# Is there anyway to keep the hawk away? already got one of my best.



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

I am about an hour away from my house, and ill be here till tomorrow. My roomate told me, that a falcon, or pigeon hawk, was sitting on my rollers breeding cage right next to the sliding glass door. Im worried, because about 2 weeks ago i found one if my champ racing hens of 2013 she was a redcheck, torn up on my neighbors yard. She saw him at 6:00 am. i dont llike that hes paying more attention to them. He usaully catches smaller birds, and doesnt disrupt my birds, but now that im away he is. My birds are mad, because i use to let them out every morning, and every evening. Now i cant even do that. they try flying by my head when i go in or out. So, what my question is, is there anyway to lessen the hawks appearence around my loft? one of these times my birds are going to get by me. and i have a few that arent the sharpest crayons in the box. basically, when theyre out, they think its fine to sit on my roof and not pay any attention to the hawks. im tired of keeping them cooped up. thanks, in advance.


----------



## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Well, there's really only one way to stop a hawk from coming.

Short of that, there are certain steps people have used, with mixed success, over the years. If you do a search here you will find some of them. But from memory:

Pre-recorded Crow and Eurasian Owl calls played in a loop.

Drawing crows or Ravens to your property...the large Corvids love nothing more than to give hawks hell....

Short of that, buying fake crows and mounting them around the property...thing si you gotta rotate their positions regularly (several times/week).

Mirrors set up around the exterior of the loft (idea being as hawks are solitary hunters, when they see another hawk scoping the same lunchbox, they sometimes flee). Taken to another level:

http://www.jedds.com/-strse-644/12-INCH-SILVER-GAZING/Detail.bok

CD's strung on a line so the wind blows them and they move, thus creating reflections which seem to be 'alive'. Supposedly hawks do not like that.

Tossing something at the hawk whenever you see it.

Air horns, everytime the hawk is around, blast it.

Regarding flying...that is a tough one. Some folks say to stagger the times and days of letting 'em out, as predators tend to set their watches when they scope out regularity in flying or feeding times....

....if the hawk(s) were around before, it was really only a matter of time before they would focus in on your loft, really.....

This all s#cks....sorry for that.


----------



## likebirds (Oct 22, 2012)

In fall and winter I try to stay outside and make myself highly viewable when my birds are loft flying. Make sure they are hungry when you let them out so they trap in and don't sit on the loft or yard.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Thank you , Jaye, and Likebirds, i am always outside with them . usaully the crows stay around because their babies were raised in the pine tree next door. they chase him usaully when he comes around. i wish they wouldnt chase my red tail away, he seems to keep the other hawks gone to. but then again, after the hawk shreded my precious hen and the ravens were eating it. Cant afford to lose any, bad enough that 4 of my buddies champions that he let me breed out of attempt to get out also. And jaye, i love all of those ideas.will try both of your suggestions when im home tomorrow.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

My buddy got me and air horn, now ill use it.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The truth is...some of those things may work for a while, but hawks are smart and eventually they overcome their fear and come for the pigeons. The only way to keep your pigeons safe is to keep them in.
There are many thread, on the subject here, and no one has come up with a fool proof method.


----------



## mysstic (Dec 16, 2011)

I had a very aggressive falcon, took one of my birds. It's possible it was the same one coming here nesting every year. Before we could just chase him away, but this time he was just too fast. Well, he was so aggressive or desperate the he got through the netting enclosure somehow, but could not get out. So we caught him, and he's been relocated.
Since then we noticed that the small native birds are coming back, probably they got scared too, and were hiding.

Make a trap, maybe you can catch him.\
mirrors, horns, etc helps, but not 100%
Unless you keep them inside, they are never safe from these damn falcons / hawks.

(or get a shot gun, sit and watch while you loft fly them.)


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Sounds good. My friend sits in the back with a pellet gun and shoots near the hawk to scare him.


----------



## JasoninMN (Nov 5, 2005)

And when a neighbor reports you for shooting a pellet gun at or injuring a hawk you end up in a lot of heat.


