FINCHforum

I now truly understand the persistence of a hawk for our outdoor aviary friends,

Today I was selling a few Javas to a retired couple, who quickly nestled into my sofas and all my throw pillows for a wonderful hour long bird chat before we caught their kids (I ADORE my dedicated retired folks).

Those that have seen my room know I have 2 sets of huge double-wide windows (guarded by my pitbulls). And my primary windows are for my Ringnecks, Ronan & Fiano (Faye-Fi-fi).

Out of nowhere .......BLAM!! A red-shouldered hawk came in for a full frontal display of attack at the window.

I caught it first. "OMG A HAWK just went for the Parrots"!!

The dear couple bent up, looked through the cage, and as they did, this hawk went in 2 more times!!
Talons snapping the window then it glided off, the 2nd time sitting on the fencepost outside to scope things out. The "Mrs" noticed him sharply on the fencepost.

An hour after the couple left, I came in from the garage and this sucker was sitting on our patio umbrella staring at the gouldians juvie flight deliciously. Gouldians were panicked and in full flock mode.

I shooed him away and stayed outside a half hour, staking my territory and hissing. Pssst. I warned him, as he hid in the old oak trees.

Tomorrow I will leave a tiny bit of kibble. As this hawk was soooo patient and probably young and desperate for food to be hunting through a window for soooo long.

And I will leave it far way from my house. But I have to say it was exciting for me and for my visitors.

Watch your aviaries, those in the South East USA Quatrand. The Hawks have fledged.

Yes! I have had hawks hit my window trying to get my birds in the house with me sitting near them. They have also hit the screen on the screen porch. You have to watch. They will attack even if you are there. Never leave your bird, even if caged, in the open alone. And be watchful even when you are with them.

wildbird

Yep this hawk wasn't fooling around. He was in-to-win. If the flight was outdoors he would have pulled them through the bars.

In the early years I have had sharp-shinned hawks, red shouldered hawks, kestrels and a shrike trying to attack the birds in my outdoor aviary. I attached fruit tree netting to the rain gutter pulling it out and away from the aviary (about 6 to 7 feet). It also drapes down a ways on the sides - problem solved. The black nylon fruit tree netting seems to be flimsy enough that they don't dare get tangled up in it. It's been in place for 15 to 20 years. Occasionally I still see a hawk sitting on the roof (covered by fiberglass panels) scoping things out but that's as far as they will go.
Babs- I also noticed that the most persistent ones seemed to be the young/inexperienced/desperate ones. Hope you can scare this guy off for good.
Iso

Hawks must be even worse than the noisy miners that always come after my finches. They turn up at least once a day and scare my finches to the cage floor. Worse still, they come mostly in flocks! They have stopped coming now that they are breeding and looking after young.

I get immature Cooper's Hawks try to get my Canaries, in their outdoor aviary, every fall. Cooper's Hawks can make a living at wild bird feeders. To them, the aviary is just another one of those places.

My Canaries scatter a bit when the bird hits, but then ignore it even though it is peering in at them. The hawk gives up in a few minutes.

Dave

Its strange. I get caught between getting to the hawk away, and worrying about the hawk.

I can only imagine a young fledgling trying something so bold has to be pretty desperate.

When I had my outdoor aviary we got hawks landing on it every few weeks. The birds inside were afraid the first few times, then mostly habituated. 1/4 inch mesh was sufficient to keep all hawk claws out, so he wasn't able to do harm, and was neat to see.

Sheather

Yeah they really are handsome birds up close.

Love Hawks

Used to see them all the time on my dog walks where I lived before, but not around where I live now, although some years ago there was a family of Sparrow Hawks in the vicinity, but hadn't seen or heard them these last couple of years.

Over here now, I get the occasional Magpie(s), sitting in the tree outside my bird room, making funny noises at my birds through the window. My male Budgie loves to scream at them (very brave from behind screen or glass, lol).

Would love to adopt a baby Hawk some day .