Pesky Intruder

[JHeap]

This hawk just isn't getting the message. Between my son discharging the 22 every time he enters the 20 acres and the martins ganging up on him, you'd think he would leave. I snapped this picture of a couple of the martins buzzing him. Surprisingly they don't seem as agitated by this guy as they usually do when a hawk enters the area.

Any legal suggestions on how to get him to move on??

[JHeap]

Okay, obviously I don't know how to post pictures. I prefer to spend my time outside watching the birds. Let's try it one more time -- hope it's a charm. If no picture -- any advice would be appreciated!

[Guest]

I live in a rural town. I was outside yesterday about 30 feet from my gourd pole. Never had seen a hawk attack. First thing I knew hawk was on the ground and jumped up a flew away with a martin with me standing a few feet away. It was done so fast I couldn't believe it.

[Todd Wright]

I have witnessed a few hawk attacks the past couple of years and they do happen very fast-makes me wonder how many attacks I did not witness. Last year the hawk missed the martins but grabbed on to a decoy and I thought he was going to tear the house up before he gave up. Thankfully I usually do not see any hawks after the first couple weeks in April.

[Louise Chambers]

Judy, there are several things you can try to deter hawk attacks - using martin and dove decoys is one good idea. Do a search on 'hawks' and read threads others have posted.

I can't tell what kind of hawk it is from your photo (yeah, they are FAST!) but if it has a reddish tail, (red-tailed hawk) it's not much of a threat. Red-tails hunt rodents mostly, and are not fast or agile enough to hunt birds.

[DornCounty]

hawks are as thick as I can remember this year. And they are hungry. This year is the first time ever I have seen hawks eating road kill.

[Don Strickland]

Hi Louise,
That's welcome information. I have hawks around my place but usually when I see them, they are flying low around in the large field behind my home. Probably looking for rats and mice. I don't think they are Red Tails but can't tell for sure.
Don

[Louise Chambers]

Don,

If they are gliding overhead, they are probably red-tails, watching for rodents. Good thing that the most common hawk (I am guessing here) in the US is not a bird specialist! Red-tails even live in cities now and then -the famous pair near Central Park in NY City ate pigeons a lot, I think - adapting to what was available in that habitat. To ID red-tails, look for brick colored tail in adults, black wrist mark in adults and immatures (which have banded tail).

Other soaring hawks that should not present a problem include red-shouldered hawks & broadwings. Eagles and Osprey, no problem, ditto vultures.

[JHeap]

Unfortunately Louise,

It is the hawk that is in the tree with the martins soaring overhead. The picture is a bit distorted and makes the martins look large. It is one of those fast flying little guys -- Coopers Hawk maybe? He has been camping out in the small trees on our 20 acres. We have red tails in the area but they don't seem to bother the martins.

Any way to make him move on to another pasture?

[Louise Chambers]

The hawk might be spending the winter months in your area, in which case it will move north in April. Sounds like a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk.

You can use decoys to deter it, use sound, as your son is doing by shooting into the ground, or use an airhorn or whistle when you see the hawk.

You can use bird feeders, possibly, to draw its attention away from the martins - set up feeders away from the martin housing, let the hawk focus on doves, red-winged blackbirds, and the like.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

We have a fast little brown hawk, I think its a sharpie, he is about the size of a dove. It is not a resident, so its passing thru. Since you live only about 15 to 20 miles from here, it could be one of them. I hope that it leaves your place in the near future

[KathyF]

I setup feeders in the attack paths the hawks were using last year (as Louise suggests above). They would come from the north (where there are more trees), then pop up over the roof of my house and swoop down into the colony. They would also come from the north west.

Turns out it was like setting up an 'outer' perimeter alarm system. Even if the hawk didn't stop at the feeders, the alarm calls by the birds at the feeders flushed the martins far in advance of the hawk arriving in their midst. Worked like a charm and the hawk starting attacking the feeders more than the martins - I'm guessing because the birds at the feeders were more distracted, even some on the ground.

I also bought a 4-pack of cheap dove decoys on E-bay and I now have 8 martin decoys. Move them around during nest checks.

[Ed Pace]

You said you have 20 acres. Go on" You Tube" and extensively researsh hawks. You may find help with identification and problem solving.

[Linda Reynolds]

Here is a link to a wonderful site that I discovered many years ago. I hope this link works, as you are able to compare images of different types of hawks for identification purposes.

I absolutely stink at hawk identification, and use this site all the time. If this link does not work, I will edit the post and then provide step by step instructions on how to access the link for identification.

http://www.virtualbirder.com/cgi-bin/vb ... at&BAND=lo

[Linda Reynolds]

The link that I provided above seems to be working for me. Let me know if anyone has difficulty.

Simply select a hawk from the list on the left, and then a hawk from the list on the right, and compare......Hope you find this link to be of some help.

[Louise Chambers]

Linda, that's a very helpful link - thanks! We get so many kinds migrating through Texas, I can use all the ID help I can get. Took me a while to realize I pick from options at top of page

[Linda Reynolds]

Sorry, Louise, I should have explained that option, but I knew you and others would eventually figure it out.

At the top of the page one should click a species from the upper right side, and another species from the left column, and then click *Display Both Raptors*

There are other identification options below, but you guys can figure that out if interested.

Like I said, I really stink at hawk ID and this site has helped me. I am still not good, but at least better than I was many years ago.