Hawk attack

[fletch]

i took my dads 10 old cocks that didnt go across the water, training about 15 miles today and tossed them up 2 at a time at every 5 mins, i lossed the last 2 up, put the baskets in the car and looked up and saw the 2 birds coming straight bak at me wich i thought was strange, they just went passed me and kept going, i was puzzled, i got in the car and drove off, i got back on the motorway, wich was about 1/4 mile away, my wife said whats that in the air, it was somke kind of hawk but was massive(dad said it could of been a buzzard)

i looked across and about 1/4 mile away there was another 1 hovering in the air, i just saw it take some kind of bird out of the air, what chance do our birds have against these, when i got home there was just the last two cocks missing, all of the other 4 lots had come ropughly 5 mins apart as thjey were loosed, the last 2 didnt come on time, i was worried that they had been had by the birds, but fortunatley they came about 25mins later,some how found there way rounbd, so this time they didnt have a collision with this bird but some unlucky thing did. was just shocked as they were there by a training site that is well used by local flyers..

[rooster]

http://www.brieftauben-markt.de/tabid/5 ... fault.aspx

[DAVIDL]

read  the exact same thing happen to other fanciers and the birds coming back to liberation piont with a peregrine clinging to their tails...

have also read that red pigeons are very attractive to peregrines....we all have our own thoughts on the subject i suppose :-/

[rooster]

http://www.brieftauben-markt.de/tabid/58/language/en-US/newsId/189/Default.aspx

[Guest SkyMaster]

 

 

you are compairing a humans line of thought with a pigeons, totaly different....so a pigeon sees another pigeon killed by a hawk and it knows how to stop it happening to him ?????   yeah... :-/

if your birds have been attacked by a hawk  one day and the next day the pigeons see the hawk in the distance they will be up and off its street wise birds or sky  wise who cares anyway the hawks entitled to eat aswell  ;D

 

 

[Guest bigda]

if your birds have been attacked by a hawk  one day and the next day the pigeons see the hawk in the distance they will be up and off its street wise birds or sky  wise who cares anyway the hawks entitled to eat aswell  ;D

 

 

dont get us wrong sky, we do like to feed the hawk

we are not that  irresponsible  

[Guest SkyMaster]

 

dont get us wrong sky, we do like to feed the hawk

we are not that  irresponsible  

 

THEY WILL ONLY EAT YOUR SLOWEST birds  its not gonna go after the fastest is it? in that case your birds are prime targets for the hawks ;D

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

I havent got  pigeons anymore so dont have that problem but they sure doing a good job killing the birds in my garden

thats nature for ya hawks have been doing that from time begun so whats the problem now?

 

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

I havent got a problem its you that seems to have that wont me much i can do when half are songbirds have disappeared   I be very interested to know where you exactly are as you dont seem to have a problem with losing your birds to the hawk be lot who like to be in your position or have you got that many birds that losing a few doesnt matter

where did you read i didnt have a problem with hawks? iv lost quite a few birds to hawks this year and yes it annoys me but thats nature for you at the end of the day if you cant handle losing birds to hawks start keeping hawks  ;D

 

 

[Guest]

My mate Henry told me when I moved down let your birds out and Percy will take them, those that survive are the ones to breed off, because like breeds like!

As to Percy well I've seen him chase and catch pigeons very easily. However it does sometimes beg the question as to how late the birds have seen him? In scientific terms if you had a straight race then IB may be right about speed; but as usual theory rarely turns in to practice, out there in the battelfield of the sky Percy has a tremendous advantage.

As to the sparrowhawk well the birds should be alert enough to get up and if their not that's not a line to breed off unless your loft is in a hopeless position; having said that i've heard a few local reports lately where the sparrowhawk is flying at the bird to try and  knock it down as it flies away?

[Guest SkyMaster]

My mate Henry told me when I moved down let your birds out and Percy will take them, those that survive are the ones to breed off, because like breeds like!

As to Percy well I've seen him chase and catch pigeons very easily. However it does sometimes beg the question as to how late the birds have seen him? In scientific terms if you had a straight race then IB may be right about speed; but as usual theory rarely turns in to practice, out there in the battelfield of the sky Percy has a tremendous advantage.

As to the sparrowhawk well the birds should be alert enough to get up and if their not that's not a line to breed off unless your loft is in a hopeless position; having said that i've heard a few local reports lately where the sparrowhawk is flying at the bird to try and  knock it down as it flies away?

as allways a sparrow hawk cant carry a pigeon it has to knock it down

 

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

The worst thing is keeping your birds in for fear of attack  its best to let them out and get them wised up to it

[Swifts]

As I said in my first post (deleted within seconds  ) pigeons are not stupid birds. Neither are raptors. Once pigeons have learned to avoid raptor attacks through association and negative reinforcement, they will appear more confident and "wised up". The raptor is naturally looking for weaker individuals who will require minimal energy to bring down (raptors, especially sparrowhawks, have a very fast metabolism and will go to great lengths to conserve energy.) Once they have seen that your birds are more confident and aware of their surroundings they will tend to avoid them. I have participated in pigeon fancying but am now a practicing falconer. I used to enjoy the thrill of pitting my wits and my birds' training and skills against a wild worthy opponent (which is basically the same principle as falconry) and watching my birds adapt to live alongside the local raptors was one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment as a fancier and a great victory as a trainer. Keeping pigeons taught me alot about respecting my quarry as an equal in falconry

[Guest ljb107]

i took my dads 10 old cocks that didnt go across the water, training about 15 miles today and tossed them up 2 at a time at every 5 mins, i lossed the last 2 up, put the baskets in the car and looked up and saw the 2 birds coming straight bak at me wich i thought was strange, they just went passed me and kept going, i was puzzled, i got in the car and drove off, i got back on the motorway, wich was about 1/4 mile away, my wife said whats that in the air, it was somke kind of hawk but was massive(dad said it could of been a buzzard)

i looked across and about 1/4 mile away there was another 1 hovering in the air, i just saw it take some kind of bird out of the air, what chance do our birds have against these, when i got home there was just the last two cocks missing, all of the other 4 lots had come ropughly 5 mins apart as thjey were loosed, the last 2 didnt come on time, i was worried that they had been had by the birds, but fortunatley they came about 25mins later,some how found there way rounbd, so this time they didnt have a collision with this bird but some unlucky thing did. was just shocked as they were there by a training site that is well used by local flyers..

