# Hawk/Eagle attacks



## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

I am new to pigeons and I was wondering about hawk attacks. I live at the edge of a sod farm, near a river. We see many hawks and eagles each day. However, we have small bantam chickens (large robin size) running free and have never lost one to a hawk/eagle. If I got pigeons do you think they would prey on them?

What are other peoples experiences with pigeons and birds of prey??


----------



## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

*Hawks and Falcons*

Yes they will attack the pigeons, 1 of my pigeon been attacked & killed by Peregrine Falcon on Christmas Day 2006, I knew theres something missing when I made a head count once everybody are in the loft but I cant figure out who is missing or whos not home (yet), then 3 days later Liberty State Park Rangers called me and say "Hi , I called ARPU and they gave me your contact #'s to inform you that band #70775 has been torn apart by the rare breed falcon", also the hawks caught 1 of my black diamonds and scraped her sides manage to escape but its curable (is that a word LOL) have you contact ARPU or IF , maybe they can help you locate which fanciers in your area is breeding white homing pigeons...Somebody here might give you some info...But Eagles; well never seen an Eagle here where Im at so NO info about it from me...


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

moonshadow said:


> I am new to pigeons and I was wondering about hawk attacks. I live at the edge of a sod farm, near a river. We see many hawks and eagles each day. However, we have small bantam chickens (large robin size) running free and have never lost one to a hawk/eagle. If I got pigeons do you think they would prey on them?
> 
> What are other peoples experiences with pigeons and birds of prey??



You will definitely get a hawks attention, when you have pigeons, unfortunately it is their favorite meal.

I have never seen so many hawks since the last few years. They tried to get a meal daily, and really messed up my last young bird training, even though there wasn't one around before I let them fly. Now my birds are indoors and have access to an aviary.

The hawks still hit the aviary once a week to see if they can get a meal, that is wishful thinking, as they are protected with fencing and chicken wire/hardware cloth.


----------



## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

I mentioned this earlier but dont know if this really works. I have heard that by applying silver powder or dust the hawks will not attack the pigeons because of the sunlight reflecting back onto them. Only 1 person i know is doing this and he says it works


----------



## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

Where can you get the silver dust?

Also, I was wondering about getting guinea hens. I've heard they scare off hawks. Anyone tried them? They would only work for around the aviary of course.


----------



## Eriduardo (Aug 28, 2006)

I would definately say you would attract attention to the hawks, as I agree that unfortunately pigeons are their favorite meals . I have had pigeons get attacked by hawks before and ever since I got involved with pigeons I haven't lost any to them. AU 06 ARPU 65456 or "Mancha" as we call her, was the first pigeon born in my loft and I'm very attached to her .........she was the first one to be loft trained and I think it was very foolish of me to train her by herself as she was the only pigeon I had hatched back then. She is the survivor of several hawk attacks a few times even of two hawks at the same time. Luckly she's managed to get away from them and survive with out any scratches to this day. Now she's like the leader of my team of birds and my best flying bird.


----------



## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

This might sound a little crazy, but has anyone ever scared the hawks away with a highpowered watergun or an airgun?? I mean hawks are smart, if you squirt or pelt them often enough they'll get the hint. I mean nothing that would injury them, but something that would definately scare them.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

You can bet that anything that can be tried has been tried..........those of us with free flying birds would go to the end of the earth looking for a way to rid ourselves of the hawk problem. Trouble is, hawks are so darn fast. You'd be amazed at how they can appear out of no where and then be gone in an instant, sometimes with your bird. If you're lucky enough to spot one sitting nearby in a tree, then yea, the watergun might be a good idea, but most of them will take off the moment they SEE YOU SEE THEM.......if they attack a bird in the air, obviously, they are too high up for you to do anything but watch and if it's a sneak attack, believe me, they are there and gone almost too fast to react or see it happen.


----------



## Guest (Apr 12, 2007)

you knows it Renee  I have yet to have an opportunty to squirt one with a hose but sure have thrown enuf others things at them and not once was I ever even close to hitting the target  I think they are just messing with me, but throwing things at them at least makes me feel like Im doing something to deter them at least a tiny bit


----------



## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

What about the Guinea Fowl thing? I mean read this:

They are usually looked upon as a protection from hawks and a night guard against thieves, as they set up their peculiar screaming when disturbed. No strange person or noise seems to escape their notice.