----------



## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

it's not a good idea shooting at or near the hawk . the fine starts at 5 k and goes up from there .. I read that some people paint( die ) one of there birds and that freaks out the hawk .. here is a link to some pictures of painted pigeons 
https://www.google.com/search?q=pai...UBNW14AOLhoGwCg&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=600


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

I wouldnt shoot it. i said he fires it in the air to scare him


----------



## mysstic (Dec 16, 2011)

The Pigeon Girl said:


> My roomate told me, that a falcon, or pigeon hawk, was sitting on my rollers breeding cage right next to the sliding glass door. Im worried, because about 2 weeks ago i found one if my champ racing hens of 2013 she was a redcheck, torn up on my neighbors yard. She saw him at 6:00 am. i dont llike that hes paying more attention to them. He usaully catches smaller birds, and doesnt disrupt my birds, but now that im away he is.


Be very careful, once the hawk spotted your pigeons, he will come back for them, will just wait for the opportunity. They smart, aggressive and very sneaky. If the hawk or falcon has chicks, he can become desperate and will try anything.
My mistake was that I underestimated the falcon, which is really not much bigger the a larger pigeon and paid a big price because of it. :-(


----------



## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

I hate hawks . a red tail hawk took my 4 lb Chihuahua. yes a dog ...the kids let him out and he went down to a meadow which he was not supposed to go . well to make a long story short a hawk took him away . again I HATE HAWKS


----------



## njhntr (Jun 5, 2012)

*hawks*

DO NOT harm or in any way hurt birds of pray as there are federal laws against it.
Sorry your having this problem but we all have the same situation 
Try everything suggested here and good luck and mosr of all DO NOT say in writing that your harming birds of pray. as big brother is watching, again good luck


----------



## njhntr (Jun 5, 2012)

Our home is located in very wooded area and I spread whole corn about 25 yards from my loft and it does draw crows and also use cd's on 4 corners of loft and seems to work some this year, as Ive lost only 2 birds compared to over 20 last year
Im sure hawks will get used to cd's but crows seem to work best , at least for me
again good luck


----------



## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

njhntr said:


> DO NOT harm or in any way hurt birds of pray as there are federal laws against it.
> Sorry your having this problem but we all have the same situation
> Try everything suggested here and good luck and mosr of all DO NOT say in writing that your harming birds of pray. as big brother is watching, again good luck


 you got that right


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

you can call your wildlife department and see if they can trap the hawk for you. they do this if they get calls if a predator is being a nusiance and killing domestic pets.


----------



## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

spirit wings said:


> you can call your wildlife department and see if they can trap the hawk for you. they do this if they get calls if a predator is being a nusiance and killing domestic pets.


 they might just get a lecture about how the hawk is doing what come naturally to them . and it is your responsibility to protect your own pets ..at least thats what they told me ............ yes I'm a little bitter


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Im determined to rid if him somehow. i know theyre protected against law , but there must be a way to stop him. Gotta try to out smart him. I will try all of your ideas. relocation sounds best. I cant lose any of my birds, i have 4 of my friends champions breeder pairs, and im deathly afraid they will get out and bam he will get them. I have a pinetree that almost covers all of my loft. he enjoys sitting right next to it, scaring my poor guys. they almost kill themselfs everytime je appears. will he try to eat my chickens to? i have 2 almost adults running loose in my backyard.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

*here is my loft*

heres the loft


----------



## JasoninMN (Nov 5, 2005)

Get rid of this hawk and there is another waiting to take over his territory. Having your loft under that tree makes it easy to ambush.


----------



## t.o. vaught (Jul 31, 2013)

*menu*

first impression? looks like a roughwing menu. I have raised thousands and thousands of chicks, first don't advertise. that hawk can see about 20 times better than you and it looks like dinner to me, he can see there every move. try to cover up your coop so he has no idea whats in there. also if they come an go as they please nothing says dinner better than hovering. if they hover before they leave or enter he got you. invest in some net don't matter what kind fishing,military surplus whatever and fix it so your birds got a chance to see him and get up speed if he's there. only a cooper or falcon will be able to run him down at speed. I promise he tangles in your net one time you will never see him again. its cheap I bought a 100' x 250' pc at a military surplus store for 115.00 small price for piece of mind. I live in the land of every bird of prey in the east they used to be hard on pheasant an quail till a friend showed me how to net, problem solved.


