I just witnessed nature take it's course...

[Deerthug]

I'm standing in my kitchen stirring the sauce for pasta, or as some of you call it "gravy", while watching doves feeding on the ground below my bird feeder right outside my back door. I look away and then I hear a loud thump and see feathers flying everywhere. I turn to look to see what happened and I see a huge, I mean HUGE hawk sitting on top of a squirming dove not even ten yards away from my back door. I open the back door, it looks at me and this thing takes off with the dove in tow. I can kill a deer and turkey and gut them without wincing but this totally freaked me out. Never expected this to happen in my yard on Long Island.

So my question is how do you keep these predatory birds away from my yard and feeders? And no I will not kill them as they are federally protected birds. I was thinking of stringing some red blinking lights between the two shepherds hooks holding the feeders. We do that upstate at the house where we have a chicken coop and it seems to keep them at bay.

[nyantler]

Can't stop Mother-Nature... Hawks have to eat too.

 

[Deerthug]

Joe, I know that it is nature at it's best, but I have a small dog that I'm afraid to let out in the backyard now because of this hawk.

[wooly]

I see a lot of hawks around here get chased off and harassed by gangs of crows.

Maybe a crow decoy would help?

 

[pistolp71]

Happens all the time in my backyard on long island. Like Joe said, hawks gotta eat too. There are lots of different raptors on long island. I personally enjoy watching it. I watched a pair of hawks working together to take out a blue jay. I thought it was very cool. But to answer your question, the best thing to do if you don't want that to happen is to remove your bird feeder. That is a hot spot for them.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I see a lot of hawks around here get chased off and harassed by gangs of crows.

Maybe a crow decoy would help?

 

I like that idea wooly. You always seem to be using the old noodle, LOL.

 

[EspressoBuzz]

Looks like a win win to me you're feeding the doves AND the hawks, better hope nothing bigger eats hawks....

[Sogaard]

Dual purpose bird feeder.  

[fasteddie]

We see Turkey Vultures flying around on a daily basis . My neighbor has an 8 week old Doberman puppy . I told him to keep an eye on the dog as there was at least 2 dozen of the buzzards circling around .

[ATbuckhunter]

Cant stop them unfortunately.

[nyantler]

If that hawk wanted your dog it wouldn't care if you had a bird feeder or not... It would be a very rare occurrence for a hawk to grab a small dog... but they certainly like a good bird feeder... kind of like a buffet for them. 

[nyantler]

 

 

The only natural predator of a red tailed hawk is the great horned owl... so one of those owl decoys would work nicely.. but will also scare off the birds

Edited May 10, 2014 by nyantler

[Doc]

I understand why you would be unhappy with the bird feeder becoming the site of carnage .... lol. It's one thing to recognize that these things happen frequently, naturally and necessarily in nature. It's quite another thing to realize that you are actively baiting in the birds to their demise. Most people don't feed birds for that purpose. But I guess we have to understand that every time we muck around in the affairs of mother nature, there are always unintended consequences. It almost always goes without saying.

[landtracdeerhunter]

The only natural predator of a red tailed hawk is the great horned owl... so one of those owl decoys would work nicely.. but will also scare off the birds

 

 

Tell that to the hawk, I seen being dive bombed by crows, this morning.

[ny hunter]

Great story.would only have been better with pics..

[Vince1]

get a bigger dog

[nyantler]

 

Tell that to the hawk, I seen being dive bombed by crows, this morning.

 Hawks eating birds, crows harassing hawks... kinda like some hunting forums..

[Jeremy K]

Its wild to witness nature happen before your eyes , i watched some kind of small bird turned into eagle crap , we were pulled over in vermont checking out the eagles nest on top of a telephone pole.

[landtracdeerhunter]

 Hawks eating birds, crows harassing hawks... kinda like some hunting forums..

 

Life could be no fun, LOL.

 

[Pygmy]

Deerthug... In my 60 + years, I have NEVER EVER heard of a hawk taking a small dog. Coyotes, yes..Hawks..No..

How much does your doggie weigh ? Even a redtail, which is the biggest common hawk here in NY has trouble flying off with a cottontail rabblt, which weighs perhaps 2-3 pounds.

The LAST thing I would worry about is having a hawk take your dog...

I suspect that he's much more likely to be struck by lightning.

[Deerthug]

Thanks Pygmy! He's about 10.5lbs. I guess you're right. At worst he probably may be hurt by the birds talons. Just freaked me out.

[Pygmy]

Thanks Pygmy! He's about 10.5lbs. I guess you're right. At worst he probably may be hurt by the birds talons. Just freaked me out.

 

He's about 3 times heavier than a redtail. I'm betting he'd kick the hawk's ass...

 

I once saw a redtail hit an adult hen turkey right in the middle of the back. I'm sure he knew he couldn't kill her .  He didn't even try to grip her with his talons, just dove in, whacked her in the back and  flew off.

 

Talk about one pissed off turkey !

 

A buddy of mine watched one  hit a 3-4 pound turkey poult once. He couldn't get it off the ground. The rest of the turkey flock came over and kicked the crap out of the hawk.

 

The poult escaped.

[Five Seasons]

So my question is how do you keep these predatory birds away from my yard and feeders? And no I will not kill them as they are federally protected birds. I was thinking of stringing some red blinking lights between the two shepherds hooks holding the feeders. We do that upstate at the house where we have a chicken coop and it seems to keep them at bay.

 

sounds kind of cool to me. not sure I'd want to ward them off haha.

 

[Deerthug]

So I decided to string fishing line between the hooks and put some red electrical tape at about 12" apart. We'll see if this works. I will also set up my trail cam after bringing it back from the cabin next weekend. Perhaps I'll get something on video and share with you all hmmmm.......

[bowaholic]

I made my grandmother a feeder that has two small entry holes and another hole that you put the opening of a large glass jar (pickle jar) for the birds to eat in safely... one day I watched a small bird eating in it and a hawk swooped down right in front of me and smacked against the glass... he sat there trying to figure out why he couldn't get the bird and the small bird just sat there watching him in the safety of the jar.  the hawk left a couple minutes later and the bird snuck out too.  that was so cool to see!