Here's the link to the whole article:http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/other/guineafowl/

Could you keep them in a pen near the coop/avairy? Anyone tried it?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

moonshadow said:


> What about the Guinea Fowl thing? I mean read this:
> 
> They are usually looked upon as a protection from hawks and a night guard against thieves, as they set up their peculiar screaming when disturbed. No strange person or noise seems to escape their notice.
> 
> ...


Again, they might warn you that there's a hawk around. That can be a good thing if you're birds aren't out of the loft yet. If the birds are already out flying, it doesn't matter.
Bottom line is this.......if you are going to have free flying pigeons, you WILL get a visit from hawks occasionally. End of story.
Some areas are worse than others. 
We were told when we moved to our present location that the hawks would terrorize our birds. Hasn't happened. In 5 1/2 years, we've lost about 6 birds to actual hawk attacks that I saw. I know people in my club that loose a bird every time they let them out. One person began OB season with 60 plus birds. She's down to around 50 now. None have been lost on races. She has a real hawk problem. When I first met her 5 years ago, she had Guinea's. I though they were so cool running around and making a racket. Didn't stop the hawks from visiting though. Her Guineas are long gone now.
It's basically something that you must live with.


----------



## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

Hawks are funny birds. I mean we have lots of them around, but they're never tried to take our tiny bantam chickens. Weird, huh? But, the neighbor said when he was raising game birds (pheasant, ect) they would raid his coop all the time. I wonder if it our dogs?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Hawks are very unpredictable. There are some birds that just have that "knack" for avoiding being captured.
I thought maybe Roxtar (one of the members here) would tell this story but since he hasn't I will......... 
We were at his house two week ends helping put up a loft. He has a pair of hawks nesting in a BIG tree right by his house. We could hear the hawks squealing all the time and would see them flying over the house, taking twigs to the tree to build a nest. Well, Roxtar has these two young birds that he's trained and he lets them fly around alot during the day.
I saw this hawk go after his birds one day while we were there. The birds were on the roof of the house and the hawk dove down at them. Well, the hawk did not get either bird, but left and went back to his tree. We watched those two birds fly and fly and fly and every once in a while they go and fly right by the tree where this hawk was sitting. It was almost like they were teasing him to come after them. I would lay you odds, that unless it's a sneak attack, this hawk will never get either of those birds. They play games with the hawk and don't seem the least bit concerned about him. It was quite funny to watch. 
Now if he can get all these new babies to do the same thing, he'll have it made..........


----------



## Eriduardo (Aug 28, 2006)

lol, I just thought I'd share a lil story as well 
Once I let a group of young birds out to fly, might have been their 3rd or 4th time out, anyway while they were flying I spotted a hawk flying from tree to tree trying to gain up on my birds and I guess my birds saw it too because they flew down to the the roof of the loft and since they couldn't enter the loft because I lock them out until it's time to come in and eat, they just sat on both the roof of the loft and my house. I thought that at any momment that hawk was going to dive down and grab one of them. It started Hovering/Gliding over my property, I didn't know what to do, so I just started whistleling as hard as I could, and the I guess the hawk was scared because it just circled a few times and then flew away really fast. I don't know if it was because of my whistling or because it spotted an easy target else where. I'll have to keep trying that whenever I see one and see what happens.


----------



## Feather (Dec 8, 2005)

Eriduardo,

I do the same when I see a hawk. Whistling actually works! I was told by Debbie on this forum that the hawks think that it is another hawk's territory. She actually had the hawk sound down to a T. Once a hawk grabbed one of my babies on his first day out. I embarrassed my husband, but I made that hawk so nervous by yelling, whistling, and banging things the the hawk dropped my baby. That gave me a chance to retrieve him. The hawk did come back though. I know that he was thinking "WHAT HAPPENED, I KNOW I DROPPED HIM RIGHT HERE". Your presence really does make a difference, perhaps save a life. 