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Hey The Pigeon Girl...
U have chicken...? Do u also have a big bully rooster?
Did u go through the thread "poor hawk" from last month?
Roosters are born fighters... infact people arrange their fighting competitions.
Get one and ur hawk problem could be solved... 
He can prove to be ur pigeons watch dog also


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

brocky bieber said:


> Hey The Pigeon Girl...
> U have chicken...? Do u also have a big bully rooster?
> Did u go through the thread "poor hawk" from last month?
> Roosters are born fighters... infact people arrange their fighting competitions.
> ...



That won't work.


----------



## jafacanyan (Jul 17, 2013)

Get a couple of escampadissa pigeons I hear there called hawk catchers. Your birds look great by the way, what breeds are they?


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Your loft is right under that tree.
Hmmm...
Sure the hawk has places to hide and lauch an ambush attack especially when pigeons come out of the loft 
Could the loft be moved to some other corner?.
Could the tree be trimmed a little from downside to make the hawk more visible that could make him less comfy...


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

My friend had the idea to move it there. i didnt like it, but he did it anyways. I have, rollers, racers, frillbacks, crested shultz, WOET and i dont stay to any color  haha, my friend called my loft the rainbow loft. i am going to try to have someone help me move it, because it is heavy as hell. thank you for all of the advice, wil try. netting sounds good.


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

> Originally Posted by The Pigeon Girl
> have a pinetree that almost covers all of my loft. he enjoys sitting right next to it, scaring my poor guys. they almost kill themselfs everytime je appears.


Moving it away from the tree might help the pigeons feel less scared.

Sure yours a rainbow loft. So many breed under one roof 
You may wanna try one more breed (since u already have many breeds why not one more)i.e, encampadissa pigeons. Hawks can be lured into traps using them. Youtube has many videos on How to do it...
G'Luck
Do tell us about how u get rid of that hawk when u will...
Cuz I'm affirmative that u will


----------



## t.o. vaught (Jul 31, 2013)

those roughwings have been raisin in the same place since I lived here 15 yrs. the are about 500 yards directly from my front porch. I have seen them take cardinals,bluebirds dove and blackbirds. I put my net up 8 yrs ago and in 2 days one got his feer hung up. I got him out with no trouble to me or him but apparently he told the kids they don't come near my shick building.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Jason Heidlauf said:


> they might just get a lecture about how the hawk is doing what come naturally to them . and it is your responsibility to protect your own pets ..at least thats what they told me ............ yes I'm a little bitter


I would of ask to talk to someone else higher up. if this was say a coyote eating a poodle then I really can't see them saying "that is natural, deal with it." so perhaps you are bitter and that comes through. being patient and concerned and being a sqeaky wheel can get results. there are ways to apply for a license to trap yourself as well. keep asking untill you get someone willing to help, sounds like you got a activist type on the phone.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Gunna try that.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

okay i will try all of the suggestions. mean while, i was in the house heard high pitch screamimg ran out and the hawk took off and landed on the fence. i ran to the youngest chickens and he has bitten a whole through his beak. this was a few days ago. today, he was on top of theroller cage staring into the coop picking out the ones he wanted. grrr.


----------



## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

yea spirit wing I'm going to keep banging the phone . I can't shoot at them even if i wanted . we have a bald eagle nest less than 1/2 mile away and i don't want to shoot a young eagle by mistake , also there are a boatload of eagle watchers all over the place


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Exactly. yeah, those people are crazy.


----------



## Doig (May 18, 2013)

Superb IDeas!

Though, I have noticed that since I live in an area where my loft is sort of covered in trees "forest" crows, mostly Ravens do not see the hawk until it starts its chase with my pigeons. So, sometimes a hawk if you live in an area like mine will still make a kill out of your pigeons even if there are thousands of crows/ravens/corvids around. If they are hungry enough they will strike. These hawks are usually Goshawks, red-shouldered, red-tailed, basically ambush birds of prey. It seems like Falcons seem to stab pigeons in flight not ambush from bushes.

