Rose bushes and prickly hedges make a great cover for backyard birds. The hawks can’t build up the speed they need to capture smaller birds by surprise if they have to fly close to their prey. If small birds make themselves hard to see by nesting in or walking under prickly shrubs and bushes, hawks have to fly in closer to see them. Hawks rely on the element of surprise to attack small birds. Metallic wind sculptures may be a better fit with your garden design and also keep small birds and pets safe. Hanging balls of aluminum foil on strings from tree limbs, or making a sculpture out of used CDs will work. It doesn’t cost a lot to create reflective features that confuse hawks. Hawks will fly away to hunt somewhere else if they see lots of bright, reflected sunlight. Surfaces that reflect sunlight, particularly any kind of reflective surface that moves in the wind, interfere with the hawk’s ability to find its target. Their ability to catch other birds depends on a clear line of sight from their perch to their prey. Hawks scan their territory from a high perch, swooping down when they see isolated, vulnerable, or sickly prey. However, these devices will also scare away songbirds. It helps if you can put up an animatronic hawk or eagle that flaps its wings or flashes red eyes. If you want your decoy to keep hawks away, you need to mount it on a pole that you can move to different places in the area you are trying to protect, frequently. If a hawk sees a motionless decoy in the same spot day after day, it will eventually begin to treat it like a landmark, rather than a potential competitor. The secret to success with decoys is to move them around or change them every two or three days. Injuries from fights could keep it from hunting for food for its young, finding a mate, or flying south for the winter. No hawk is going to risk getting into a fight with a large bird, even if it could win. Decoysĭecoys can keep hawks out of your chicken run, off your duck pond, and out of your backyard bird habitat-at least for a while. Here are some of the devices backyard bird lovers use to protect smaller and less aggressive birds from hawk attacks. Also read: Different Types of Hawks (Buteos, Kites, Eagles, Accipiters) If Hawks Aren’t Afraid of Most Predators, What Are They Afraid Of?Įven though hawks are not afraid of most potential predators, it’s not hard to keep them away from your backyard chickens, pond ducks, or songbirds. Hawks can easily kill unprotected kittens and puppies, and even adult toy poodles and Chihuahuas. However, a hawk can kill a dog or a cat that weighs less than about 12 pounds (5.5 kilos), hawks may be bold enough to claw at and attack dogs that weigh as much as 65 pounds (30 kilos). House cats wandering into the yard may capture and eat chicks that fall out of the nest.ĭogs may eat eggs and baby birds they find on the ground. But if they get caught, they are no match for adult hawks. If they find a nest unattended, they may raid it for eggs and hatchlings. Opossums have two big toes that act like opposable thumbs, allowing them to climb trees with ease. An adult raccoon is no match for a mature hawk in a fight. Younger raccoons may venture up to the hawk’s nest to steal eggs or newly hatched chicks, but they expose themselves to the same risks as squirrels do. Raccoons frequently make their homes in the notches of sturdy, tall trees, beneath the level occupied by hawks.But if the squirrel lingers too long and is in the nest when either parent comes home, it risks being torn apart to be fed to the baby birds itself. Squirrels may crawl into a hawk’s nest while the parents are out searching for other birds to feed their young.If you think about it for a moment, it is not hard to guess what the #1 natural predator of hawks is:Ĭhicks and fledglings still in the nest are vulnerable to owls.īut there are also a number of animals that prey on young hawks at considerable danger to themselves. What kind of decoy works best for keeping hawks away? What kind of hawk is most likely to attack backyard birds and pets? Frequently Asked Questions About Hawks as Predators.How to Protect Dogs and Cats From Hawks.If Hawks Aren’t Afraid of Most Predators, What Are They Afraid Of?.
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