Sparrow Hawk attack

[Judi B]

:'(First time on the forum. Any advice please as one of my white birdds has just been attacked by a sparrow hawk. I managed to run after it and chase it off but not before it inflicted some damage. She has a bloody neck and he started to pluck her but she seems alert albeit terrified. She's in a box in a warm place but not sure what else to do.

 

The second bit of advice is re-the horrible hawk, how do I prevent it getting more of my birds? It has had over half and currently they can't breed quickly enough to keep up with the predation. I don't show or race but have the birds in 2 dovecotes and love to see them free flying. It's so sad watching them being picked off...so far just the youngsters but todays was one of the mature birds I've had for several years.

 

Please can anyone help?

 

Judi

[Guest]

not much you can do unless you lock ya birds up for awhile and wait untill it goes down on eggs then u will get a bit of piece for awhile but it will just keep coming back take pics of the dead birds and go to your local councillor or mp and show him and at the same time ask him what he is going to do about it as you vote for him dont oyu ,dont have the problem as yet but if i do thats what i will be doing

[Guest]

Think your bird will be OK, just a matter of making sure the wounds are clean and sealed. Members use anything to hand for this, savlon cream & antiseptic or sudacreme, etc.

 

Agree that your birds should be held in just now. Hawks usually come back next day after a kill there, so if there's been a kill or near miss every day, you need to try and break that pattern.

[Guest]

I have posted several messages on birds of prey,so won't go on except to say 3 years ago I sat in my loft crying debating weather to stop the birds flying out all together [which made me feel really cruel] or to just have them all put down because I could not bare to see any more of them ripped apart.Fortunately as I show [not race] keeping them in has been a viable option,that way they all stay alive!,to be honest the lucky ones,[like yours] that got away were so traumatised they lost the desire to want to venture out again anyway.I have compromised by building them large averies,and yes I miss the buzz of watching them fly,but in the last few months of watching them fly out that buzz had changed into a sick nervous feeling until they all came back in ...inevitably with one missing.I am sorry but once you are on the map as a drive through Mcdonald's you've had it .I wrote letters to the RSPB etc and they really don't care,so harden up or keep them in...it won't go away.You sound just like me 3 years ago

[THE FIFER]

each year the hawk problem is increasing, and will continue to do so as long as they are getting food and allowed to breed.

[Guest TAMMY_1]

each year the hawk problem is increasing, and will continue to do so as long as they are getting food and allowed to breed.

 

what kind of breed fifer , plain or pan ;D

[THE FIFER]

 

what kind of breed fifer , plain or pan ;D

 

   i prefer the plain, and like the curly kate crust to the plain geordie, ;D ;D ;D

 

 

[Judi B]

As the birds are in dovecotes rather than a loft, I wondered whether increasin the flock might help...more pairs of eyes on the look out? My birds are white so are obvious targets, are there problems with all colours or are some less vulnerable? Mine were from a chap who used them in his flock to protect the others..ie the hawks took the white ones, not his fancy ones! What would be a good number to have in terms of protection for each other?

 

My little bird is still alive so hopefully will make it through the night. She got one eye closed up but is still alert although she looks a real mess, looking at the injuries, I'm surprised she wasn't killed. Her mate is fretting in the dovecote...wish I could tell him that i have her safely inside!

 

Keeping birds is tough isn't it? I have peacocks as well and the young male thinks the pigeons and hens are part of his hareem and I've seen him pursue a fox but unfortunately can't fly like a hawk. i wish it would land where he could see it...might decide that my pigeons aren't so tasty after all.

 

Judi

[Guest]

Some people say white birds or even birds just carrying some white are easier prey for hawks'but I have had all colours taken so I don't think there is much truth in that.You could try giving your injured bird some electrolites,if you don't have any you could mix alittle honey and sugar in her drinking water and some tasty wild bird seed or un salted peanuts crushed up might tempt her.Just keep her wounds clean as long as they don't get infected it is amazing how quickly pigeons heal.In answer to your other question,more pigeons just equal more food

[THE FIFER]

i have white birds but lose very few of them, so dont believe they are any different, as they take any colour.

[Guest TAMMY_1]

 

   i prefer the plain, and like the curly kate crust to the plain geordie, ;D ;D ;D

 

 

what kind of breed is that then , the plain geordie ?

[THE FIFER]

 

what kind of breed is that then , the plain geordie ?

 

 

come on tammy, the plain loaf, the round crust is the curly wurly, and the straight crust the plain geordie,

 

 

[Guest]

You are off topic guys,TUT,TUT,TUT,and now I have used capital letters,the world may well end especially if Alf takes his clothes off again [Alf you must restrain yourself] or the whole site may vannish forever

[DOVEScot]

I just had to do away with my cote and put the birds in the loft as its easy picking, the cote is now just a feature, kept birds in for the last four days after they took two young ones, every day the hawk returns between 3-4.

