# Dealing with hawks and eagles



## highflyeramatur (Dec 16, 2008)

Ok I decided o start this thread to help some people that have problems with hawks ,eagles and falcons and any other arial pedetor that i have faild to mention i have tried everything from traping and reloctating to useing other hawks to bring the other down im not saying to do this its illegal to trap them unless u are a licensed falconer as my slf or others . I have had thief pouters for 16 years and have lost ny share of them to attacks from above the thief pouter is no athlete . So what i ended up doing was trying differnt deterents that wouldnt hurt them or my pouters and what i use belive it or not is a mirror incase you havent noticed all loft trained pigeons circle thier loft at a high rate of speed when theres a predetor in persuit so what i do is let my pouter fly by with the hawk in tow until i get a timing down my pigeon races over me and the hawk gets an eyefull of blinding sunlight temporarly loses sight of the pigeon giving you time to call it in to safety.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

highflyeramatur said:


> Ok I decided o start this thread to help some people that have problems with hawks ,eagles and falcons and any other arial pedetor that i have faild to mention i have tried everything from traping and reloctating to useing other hawks to bring the other down im not saying to do this its illegal to trap them unless u are a licensed falconer as my slf or others . I have had thief pouters for 16 years and have lost ny share of them to attacks from above the thief pouter is no athlete . So what i ended up doing was trying differnt deterents that wouldnt hurt them or my pouters and what i use belive it or not is a mirror incase you havent noticed all loft trained pigeons circle thier loft at a high rate of speed when theres a predetor in persuit so what i do is let my pouter fly by with the hawk in tow until i get a timing down my pigeon races over me and the hawk gets an eyefull of blinding sunlight temporarly loses sight of the pigeon giving you time to call it in to safety.


well aint' that somethin...like the survival mirror to signal for help....It would have to have sun out though for it to reflect....


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## highflyeramatur (Dec 16, 2008)

yea thats the catch no sun all you got is your prayers and hope that your bird can out manuver the hawk.But i got really excited whe i saw this worked 
I no longer keep hawks so i cant use them as my fighters. lol. sinse haveing them requires alot of space to build a decnt sized mew now i spend my days looking for ways to deter them humanely. i'll work on something for when its cloudy i havent really had many cloudy days in florida.But i have an ide of what to use i'll let you guys know if it works.


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2008)

on cloudy days maybe you could use one of those lazer beam lights , not sure it would work on birds of prey but from what I have heard pilots have been blinded by them by people on the ground which is not cool while flying a plane


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*Crows*

*For me I have found that crows are the best deterrent for hawks is the crow they let you know when a hawk is around as they will sound off infact I belive that our pigeons understand that the call made by the crow is a warning call.I have seen crows harrass a hawk and in fact drive the hawk out of the area.You see the crow is protecting his feeding area.There a few things that I do before releasing my birds, 1... are the crows making a lot of noise this to me is a warning that something is wrong.2. when the crows are not in the area I look for the birds at my feeding stations if no birds are present I look around to see if a hawk is in the area, or I wait till the song birds are back at the feeder.3 I never leave the area around my loft while my birds are flying. These things work for me.* GEORGE


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

I agree with George. My birds have been saved by crows many times. It specially happened when crows built their nest on my neighbor's tree. When my birds got chased by a hawk, crows went diving and chased the hawk. It was like crows harassing the hawk. What I ended up with is a plan to release my birds when crows are around. I, unfortunately, can't do that when I am resettling or settling a young bird though because they might get scared with crows making those loud calls. Anyhow, I call my crows my police force. Too bad that the nesting couple left already. I believe the hawk got one of the baby crows while the parents were gone.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Why is it that hawks do not eat crows? Especially the Red Tail Hawks. Crows fly very slowly compared to pigeons and hawks. I have always wondered about that.

Aslo, for those that have or have had falcons, what do you feed them, exactly?

As a side note, I have had hawks get a few of my birds and even though I had eight colored racers and four white racers, the hawks got one colored and three white.

Yet my whites were almost always first home from training tosses.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Conditionfreak,

I think it is simple. Hawks do eat crows, but most of the time they avoid them. What happens is that crows fight back and their big, thick beak can do real damage by poking the hawk's eye. So hawks learned to avoid them. I also believe that some crows are bigger than hawks. But definitely the beak that scares them.

With respect to white homers I have observed the same. My opinion is that white color is very easy to see. I think it is like camouflage problem although I have no facts or data to back that up. It is only my observation with my birds.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Another question. When a hawk "takes" a pigeon, do they carry it away, or eat it where they got it? If they take it on or near the loft, do they take it to another location away, take it to a tree limb, or try and eat it there on the landing borad or ground by the loft?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Most often they eat the Pigeon where they caught it unless they are disturbed. If they are disturbed and drop it, they will come back for it.
Often, if you see the hit, you have a window when you can rescue the Pigeon.


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## Birdman79 (Aug 9, 2007)

I've saved one of my adult birds from the clutch of a cooper on the ground,but i've also seen it grab one of my yb's(small size)a couple of hundred yards away.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

hawks can eat crows but they are not easy prey. They can inflict damage with their beaks as well as the hawk will be swarmed by other crows when the caught crow distress calls.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

highflyeramatur said:


> ..... So what i ended up doing was trying differnt deterents that wouldnt hurt them or my pouters and what i use belive it or not is a mirror incase you havent noticed all loft trained pigeons circle thier loft at a high rate of speed when theres a predetor in persuit so what i do is let my pouter fly by with the hawk in tow until i get a timing down my pigeon races over me and the hawk gets an eyefull of blinding sunlight temporarly loses sight of the pigeon giving you time to call it in to safety.


