Hawks

[jimmy white]

yes im sure many pigeons are lost due to weather and various other things, but i honestly think that the majority of fanciers just think on " the one the hawk killed or injured"  this in  fact is the lesser of the trouble ,,,,,its the rest of the batch that suffer ,,the pigeons, once attacked by a perigrine , loose all their faculties, they will fly aimlessly, into trees, bushes , wires in fact anything , they loose all their wits completely and this will happen whether the batch is 20 ,,40,, or 100 ,,same outcome ,,most of the birds are injured or killed THROUGH the attack, rather than just the one that has been killed by the hawk,

[celtic]

I agree jimmy, it's got to effect them mentally, getting a scare like that must put them back no end, who's to say some are never the same again ? once spooked never forgotten probably.

[thunderboult]

living here in wales we get our fair share of hawk attacks, in the 2006 season i had 9 cocks out injured at 1 point ,and all were hawk strikes apart from 1 who looked like he had dived into something to get away, in the last 2 years i've invested in buying rockets around guy fawks night/new year's eve and when i see a hawk bothering the birds i frighten them off by firing rockets at them

[celtic]

whilst i appreciate your input thundboult, it's not so much around the loft i'm talking about where the big losses are occuring but on tosses and actual races

cheers

Celtic

[Guest Thunder Birds]

Have lost some very good birds to sparrowhawks. Raptor species, particularly Peregrines have artificially high populations in some areas due to their feeding on racing pigeons. There ought to be some regulations on culling in overpopulated areas but try persuade the pc brigade who understand nothing of how nature and the countryside actually work.

[thunderboult]

with you celtic  sorry m8 was offering 1 option on around the loft protection, myself i think a lot of the birds going missing is down to clashing when i look at the route we fly across the country and all the feds we're going to cross on race days it's no wonder so many yb's go missing, what i've noticed since i started in the sport(yb 2004) is the first couple of yb races we're ok but when we get out into the middle of england(woking/epsom)area that's when we get the biggest losses which i think is down to crossing english feds going north as i get a lot of stray's down this way(swansea)  i find down this way if a hawk goes through em(and they do frequently) you still get a good propotion of them back and if your lucky most of them, to me sounds like your's could have got caught up with other birds and taken miles off course(they could have gone hundreds of miles) i think a lot of people don't bother reporting stray's(i've only had about 4/5 birds reported since i started out of a hundred or so lost) and like me your left wondering what happened to them , some will be hawks, some wires,some will even end up in towns and some will even end up in other people's loft's. my attitude is once they're gone they're gone and worry about the one's i got left , it's sad i know but you got to keep your spirits up .  

[jimmy white]

sent very simple e mail to rspb ,, on "contact us "

"being a lifelong pigeon fancier and nature lover ,i found , to my horror that when releasing 45 pigeons at carter bar [just passed jedburgh[ a perigrine falcon attacked these birds ,, all birds were terrified and dived for cover into gorse bushes fir trees etc ,so far only 3 have returned , 1injured have you any advice for me as to avoid this in the future "        would just like to see their answer  :-/ :-/ :-/

[nogin]

sent very simple e mail to rspb ,, on "contact us "

"being a lifelong pigeon fancier and nature lover ,i found , to my horror that when releasing 45 pigeons at carter bar [just passed jedburgh[ a perigrine falcon attacked these birds ,, all birds were terrified and dived for cover into gorse bushes fir trees etc ,so far only 3 have returned , 1injured have you any advice for me as to avoid this in the future "        would just like to see their answer  :-/ :-/ :-/

 

NICE ONE JIMMY NICE ONE SON. ;D

[thunderboult]

no doubt they'll say they're sorry for what happened but they can't do anything about it

[AshleyW]

Theyll probably say to keep them in an aviary.

 

I also dont think its much to do with clashing, i think its quite rare although it can happen. Take a look at the race programme in the BHW and see how many liberations take place on a saturday, even if some cross paths, the chances of them occupying the same air space at the same time is low compared to the size of the country and distance they are covering. Just my thinking anyway

[celtic]

Thunderboult, thanks for your reply, i have'nt had even one reported, not a single one, i always without fail if i get a stray in do my utmost to get in touch then get it back to it's owner, it seems like more and more fanciers maybe find this too much trouble these days jmo.

[THE FIFER]

birds of pray even have their own private police to protect them, something that humans dont even get,

[Bilco]

Whoa lads !  First, pigeons are NOT livestock.  I had this out years ago. To be classed as livestock they have to be kept for the production of "Meat, eggs, products from their bodies, i.e. feathers/wool/leather etc".  If they were livestock we could defend them when attacked. But they're not, so we can't.

Natural defences include Canker, and since we cure canker in our birds, that stops the hawks catching it, and saves their lives.

