Oh crap!!

[Lislou]

So I'm into my second day of playing the Dawn Song from a boom box on my screened porch in an attempt to become a landlord again in a new location.

I was passing by my basement window where I have an excellent view of my newly erected gourd rack and guess what I saw perched right on top???? The biggest flippin' bird I've ever seen that close-up. Some sort of HUGE hawk!! I ran upstairs to get outside and scare it away but by the time I got upstairs to the door it was gone.

I never had to worry about hawks at our old house in Indiana. Seeing that thing on my gourd rack really scared me and I'm worried about attracting birds here and inadvertently sending them to their doom via a winged predator!

I stopped the dawn song as I know that's why he came here and now I'm fearful about playing it again to be honest.

I have the S&K ultimate tunnels on all my gourds and will have a guard rack installed on the Trio going up this weekend as I could tell that hawks might be a problem around here (their State University mascot is a Jayhawk for crying out loud!) That point really hit home this afternoon as I'm attempting to lure birds here.

Now I have mixed feeling about being a landlord again. I don't want to set them up for predation!

Any other folks feel this way??

[flyin-lowe]

How big was the hawk? besides BIG. If it was a large red tailed hawk then you should have to worry about it. It might have just been looking for a place to perch. Other then some martins seeing it and being freaked out by it the large hawk won't be able to catch you martins. The biggest concern in the hawk family are the coopers and sharped shinned. The will destroy a martin however they are not really big birds. They are big compared to a martin but they aren't a whole lot bigger then a crow. Give us an idea as to how big the hawk actually was and somebody will be able to help you know if you should be concerned or not.

[dcartwright]

Just me, but if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't worry about it too much if the hawk was really big as you say. Now if it was the Cooper or Sharpy, that would be different. We have the Red Tails and large hawks, but they rarely pay any attention to the small birds.

I would wait a couple of days and then start the CD again.

Good luck! Hope you get several pair this year.

Keep us posted.
Don

[Fredmyyster]

That HAD to have been spooky ! When i 1st started my Dawnsong up this season i did get alot of activity but no hawks. Pretty wide open where im at but there is a mess of trees not far from here and i see hawks hovein over them then, drop straight down into them, prolly snaggin rabbits.

[Michael Sanford ~ OK]

Hey Lisa, let 'er rip! Play that dawnsong. Here is my philosophy. Martins are prey items for accipiter hawks. They are going to attract their attention regardless of where they are. They can be preyed on by hawks across town or they can be preyed on by hawks in your yard where you are providing exceptional housing. If you turn off the dawnsong and decide to not attract martins they are going to nest someplace else where they are going to have to most likely compete with sparrows and starlings, snakes and raccoons, as well as watch out for hawks. Or they can nest in your yard where all they have to do is watch out for hawks because you have the rest of it covered. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

It also doesn't hurt to throw a couple of martin decoys on your housing to fool those accipiter hawks.

[tonyg]

Hey Lisa, welcome to Kansas.. I agree with Michael, do what you gotta do. I've been doing this stuff for 12 yrs now and the hawks and owls are mother natures way of "thinning the herd"...I just do my best to keep the snakes, sparrows and starlings at bay.. are you in Lawrence Ks.? If you are, shouldn't have trouble attracting martins there, providing its a good location....good luck!

[Lislou]

Tony - no, we're in Wichita. Hope to visit Lawrence sometime soon. Heard it's nice.

I live in a subdivision that backs up to an open field and a large line of trees about 200 yards away. With the trees being bare these past six months I've often seen very large birds propped up on the tops of these trees. I know alot of bigger birds pass through here migrating. I always see a ton of bigger birds perched on tree tops whenever I travel on the freeways and am much more aware of them now. I know they have to be birds of prey.

I've looked at pictures and I think what I saw yesterday on my gourd rack was actually a prairie falcon. Check out this link -- http://www.birds-of-north-america.net/p ... alcon.html

I mean this bird was BIG and had that mottled look on it's breast.

It could have been a hawk (Coopers, Sharp Shinned, Red Tail) I guess and maybe SEEMED so big to me as I've only had smaller birds like martins and BB's on my rack so whatever it was seemed just huge to me in comparison.