It must be getting worse because cotes have been around for years

[chickadee]

We know how you feel as we lost a couple of our young birds to the sparrowhawk last thursday, so we have kept them in since then and we see the hawk every day in late afternoon, its just as well we have an outside aviary so at least the birds are still getting sunshine and fresh air, but, the hawk eyes them up every day.

[Guest]

Forgot to mention my friend encourages and feeds crows outside his lofts,he recons they help protect the pigeons because they are very terratorial and will mob any hawks that turn up.I have never tried this,but he says it helps

[Guest Paulo]

I had an attack on saturday. And the cheeky git came and landed on the platform to try and get in the loft.

 

Found the YB this morning under the hedge at the front of the garden still alive but can't fly don't know what to do have put him in basket with water and food. Will wash his wounds with dettol tonight gutted. Its ring no's 007 so it just shows you can't kill James Bond

[Judi B]

Well the little bird has survived the night! She's still alert but looks bad, must not be as bad as it looks as she's still here. Can't get her to eat or drink though and am reluctant to try to force it as the damage is all round her head and neck so I might hurt her. Anyone with moreexperience got any ideas as she needs at least to drink?

 

Re-the posting about encouraging crows, yes we had a group of crows mob a hawk as it sat on a pigeon it had caught, the hawk fled. Trouble is that the crows will take the eggs given half a chance so it's a double-edged sword!

 

Thanks to you all for advice so far.

 

Judi

[Guest]

Would think the bird is still in shock but should perk up. If you could let it see or have some access to its mate, that might help.

 

Peckedhen has fantails in a cote and may be able to offer some advice re security.

 

Try encouraging your crows, get your birds used to them, but make sure the crows know the pecking order is you, your birds, and then them, let them know who is boss there,  and exactly what you will allow them to do there .. cote would be off-limits.

 

Before bringing in any more birds, you need to take your place off the hawks menu. Don't think colour matters, they'll take anything they can get.

[tubbles]

I should just point out that RPRA rules say that all birds should be wingstamped or wear an address ring. Sometimes people do this too early and the stamp is all but disappeared. these are supposed to be readable. I am supposed to sign all sorts of forms now as secretary saying all birds are stamped, vaccinated and all kinds of stuff. I only have the word of the flyers themselves and you know what an honest bunch we are. I suppose i could check every one as they are marked but who would do that? :-/

[Judi B]

:)Little bird is drinking water with the electrolytes in it. She's flapped her wings and is objecting loudly to me picking her up so things are looking a bit better! Her neck is pretty raw so I want to keep her in the house at least for tonight. I'd have to put her back in the cote for her to see her mate and I'm not sure she's ready for that yet. If it's warm tomorrow, perhaps I could put her outside in a large cage so that hopefully they'll see each other? She's not eaten anything yet but has pooed so that bit's working ok. Just hoping her crop not swollen by the injury as her neck looks too fragile to try to force feed into her beak.

 

So sad for all of you who have recently lost birds to hawks...these birds seem to have no predators and seem to have no fear of man. I have a scarecow up which worked for a bit but they've got used to her..maybe it should be a model of an enormous eagle rather than a person!! Have any of you tried hanging old cd's around, does this have any effect? I'd like to try but afraid it will frighten my birds more than the hawks!

 

Judi

[mark]

eagle owl would take out a sparrow hawk

[Judi B]

Where can I get one and wouldn't it takes the doves as well as they'd be much easier to catch, the hawks are quite ferocious?!

 

Poor little dove she's just laid an egg!

 

Judi

[Guest]

The plastic owls/mirrors/cd's are all abit like your scare crow,they'll only work for a while and you have to keep moving them around,plus they only protect the immediate area,don't help when the birds are ranging in the sky.You often see the plastic owls at garden centres etc.When I used one I had a real owl coming every night for weeks trying to pair up with it I think,it was very noisy but quite funny how it would talk to this plastic owl.I am not sure I would put your injured bird in a cage where she can see the others in my experience of keeping mates apart where they can still see each other they usually get very distressed.

[Judi B]

As my little dove is a bit livelier now, I can see properly how bad he injuries are. The "horrible hawk" has not only removed the neck feathers but also the skin from her neck and there are 2 puncture wounds but it's all dry and I've been spraying it with antiseptic every couple of hours. Would it be best to just keep her in the kitchen until her neck looks a bit less raw? I don't want her mate to go off as I have only one other pair and two newly fledged that are his offspring, but she's not ready to go back into the cote in her current state poor thing. It's sad because these two birds moved with us and have been together for a number of years. He keeps going to look in the cote, checking whether she's returned and then sitting looking miserable on the barn roof with his two new fledglings. I suppose at least they weren't still sitting or feeding young.

 

The alternative would be to catch him whilst he roosts tonight but I think that might be quite traumatic for him as none of the birds are used to being handled or confined. What do you think?

 

Judi