Secondly, I have had many times where a group of hawks (3) ambushed my pigeons when they were sun bathing on their loft roof. Even though they did not snatch any of my pigeons, their tactic was astounding. One ambushed from the back bushes while the other one ambushed after the first from the front into the bushes. The Third one was flying above to catch any pigeons that flew up high. 

There is this one hawk; I believe maybe Goshawk or REd-shouldered. Sort of big, but I still have not yet officially identified it, visits my loft every mourning at around 10:00 - 11:30. Took one of my young sick pigeons that got out that mourning. Ever since that, it has set its watch to come by that early and sometimes around 4-5pm. 


JAYE has hit the spot! Just wanted to give you some of my experiences with HAWKS and perhaps you might come up with the best way of going around the hawk near your loft. 

ONE last thing I HAVE to address: Just b/c you have gotten rid of one hawk from your loft, does not mean your pigeons are safe. Since you loft fly your pigeons like many of us do, they will attract Birds of Prey miles away. Hawk Vision is one of the best Visions there are. If one hawk or two hawks have discovered your loft, there is a 90% 30 thousand other hawks will find it too. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but like JAYE suggested in one of his suggestions "If a hawk sees another hawk it will flee" (close description/correct me if I am wrong), so if no hawk is present due to removing the previous one; then another one "MIGHT" find your loft. 

I hope you the best b/c I know and everyone that let their pigeons free fly know how you feel!!!!! 

Best regards to you and your friendly flyers, Doig.


----------



## mysstic (Dec 16, 2011)

I was browsing youtube video, in hope to find some help how to keep BOP away, instead I came across this disgusting video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRyPUNqL2PE

I wouldn't shoot the hawk, but I'd shoot that scumbag

How about a BOP replica?
http://www.pigeoncontrolresourcecentre.org/html/reviews/hawk-falcon-bird-of-prey-decoy.html


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

ewww! oh my god. so awful :-(


----------



## Doig (May 18, 2013)

brocky bieber said:


> Hey The Pigeon Girl...
> U have chicken...? Do u also have a big bully rooster?
> Did u go through the thread "poor hawk" from last month?
> Roosters are born fighters... infact people arrange their fighting competitions.
> ...


The only chickens that I have experienced not being too afraid of Hawks are Aseel/Asil Roosters. I have Aseel chickens and once the hen lied right on top of her chicks as the hawk attacked her and grabbed her. Perhaps every hen big enough would do this, but Chickens that are bred to "fight" or show "aggression" like Asil/Aseel or Shamo chickens will give very strong alert calls to their hens and the other creatures around them. Large enough Asil or Shamo roosters will fight back if the hawk attacked them. Most of the time the hawk will not though. A lot of Aseel/Asil are mixed with Shamo chickens.
At 3 weeks old, little chicks (males) already start biting and kicking each other. Anyways, they are really good at detecting flying machines (hawks eagles, vultures, etc) especially if they are caged in their own cage outside close to each other with about two females free ranging near them. 

My Brother-in-law use to have a Muscovy duck. That duck never hesitated to tear feathers from the hawk that attacked the little chickens ranging around the yard; of course the duck had some scratched and broken flight feathers, but it protected its territory. From observation and experience, MAscovy ducks will not fly off if you have food for them since they are domesticated and you have bought them to stay on your land, but who knows... they might if they are curious enough. 

ROCKY is on a good track!!! A very good way to warn your pigeons of predators!!! Just one out of many great ways to allow your pigeons to know ahead of danger.

*Asil/Aseel Rooster (Body built for aggression and fighting):
*










*Female Asil/Aseel (Body built for aggression and protection):*










*SHamo:*


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

Almost looks like it was filmed behind the mountains where i use to live.


----------



## The Pigeon Girl (Jul 3, 2010)

And that sounds perfect. but where to buy them?


----------