I understand the Laws of Nature and all but I know if I get martins here and I actually see them preyed upon by these large birds I'm going to have a hard time dealing with it emotionally. No doubt those who have actually experienced these attacks have been touched emotionally. We get so attached to our PM's.

It's a catch-22 of sorts, isn't it?

I won't stop trying to attract them but I need to be prepared as it sounds like hawk attacks happen around here and that's just the way it is. :(

[Michael Sanford ~ OK]

You may not have hawk problems all season long, Lisa. Some people see a few at the beginning of the season while they are migrating and that's it. For some people, like me, they are a summer long problem. I also have 60 pairs during the summer which happens to attract a lot of attention. If you attract a pair or two then hawks shouldn't be a major problem. They will seek out more plentiful prey. It just depends. I never had hawk problems until my colony grew to an appreciable size.

[KathyF]

Lisa, put up some purple martin decoys. I can't even count how many lives have been saved at my colony, thanks to the decoys.

[Scully]

Possibly a prairie falcon I'd guess, but one associates those with dry Western mountain country and arid rangelands.

Far more likely a red-tailed hawk, and note that red-tail plumage is very variable. Red-tails present a minimal threat to martins.

Cooper's and Sharpies generally look slim and long when perched, rather than "huge', "huge" however is often applied to red-tails seen up close.

Mike Scully

[Lislou]

Oh yes Kathy - got those decoys up. Two on my gourd rack and one will go on the top of my Trio which will definitely be re-inforced with the green cage-like owl guards I bought from Nature House. Set to go up this weekend.

I want to protect these sweet PM's (should I be fortunate enough to attract 'em this year) to the best of my ability!!

Scully - the bird really didn't have an "elongated" look to it. Given, I did get only a few seconds glance (if that) before high tailing it upstairs to yell at him.
All I know for sure is that it was a scary looking bird to me and I hope to not see another one in my yard anytime soon.

Michael - yes, I think it wouldn't be a good idea to have a large colony out here. I'll be offering 8 total gourds and a modified Trio this time around. Next year I might add the second Trio that I have with a few gourds underneath and will probably stop there. As much as I'd LOVE to offer more housing I don't think it's a good idea given my residential neighborhood status along with all the aerial predators that seem to be around. If you have the space for it, great!

[DebA]

Lisa,

Welcome to our area! I live in Pratt County, about an hour west of Wichita. Last year was my second year to be a landlord. I had a slow start it seemed but ended up with 2 pair arriving last April. Each raised 3 babies! I am anxiously awaiting them.

I live in the country and see hawks on fence posts and power poles. I've not had any issues that I'm aware of in my martin house with sreh holes. I do have two decoys and one was knocked off last year. Not sure if it was a hawk or owl.

I read an article in our local paper last August talking about the birds gathering in the thousands at Via Christi's St. Francis campus parking lot before heading south. I hope to see that this year.

I'm new at this and haven't seen too many Kansas people posting. I understand the grieving process you describe. It would devastate me too. But I figure they have a chance to thrive with me as I do my best to help them. Anyway - welcome to South Central Kansas! I love the martins so much and find such peace in them I look at my friends and think what a shame they miss out on this and have no idea. I think they tire of me telling martin stories at work. Oh well!

Deb

[Laverne]

Now I have mixed feeling about being a landlord again. I don't want to set them up for predation!

Any other folks feel this way??

No, I don't... The "joy" of my Purple Martin colony outweighs the bad. I honestly believe that every PM colony experiences some kind of predation every season. I deal with my feelings by telling myself this is the balance of nature. I try to provide my colony with the best housing and keep it free of nest competitors. I have found that the healthy, sound adult Purple Martin is very difficult for even the best hawk to catch. Unfortunately, the fledgling Purple Martin is very "easy" for any hawk to catch. There is "safety in numbers" and this is the method the PMs use as a defense. But, somebody is going to be caught. It happens here every year.

If you decide not to erect housing then where are the birds that could potentially inhabit your colony going to nest? Are they going to have to eek out an existence in a house infested with Starlings and House Sparrows?

I believe we should do what we can to provide them with a safe place to sleep and raise their babies and leave the rest of their lives to the laws of nature.

Best wishes and good luck to you.
Enjoy...

Sincerely,
Laverne