Hawks and Owls
Hawks at Feeders
Q. We have a hawk that comes to our
yard on a regular basis, and yesterday he got a Mourning Dove. How can
I get rid of him and keep the songbirds and doves?
A. Like
the other birds, the hawk is coming to your yard because there is a
source of food. If you want to discourage the hawk, you'll have to take
your feeders down for a few days to disperse the hawk’s food
source--smaller birds. In the wild, birds face constantly fluctuating
food supplies, so songbirds, doves, and hawks alike will survive by
finding food elsewhere. Try putting your feeders up again in a week or
two. The songbirds and doves will come back but, with luck, the hawk
will have found better hunting grounds somewhere else. You can learn
more about feeder problems and solutions at our Project FeederWatch web site.
Hawks and Pets
Q: I have a small, five pound dog that likes to run around our backyard. Should I be worried that a hawk could pick him up and take him away?
A: Large raptors can pick up approximately 50 percent of their body weight. For instance, Osprey, which weigh around 2 kilograms, can take a fish weighing up to 800 grams (or under 50 percent of their body weight), but the majority of their fish weigh 200-300 grams. Bald Eagles are scavengers but when they do catch fish that are too heavy for them, they have been observed towing the fish to shore. This is not a common behavior but has been reliably reported. The most common backyard hawk is the Cooper’s Hawk which weighs on average 450 grams or about a pound. Your small dog is safe.