Feather


----------



## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Lovebirds said:


> ............
> 
> I saw this hawk go after his birds one day while we were there. The birds were on the roof of the house and the hawk dove down at them. Well, the hawk did not get either bird, but left and went back to his tree. We watched those two birds fly and fly and fly and every once in a while they go and fly right by the tree where this hawk was sitting. It was almost like they were teasing him to come after them..............


I've watched my feral friends at the Overpass do this many times. There always seems to be a lead pigeon checking out the Hawk and flying by their
perching spot on the top of tall iron construct at the top of a 4-5 story building. Sooner or later it seems a couple others will join in as though it's a game. One evening I watched one such event when the hawk decided to give them a chase.

The hawk took after the three of them and the pigeons, at first, responded as a group. Then they started breaking off in different directions. One of them,
I think the one that had started the teasing seemed to keep an eye on the
hawk as though wanting to make sure that it continued chasing it. The other
two returned to their roosting spot under the bridge. The hawk and pij went
out of view for a good five minutes and I'd assumed that I'd lost that pij.
I doubt anyone thinks of ferals as "trapping-in", but without the help of the setting sun, only the street lights, that one pij came tear-*ssing in and swooped under the bridge, into their 'hide-out' and to 'safety'. 

fp


----------



## Guest (Apr 13, 2007)

all I can say is that pigeons are the most amazing birds ever ,who else could take on a war bird and live to tell the tail


----------



## roxtar (Aug 21, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> Hawks are very unpredictable. There are some birds that just have that "knack" for avoiding being captured.
> I thought maybe Roxtar (one of the members here) would tell this story but since he hasn't I will.........
> We were at his house two week ends helping put up a loft. He has a pair of hawks nesting in a BIG tree right by his house. We could hear the hawks squealing all the time and would see them flying over the house, taking twigs to the tree to build a nest. Well, Roxtar has these two young birds that he's trained and he lets them fly around alot during the day.
> I saw this hawk go after his birds one day while we were there. The birds were on the roof of the house and the hawk dove down at them. Well, the hawk did not get either bird, but left and went back to his tree. We watched those two birds fly and fly and fly and every once in a while they go and fly right by the tree where this hawk was sitting. It was almost like they were teasing him to come after them. I would lay you odds, that unless it's a sneak attack, this hawk will never get either of those birds. They play games with the hawk and don't seem the least bit concerned about him. It was quite funny to watch.
> Now if he can get all these new babies to do the same thing, he'll have it made..........


That's either a really inept hawk or two pigeons that are pressing their luck and are gonna get it good and hard one day.  

In my very little experience with pigeons I think I've gotten kind of a baptism by fire of how hawks can mess with your birds and it is a pretty stressful thing to worry about. Like Renee' said, if you have pigeons flying around outside eventually you're going to get visited by a hawk, and if you fly your birds you're going to lose some sometime whether it be to a hawk/power line whatever. I don't see any way to control a hawk problem although I have noticed a drop in the number of appearances my neighbor has made after 3 unsuccessful attacks. I haven't seen him in about a week. Perhaps it's the abundance of easier meals.


----------



## Guest (Apr 14, 2007)

I noticed that I see them more if I fly my birds in the mornings thats why I only fly in the evenings now cuz im guessing the hawks have fuller bellys by then so they arent as intent on taking my birds .. but I know they are still out there ,I see them in the distance drawing up their skematics on taking my birds in their future attempts


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

roxtar said:


> That's either a really inept hawk or two pigeons that are pressing their luck and are gonna get it good and hard one day.
> 
> In my very little experience with pigeons I think I've gotten kind of a baptism by fire of how hawks can mess with your birds and it is a pretty stressful thing to worry about. Like Renee' said, if you have pigeons flying around outside eventually you're going to get visited by a hawk, and if you fly your birds you're going to lose some sometime whether it be to a hawk/power line whatever. I don't see any way to control a hawk problem although I have noticed a drop in the number of appearances my neighbor has made after 3 unsuccessful attacks. I haven't seen him in about a week. Perhaps it's the abundance of easier meals.


Maybe he's tired from chasing those two little speed demons you've got. He's resting up for the real show in a couple of weeks.


----------