 

could have been a goss hawk - my friend see's them trying to kill pigeons on his farm.

 

[jonl6280]

where did you read i didnt have a problem with hawks? iv lost quite a few birds to hawks this year and yes it annoys me but thats nature for you at the end of the day if you cant handle losing birds to hawks start keeping hawks  ;D

 

 

why don't you stop talking rubbish, so if you have a ten thousand pound pigeon you would'nt bother if a hawk took it??? >

what comes around goes around!!!! pigeon gets killed then a hawk gets killed

[jonl6280]

As I said in my first post (deleted within seconds  ) pigeons are not stupid birds. Neither are raptors. Once pigeons have learned to avoid raptor attacks through association and negative reinforcement, they will appear more confident and "wised up". The raptor is naturally looking for weaker individuals who will require minimal energy to bring down (raptors, especially sparrowhawks, have a very fast metabolism and will go to great lengths to conserve energy.) Once they have seen that your birds are more confident and aware of their surroundings they will tend to avoid them. I have participated in pigeon fancying but am now a practicing falconer. I used to enjoy the thrill of pitting my wits and my birds' training and skills against a wild worthy opponent (which is basically the same principle as falconry) and watching my birds adapt to live alongside the local raptors was one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment as a fancier and a great victory as a trainer. Keeping pigeons taught me alot about respecting my quarry as an equal in falconry

 

hawk lover >

[Swifts]

Yes, I am a falconer. However I have kept pigeons as well. I may have progressed to become a pigeon racer but to be honest the birds themselves bore me. There is far more involvement and commitment in falconry and a better reward at the end. We have to face wires, cats, foxes and wild raptors too. That's what you get when you release a captive animal into the wild, even temporarily. The instant it leaves your hand it ceases to be in your control.

[Guest scoobybob]

You racers think you have it hard. I keep tipplers and every time I let any of them out they are taken by Percy. As a youngster back in the 60’s I never lost any tipplers to the hawk. Now I just cannot fly them. Spoke to the NTU secretary when I joined and was surprised he did not keep pigeons. He said the hawk had ate them all. I thought he was joking but no he was right. Bristol had thousands of lofts for tipplers years back but the Secretary says he now has 2 members left in the Bristol area.

Had 3 youngsters out today on there 3rd time out. Percy lived up to his name and grabbed one flying off with it. I let the nice fat West’s out for droppers but Percy will not take these, why should he when I send him up a pack lunch.

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

 

why don't you stop talking rubbish, so if you have a ten thousand pound pigeon you would'nt bother if a hawk took it??? >

what comes around goes around!!!! pigeon gets killed then a hawk gets killed

 

If you paid  ten thousand pounds for a pigeon would you let it out to fly? would it not be a safe bet keeping it in an aviary

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

As I said in my first post (deleted within seconds  ) pigeons are not stupid birds. Neither are raptors. Once pigeons have learned to avoid raptor attacks through association and negative reinforcement, they will appear more confident and "wised up". The raptor is naturally looking for weaker individuals who will require minimal energy to bring down (raptors, especially sparrowhawks, have a very fast metabolism and will go to great lengths to conserve energy.) Once they have seen that your birds are more confident and aware of their surroundings they will tend to avoid them. I have participated in pigeon fancying but am now a practicing falconer. I used to enjoy the thrill of pitting my wits and my birds' training and skills against a wild worthy opponent (which is basically the same principle as falconry) and watching my birds adapt to live alongside the local raptors was one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment as a fancier and a great victory as a trainer. Keeping pigeons taught me alot about respecting my quarry as an equal in falconry

well typed swift your spot on

 

 

[Guest SkyMaster]

 

why don't you stop talking rubbish, so if you have a ten thousand pound pigeon you would'nt bother if a hawk took it??? >

what comes around goes around!!!! pigeon gets killed then a hawk gets killed

 

So your advocating the killing of hawks now no wonder our sport gets a bad name its people like you to blame

 

[jonl6280]

 

If you paid  ten thousand pounds for a pigeon would you let it out to fly? would it not be a safe bet keeping it in an aviary

 

some people don't keep stock doo's locked up :-/

[Guest SkyMaster]

 

some people don't keep stock doo's locked up :-/

so what if your 10 thousand pound bird hits a wire ? and  you dont have to keep them locked up aviary is the way especially for 10 thousand pound birds and if you do let them out you obviously have more money than sense  so take what comes

 

 

[gangster]

so what if your 10 thousand pound bird hits a wire ? and  you dont have to keep them locked up aviary is the way especially for 10 thousand pound birds and if you do let them out you obviously have more money than sense  so take what comes

 

 

well if thats what your wisdom advocates hey lets hope percy gets his then alls fair in love n war....

[Guest]

Well I can assure you that pigeons have the capacity to learn..

 

 

Your right, pigeons are one of the few birds ever selected for psychological studies because of their ability to complete cognitive process which include memory retention and development.   That in English means 'The pigeon is a clever little beauty'.    ;D