Shooting lands the gun with a fat fine and possibly a jail sentence, so unless you can beat radar, cameras, infra-red night vision, snooping spies, etc, that's out. (And the spies stay hidden after they have spotted you, they dare not risk confrontation, for they know that some fanciers will not hesitate to kill them too, but they will photograph you, car number, etc).  OK, so you can level the score when you get out, sooner or later, but in the meantime you pay. That leaves the silent ally, poison, and the RSPB make damned sure that ANY poison you can use is unavailable, they have it off the shelves faster than you can say knife!   BUT, they do not control all the world, yet, though they are trying with their control of "Birdlife International" - their other name.

There are poisons available in faraway places, like Oz and the USA, but getting them here is dicey, and using them is dicier, because remember poisons do not stop being poison after they have killed their first victim. They go on doing it, so other carrion eaters are killed, so are cats, dogs, foxes, even children can be poisoned by handling traces of the stuff. So you take your pick and live with the consequences.   Of course there are other methods, nice quiet ones, like netting - in hidden places - traps under water where the hawks come to bathe and clean up, and so on.  They need constant monitoring, so the ball is in your court.  One day we will discover a surefire solution, and then the fat will hit the fan and the squalling will start.  Of course there is always the other answer, escalate the war to people, those who hold the big sticks and who use them. They do it to us, why not we do it to them?

[jimmy white]

birds of pray even have their own private police to protect them, something that humans dont even get,

 

this makes hawks more valuable than people ,,,shocking,,,,,been reading bilcos post ,, makes sound sense ,,,,no reply to my e, mail ,,,YET,, i will get an answer [of sorts :-/] will post it when it arrives

[me]

 

this makes hawks more valuable than people ,,,shocking,,,,,been reading bilcos post ,, makes sound sense ,,,,no reply to my e, mail ,,,YET,, i will get an answer [of sorts :-/] will post it when it arrives

 

Glad it made sense to you Jimmy it was double dutch to "me"?

 

 

[jimmy white]

 

Glad it made sense to you Jimmy it was double dutch to "me"?

 

 

"escalate the war to people who hold the big sticks ,,,and who use them,,they do it to us ,why not we to them,"    i understand this perfectly" me,"   think about it ,,

[Back garden fancier]

Seem strange thet there's a link at the bottom of this web site to a company the uses hawks to control pigeons!! What's all that about?

[leighton1984]

I had a pigeon reported in glossop and it had hit a window and died.

The house owner said he thought it had broken the window.

am sick of the hawks they need to be stopped.

pigeon sport will not last if the hawks can breed in the numbers they are.  :-/

 

[wings]

i have had numerous attacks on young birds this year, as luck has had it i have only lost 2. all the birds are locked up now so i won't lose any more to them this year, but who knowa what will happen next year. they seem to be getting more plentifull by the year.

[DOVEScot]

I have said several times we should set up and support an "eagle owl" release programme, it is a European eagle owl so like our other EC freinds it has a right to a living in this country ;D

 

Liked the suggestion of firework rockets when they are about ;D

[jimmy white]

I have said several times we should set up and support an "eagle owl" release programme, it is a European eagle owl so like our other EC freinds it has a right to a living in this country ;D

 

Liked the suggestion of firework rockets when they are about ;D

 

i would also like this idea ,, we had this debated on the" sticky" hawk thread some time ago,,,, this is where the rspb disagree, they say its not native to britain [[i should imagine for their own reasons] but there are many top ornithologists believe they are , if we had a pair of these eagle owls breeding all over the country [the same nesting habitat of the peregrines ,,,,there would be less peregrines ,, there are a few nesting in Britain [even if they are " escapees?"] the birds that are bred here are brittish wild birds  , there fore SHOULD  be protected by the rspb ?  but the last ones we heard about breeding 3 youngsters all dissapeared ???mysteriously?

[Guest]

Just wondered what the legal position might be for:

 

using a falconer and his bird of prey to clean out a troublesome bird targeting a loft?

 

Hawks are territorial, and if you had one of your own its bound to be natural for it to clean out competitors of its own kind within its own territory?

[Roland]

No need to be a falconer, it's natural instincs would do what it does best....

But bet they would be cleaned out / shot by the RSPB.

A few pairs along our birds fliht paths would be handy though ...

have asked the cost of a pair .... must chase the answeer up.

[Back garden fancier]

Just one snag with the cunning plan! Eagle owls are fairly cheap ( £100 ) and breed easily enough. However it it an offence to release any birds into the wild, wether indigenous or not. You have to get a licence to release them and thet's not going to happen. It would have to be done on the QT, but who's going to risk that?

[Guest]

Reckon if you didn't behave 'above board' RSPB would declare open season on anything released into the wild. Did it before, their partners BTO telling folks on TV prog on eagle owls that was broadcast nationally, they could go out and shoot them and not be prosecuted and lo and behold, the hen of the Yorkshire pair is shot with a large bore shotgun - but it didn't die of its wounds quips our RSPB spokesperson. What did it die from? Starvation - b*stards left bird wounded and unable to hunt for herself.. so she starved to death.