Gee....well how does that work when it is overcast, or if a cloud is passing by ? And I have seen these things come from out of nowhere so fast, how does one in a second or two manage to get the reflection off the sun and directly into the eyes of the hawk ? And depending on the time of day, and the direction of the hawk, does one really have a 360 angle in which to shine this beam ? What if the hawk is behind your house or a tree ? If you lived somewhere where the sky was always blue, and no houses or trees, and one had lightning fast reflexes, maybe it could work...if you don't end up blinding your own pigeon. 

But, once your birds are way up in the air, that is not when they get caught anyway, it's the landing and taking off. But, if you say it works, and you have not lost any birds to hawks for a number years....well then I am a bit amazed and a bit skeptical...... Come to my house with towering Oak trees over my loft and home, and show me how it works ! Becasue on those few occasions I witnessed such an event, I was sitting in the shade !


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## james fillbrook (Jan 2, 2009)

birds of prey you ether love them or hate them


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

This questions is for anyone who has hawk problems.

How many birds would you estimate loosing in a years time to hawk attacks? Do the attack often? Once they've seen that you have birds do they just stick around?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> This questions is for anyone who has hawk problems.
> 
> How many birds would you estimate loosing in a years time to hawk attacks? Do the attack often? Once they've seen that you have birds do they just stick around?


You'll get many different answers to this question and after everyone answers you, you won't know any more than you do now. Everyone has different types of hawk problems.
For instance, I have lived here since 2002. I have been flying/racing birds since 2002. I can remember a total of about 5 birds actually being killed by a hawk here on my property in those 7 years. For the past two years, I gave my young birds open loft from about June until YB season was over, which would be around Oct/Nov. In those two years, I lost two YB's. One last year (2008) and one in 2007. And I just assume that a hawk got them both. I didn't SEE it happen, but can't think of any good reason why a YB would just fly away from it's loft at 7 or 8 months old and not come back without a good reason. Now, I've seen hawks chase my birds and a couple of times I would be sure that he got one, but at the end of the day when I'd count my birds, they would all be there. 
About a month ago, I had a hawk kill one of my Old Bird racers........a 2003 hen and that's the FIRST time I've EVER lost an OB to a hawk here on my property. 
None of us know what happens when they birds are flying away from the loft or on race day. Sadly, flyers (some of them) just assume that the bird that didn't make it home was a stupid bird when in reality we don't KNOW why a bird or some birds don't make it home. 
I have had a couple of hens come home with injuries. One had an open crop and the other had her butt ripped open. I assume that a hawk did this to them, and here I sit wondering why all of the sudden a bird that came home time and time again didn't show up. 2 or 3 days later, I find out. 
Now, others will come along and say that the hawks hit them every day. It all depends on where you live. Nothing that happens in other flyers back yards will have anything to do with what happens in your back yard.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Thanks Renee for the input....I've been reading alot on hawk attacks recently and have been trying to get a feel for whats to come when I am ready to loft fly my birds. Where I live is mainly dessert with alot of open areas and not alot of trees. A really nice place to see pigeons making rounds around the loft! I would hate to have to lock up my birds if a Cooper decides to stick around my area....but I guess I'll have to wait and see....


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> Thanks Renee for the input....I've been reading alot on hawk attacks recently and have been trying to get a feel for whats to come when I am ready to loft fly my birds. Where I live is mainly dessert with alot of open areas and not alot of trees. A really nice place to see pigeons making rounds around the loft! I would hate to have to lock up my birds if a Cooper decides to stick around my area....but I guess I'll have to wait and see....


Well, trees can be your worst enemy.....the few hits that I do have here are from those sneaky little ba***rds coming through the trees quiet as a mouse and you literally don't know they're there and then WHAM......like a rocket shot out of a cannon......it's really amazing how fast they are and as quick they hit, they're gone (sometimes with your bird)........
I was over at a friends house a few months back and we watched a hawk come after his birds over and over and over. It was a Cooper but the trees were too far away and the birds saw it coming every time and were able to get away......it was quite exciting to watch. 
If you've got lots of open area, that may help some.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

I've seen some of those chases on youtube and yes they are exciting to watch! But It would be a scary deal if it were my birds being chased around... One of the few times that I've seen a cooper around my area was when one flew right over my head about 10 feet and it landed on my neighbors fence. It stayed there for about 5 minutes scoping out the area and flew away. I haven't seen him since and I hope he was just passing by!

I'm happy to hear that your losses are pretty minimal and that an open area with out a lot of trees can help the birds flag down a potential attack from a far.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

If you have no tress I actually think a cooper would never be successful on a mature in shape bird. Now falcons on the other hand love open space and are far more deadly.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

I don't think I've seen a falcon around these parts. I think Coopers and Red Tailed hawks are what we have around this region but I could be wrong....


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

I release my birds 3 times a week and I get attack once a week--chased. I usually lock down one week after that. If my birds get hit/killed I lock down for 2-3 weeks. This happen because I have a resident hawk and my loft location is his or her territory. I also on occasion gets visited by sharp-shinned hawk. I see red-tail hawk from time to time soaring above, but they usually don't bother me. Recently I experience falcon. It has an awesome diving speed!

The attack pattern is obvious. The first day of release usually they don't get chased. It is the second or third release. I am thinking that on the first day the hawk is just observing them. I have lots of trees and my neighbor's, too. There are a lot of places for ambush. Because you have less trees I think you will have less hawk attacks. I am worried about falcon, though. Falcon does it best on those settings--open, high place, can see far.


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## Lovelace (Jan 10, 2008)

goldenboy55, you may live in a open area, you will have to keep, on the look out for 
sharp-shinned hawks, these buggers will climb at grate hights and dive down on your birds.


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