FINCHforum

Hi,

I was in work all day yesterday and my wife spent most of the morning chasing away a sparrow hawk that kept attacking the aviary. It obviously is hunting my birds and ultimately trying to kill them to eat. With the mesh being small, it won't be able to manage this. However it does manage to injure the birds with its talons through the mesh. It injured a goldfinch and bullfinch. Unfortunately the goldfinch died over night as a result of the injuries. So my question is this: is the sparrow hawk likely to return and attack again? Or knowing it can't actually eat any of my birds, is it likely to stay away from now on? I have ordered a plastic falcon off eBay to place by the side of the aviary in an attempt to scare it off. This is the first time I have know a hawk to attack the aviary. Any advice or help is appreciated. Thanks

LiverpoolLayers

Sorry about your lost and injured birds.

I've heard of people actually having to put a second layer of screen around the first , at a bit of a distance out from the original (as a barrier ) .

Your bird might make a come back, if he figures that he might snap up a tasty snack. Have you considered the water gun (toy) solution. Some years ago we've had problems with magpies in the yard. A shot of cold water in the er... butt, did not injure them in any way, but convinced them to move elsewhere very quickly

My experience with hawk attacks is that yes, the hawk will be back. The hawk species is different and circumstances were different, but my hawk was absolutely fixated and persistent. She would sit on my fence and let both me and my large barking dogs get within a few feet of her before flying off just a few feet. My solution was to double screen. I first put up some temporary additional screening while waiting for my contractor to become available. She continued to test that looking for weaknesses. It wasn't for a week+ after my contractor finished that the hawk stopped coming into my yard several times a day looking for a way to get at my finches.

Years ago, when I raised pigeons, I was letting them fly one morning. My son (maybe 5 years old then) can running up to the house hollering 'Dad, Dad! I got a hawk!

Unfortunately, he got the hawk by locking it into the pigeon coop. There was a lot of uproar in that coop, and some dead pigeons.

That hawk was back every morning for a while, standing near the door to the coop. Waiting for breakfast.

Thanks for your replies. I am keeping and eye out and in the meantime I have ordered a model owl that's head turns in the wind. Apparently it should act a deterrent and it is much bigger than the sparrow hawk. I have also repositioned many of the perches so the birds can't get too close to the mesh and thus reduces the chance of the hawk being able to grab a bird in its talons. My aviary also has housed bit, access able via a small hatch so I'm hoping the birds get wise to the hawk and go through there the next time the hawk appears

I speak from experience with keeping chickens. Those fake owls and what-not only work for awhile, until the thing you are trying to chase off gets accustomed to them. Even the ones that have things that flap in the breeze, LOL!

You can extend their usefulness by moving them regularly. Don't just leave it in the same place.

Really the only safe solution is caging the cage.

I had a hawk going after my wild birds this past summer. I kept finding dead birds or just a wing, but I didn't see the hawk until close to the end of the fall. Then I saw it perching on my fence, obviously waiting for a snack. I actually went out and chased it off and haven't seen it since - and while I hadn't seen it before either, at least I wasn't finding sad little bird parts in my yard anymore.

I have NO DOUBT it will be back again this year. There is even less to be done about this kind of problem when you're talking wild birds. Actually a dog helps a lot - but I'm sort of past the point of being able to really give a dog what they need, these days, LOL!

The hawk made another appearance today. So I've doubled up on the mesh, by putting some internally. This leave around about a 4 inch gap between the external mesh and the internal mesh. Hopefully this will do the trick

LiverpoolLayers

I am thinking that this will help a lot.

LiverpoolLayers - I also have had hawks (and a shrike) attack my aviary on different occasions. A few years ago I bought black plastic netting (used to cover fruit trees) at Home Depot, attached it along the roof line of my aviary, then pulled it about 4 feet away from the structure and attached it to 3 foot tall stakes that I had pounded into the ground. The netting now drapes over them down to the ground. Since it is black, it is easy to see through. Since then, hawks have landed on the (solid) roof of my aviary but none have ever attempted to tangle with that netting.
Good luck, Iso

Isobea, that's a good idea! That netting is almost invisible, because it is so light, and black. Is that the one you're talking about?

I hung some in areas to keep deer away from plants. They could go right through it if they wanted to. But, they didn't. Now I wonder if they didn't because it moved (because it was hung loosely).

?

Hi Dave - yes, that's the one I used. You are right, theoretically the hawks could destroy it but I think they are smart enough to avoid getting tangled up. I have seen them sitting on the edge of the roof craning their necks trying to get a better look and maybe finding a way to get past it. Eventually they just give up.
I've had it in place for over 4 years and it's holding up well.
Iso

Sorry about your birds :/ but there sure is a way to get rid of a hawk..
Try putting a trap on the cage so that the hawk gets trapped , after that move it in another location or keep him , I doubt that it will have guts to come back after being trapped And your birds inside the cage will do good as bait , place the trap somewhere , where you saw him land most of the times , and then just wait , I dont know what else ..
I know that people catch hawks , eagles , falcons this way..
They put a chicken in the middle with a net surrounding the chicken (chicken can be caged or tied to the ground , w/e) so as you already know that the hawk is interested in your birds , just place the trap on the cage , I think that , that will be enough to scare him away if you manage to capture him..I would try to hold onto the hawk and teach him tricks and what not after that hehe

Just seen a hawk on the roof of my aviary when I spotted this post. Hubby says it was a kestrel but I think sparrowhawk. There were no finches in sight as the roof is solid and pitched but they must have known it was there.

StodOne

In the USA, it is illegal to trap birds of prey (and in fact nearly all wild birds to my knowledge) unless you have a special license and a good reason for doing it.

All hawks and owls are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 USC, 703-711). These laws strictly prohibit the capture, killing, or possession of hawks or owls without special permit. No permits are required to scare depredating migratory birds except for endangered or threatened species (see Table 1), including bald and golden eagles.

Sojourner Protecting your property seems as a legit reason to trap one ( just kidding just kidding)
Anyways I did not know about that , I don't live in USA so sorry I guess it can only work for people that are not from USA , unless you ask for permission from someone?