Hawks

EGunterTX · Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:36 pm

I'm mad, disappointed, disgusted, frustrated, and a couple of other adjectives....

This morning, I was standing by the glass doors of my bedroom, watching the PMs flying, chattering, etc. All of a sudden. I saw a hawk swoop down, hit an ASY male and carry him off. By the time I opened the door, he was 20 yards away. I clapped a couple of times, hoping it might startle him into dropping it, but no luck.

I've thought about owl guards, but I can't find them for a BH-12. Besides, they wouldn't have helped today as the hawk hit him about 2 feet from the house.
As hawks are protected, I can't choot any...

Guess I just wanted to share the pain.

Darryl Holden · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:12 pm

I feel your pain! About 30 min ago I witnessed a successful hawk attack on a female martin. I did the same thing you did but he was already flying away with it before I could scare it off. I have witnessed a great many attacks in my life having martins. You have to realize it's just going to happen when you have a martin colony. Decoys will help for a while until they learn that they are not real. Just remember, they will be replaced by another martin. You will not even notice that it's missing a month from now :-)

MamaBruff · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:18 pm

Oh that is terrible! I'm so sorry, and can imagine how awful you feel to witness that!

But at least it's still early enough another suitor can show up to comfort his poor widow and raise some babies. Hawks are something we all fear for our martins. Could it be said that there are 2 kinds of PM Landlords; those that have lost a bird to a hawk, and those that will. YUCK. That's not very comforting! (HUG)

Emil Pampell-Tx · Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:26 pm

I am sorry to hear about the hawk grabbing the martin.

The very first thing that I think of is: try to remove some of he nearby trees. Hawks have the advantage if you have nearby trees.

Jim 1990 · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:03 pm

I hate to think about the hawks getting martins after they have made the long journey back , I have had some taken by hawks I had one that was out late and the rest were al inside the nest . But this one martin was going from gourd to gourd and I was thinking you better get in soon I watched and kept a eye on him until he got in . I turned my head for not more then 5 seconds and the hawk grabbed him, clapped my hands but did not do any good. with so many birds nesting one place it is going to happen .I wish they would go after the starlings when they are poking there heads in the starling entrance and trying to get in. we have a couple cats around and they will eat the house sparrows but they seem to not like the taste of starling. as the two cats around here just walk by them and sniff them and walk away

Darryl Holden · Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:42 pm

I agree Emil! I also think the hawks learn how to catch them even if you have no trees. My colony is wide open no trees for miles. They just get really good at surprising them. I had a hawk last year fly to the top of the racks and most martins would fly off but some would hurry into their gourd. This hawk would wait until a martin would fly out after waiting for a long time and he would grab it. They are really smart!

EGunterTX · Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:13 am

Thanks for the comments!

I await the rest of the season.

klcretired · Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:12 pm

EGunterTX & Everybody,
This year I have been hit Early , hard and often by Hawks , just this morning I had two hawks sitting on my back fence waiting for any movement from my martins so they could attack , Like you said it is very frustrating , I do everything that I can to protect my Colony but some things we just can't control that is why it is so Important to Mount Decoys atop your Housing & Gourd Rack as many as you can, they really do help save martins Lives along w/ My Dove Decoys & The Mojo decoy it has helped me keep a lot of my Martins that would have otherwise be taken by Hawks , The two Raptor's on my back fence I scared off , for how long I don't know???...But I will be Waiting!!!!!

klcretired · Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:27 pm

I use Brackets about 6 -8" long and mount my Decoys on them , when mounted the wind blows and moves them making them look like a live Martin and they get attacked a lot

Chuck4 · Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:52 pm

I'll say the hawk numbers are up in my area this year for sure. There is a park close to where I live, and a pair of red shoulder's have taken up residence there. That is in addition to several Cooper's and Sharpies that I have seen as well.

EGunterTX · Wed Mar 26, 2014 5:51 pm

klc-- Good idea about the brackets. I've got 2 decoys on the house. The bracket might make them more life-like. Thanks--

About 30 hours since the attack. First time I've seen martins coming back to the house.

klcretired · Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:20 am

You can purchase theHangar Straps w/ Holes at Home depot
Oatey 3/4 in. x 10 ft. Galvanized Steel Hanger Strap
Model # 339232
Store SKU # 502072

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-3-4-in ... /100167964

Jose Rodriguez · Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:47 am

Trust me when I say we sympathise on the hawk attacks. We have Cooper's hawks around here and they are bad! We raised pigeons and when we let them out to fly, sure enough a hawk would take out one of our birds. The hawks have gotten so bad around here they stated attacking our bats when they come out in the evening!

Once again sorry about the hawk.

Good idea on the brackets with the decoys KL! Might try that down the road.

EGunterTX · Thu Mar 27, 2014 3:56 pm

Thanks, klc. Need to go check parts shelves in garage. I'm pretty sure I have a partial roll of that left-over from some project in the past...
Great link to Home Depot-- Even told me how many are in stock at the New Braunfels store.

geneinmurphy · Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:44 am

KC.....nice idea about the brackets........I have often wondered about a way to mount the decoys to hand from the rack so they move freely in the wind.....maybe a new style decoy with spread wings on it....

klcretired · Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:39 am

Hi geneinmurphy
Yes a Martin w/ Wings would be a Great Idea , I thought of that years ago when I purchased my Doves which I also mount in adjacent tree's, one of my Doves is called Mojo , it's wings flap and it gets a lot of attention from the Hawks, lol,lol,lol.

Ed Pace · Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:53 pm

Hi KC; Is the body of mojo made of hard plastic? And do the wings still operate after a hawk hit? Thanks.

klcretired · Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:18 pm

Hi Ed ,
Yes the body of the Mojo is hard Plastic the wings are fabric , and yes so far the Mojo has had several Hits and still works , I purchased mine several years ago at cabelas .

Ed Pace · Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:28 pm

Thanks KC, that should work,but I gess we can't talk about it.

Louise Chambers · Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:36 am

Ed, it's fine to discuss this topic - sharing ideas that help protect the martins, like the mojo dove decoys, is very helpful. You've all got me thinking of putting some on our fence or a tall perch mounted on the fence.

Our hawk guests will be gone within a month, lucky for us, but until then, we get visits almost every day, most unsuccessful. We do hawk patrol AM and PM.