Hawk attacks and martin decoys

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

With the return of our martins, we are now seeing increased reports of hawk attacks at our colony's. I had one last night around 7:00 p.m., one this morning at 7:30 and yet another one just a few minutes ago at 9:30, all from the same male Coopers hawk and all unsuccessful

I have four decoys attached to perching rods on my housing. These decoys were all straight and in the upright position this morning. I now have two that are upside down.

From the attacks I have witnessed over the past few years, I have learned the hawks are very opportunistic. Some of my martins do not see the hawk or bolt till the last split second. When they do, I have noticed the hawks will go for one of my decoys versus chasing and trying to overtake a late fleeing martin. I have witnessed hawks make a change in flight during the last 3' or 4' from my house to go after a decoy versus a live martin.

For our newcomers and those with growing colony's who have not yet experienced hawk attacks, I cannot stress enough the importance of adding decoys to your housing on each pole if you have more than one. I view the decoys more of a life saver to my martins than as an initial attractant factor.

I need to go out and set my decoys upright and switch them around. I don't want the hawk to learn which ones are plastic. I use clips to attach my perching rods with the decoys on them so I can easily turn the rods around which changes the position of the decoys.

Tim

[Stephen Cruse]

I second that Tim. My colony is growing and I am up to about 30 birds right now and the hawks are taking notice. Tuesday I had a large amount of migrants come in, somewhere around 100 and one of them (ASY Male) was taken by a hawk right at dark while trying to get into an occupied hole. I was able to count all of my resident birds the next day plus some so I am pretty sure it was not one of my birds. The following morning I had two more attacks within an hour. The first was on a decoy and the second attack the hawk was after a live martin and the martin barely escaped with a nice bank move as the hawk reached out to grab it. I do have two decoys on one pole but need to buy a couple of more for my other two poles. I have noticed the hawks at least slow down and start to attack the decoy before moving on to a live martin. Which I believe has at least saved a couple of martins so far this season. It should also be noted that my yard is completely open with the closest tree at least 100+ yards away and the hawks are still able to approach and get close to the birds!

[zoefluf]

Having decoys is definitely a plus for resident Martins. I can't tell you how many times I've found my decoys upside down from a Hawk attack. Every time I reposition them I'm thankful that perhaps a Martin was saved because of it. You are right Tim, Hawks hunt at all hours, not just in the morning and evening and we can't be out there ALL the time.

I don't move mine around cause it would be a lot of trouble for me, some of them are on the very tops of the perches, but I do set them aright after they have been toppled upside down. And, you know what? Those Hawks are pretty stupid, they continue to try to eat the same decoys. I love it!

[db]

I agree completely. I've seen hawks grab a decoy several times at my place.
All of mine are home made, most are cut from a treated piece of 2x4 or 2x6 lumber and painted. I used the pattern found in the pmca archives.

You can carve a pretty decent looking decoy out of styrofoam with a steak knife but you have to paint it with a brush because spray paint will melt the foam. You can't have too many decoys.....db

[Veronica G]

I have two decoys that I will put out today. Hopefully if the hawk that attacked my colony yesterday returns, he will go after the decoys instead.