Doves knew too

Dipped swerved dived and falcon got one in a kaboom of feathers and crash into the street


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

You just gots to know your place in the food chain and plan accordingly!


----------



## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

Stop feeding them. Nature takes car of itself, you don't need to help.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I just read that birds can carry the coronavirus.


----------



## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

Doves fly up at a 45 degree angle and make it easy for a hawk to grab one. I feed the birds and they feed the hawks. I prefer that to having some well fed neighbor's cat killing the birds for sport. House cats kill more than 2 billion wild birds in the United States every year and I discourage them from coming onto my property and harrasing the birds. Wish I had smarter neighbors who would keep their cats inside.


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Calson, luckily my city doesn’t allow dogs to roam outside their yards......or cats. 

I’ve planted many shrubs which appear ordinary but attract birds. They like the understory shrubs for protection. 

I’m especially fond of little ground doves. The others are mourning and white wing.


----------



## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

Calson said:


> I prefer that to having some well fed neighbor's cat killing the birds for sport..


I hear that. Back in Illinois I had a neighbor who left food out for all the stray cats in the neighborhood. Those cats wound up crapping in my flowerbeds and attacking the birds on the feeder. My two dogs seemed to like the taste of the cat crap. My wife brushed the dogs teeth because of that.
We got the dogs trained to chase the cats and that helped. A couple of low-powered BB guns helped as well. I didn't want to kill them...just sting them enough to keep them away. That did work to some extent.
We had laws regarding dogs but nothing was done about the cats. Absolutely ridiculous. So now I moved south and few cats are around. But dogs are everywhere. The BB gun works for that as well. And my Cocker Spaniel barks like a bull dog and manages to keep the dogs out of the yard.......when he's outside.
Small victories.


----------



## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Missouri Bound said:


> Stop feeding them. Nature takes car of itself, you don't need to help.



I disagree to a point. Nature is changing and bird counts are way down all over.
We 'raise' Monarch butterflies; gather caterpillars, fed them and release the butterflies. The species is under serious threat and our effort is an attempt to improve the mortality rate (young caterpillars are vulnerable to ants, spiders, etc.). As well, our garden - such as it is - is planted to attract birds and butterflies.


----------



## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

Every plant I have put in my yard is "bird friendly" both in providing berries and nectar and in providing protective cover for the birds. These also are native plants which helps my local environment and these are also the hardiest plants for my area and take the least amount of water.


----------



## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

I have two hawks stories.

1. About 20 years ago I was mowing my lawn and came up on a red tail laying face down wings spread in my yard. I shut off the mower and checked it out. It was still alive, so I slid it's wings back to it's body, picked it up and put it in the flower bed between two bushes. It stood up as I sat it down. I went to get the wife so she could see it close up. Just as we walked up it flew up in the tree. After some thought, it became apparent it had flown into the utility pole near where I found it. Was kind of funny after awhile.

2. A neighbor of mine had another red tail snatch his yorkie and flew off. It lost it's grip and dropped the dog before it got too high. Neighbor manage to get to the dog first. It only had minor injuries from the claws.


----------

