Cooper's Hawk attacking my Purple Martins

[Guest]

I have had Cooper's Hawks fly into my yard to grab one of my Purple Martins for quite a while. But I had an incident here lately that was enough to really make me angry!

I have about 20 Purple Martins so far and their normal behavior in the mornings (and during the day) is to just sit around on the porches of their compartments, or sit on the various perches. They usually vocalize a lot so it's a constant chatter of Martins songs. Really an enjoyable thing to watch and listen to. (they haven't started to nest yet)

Early one morning, while most of the Martins were outside their compartments, a Cooper's Hawk came in like a bullet out of nowhere. The Martins do have good observation skills so when a Cooper's comes into view, they take off straight up in the air. I have two decoy Martins attached to a couple of the perches, so when all the live Martins get away, the Hawk goes for one of the decoys.

The 3 pictures below will give you some idea of what's going on. This same Hawk (I'm quite sure it's a local, nesting hawk) came in FOUR (4) times on this day! The pics below are from the second attempt. The first pix shows the Hawk perched right ON my Martin housing. Obviously, all my live Martins got away. But then the Cooper's decides to go for the decoy, and you can see in the 2nd pix where it has it's claws on the decoy and is vigorously trying to fly away with it. But the decoys are attached with strong fishing line. Not being successful at grabbing the decoy, the Cooper's drops down and perches on my backyard fence. It flew off right after I took this picture.

As I mentioned earlier, this Hawk came in to grab one of my Martins FOUR times with the last time being just before they come in for the night!

Then the next day, the Hawk came in again at least two times that I witnessed This has got to be really stressing my Martins out, to the point where they all might just leave.

This happened back on April 2nd. Sorry to be so late in posting this. Since this incident, Hawk attacks have gone down considerably and I'm beginning to have "no hawks" days.

Here's the pictures.

[Jim Rockford]

I'm no expert, but that looks like a sharpie, not a Coopers, Gus. Regardless, I hope he leaves your martins alone!

I've been lucky to not be bothered by hawks so far. I've seen a Coopers going after sparrows in my live trap, but he never bothered the martins.

Ed

[Guest]

Hi Gus- Always like your photos, even if they are of hawks that bother our birds. I totally feel your pain.(See my post from earlier today) I think we can only do the best we can do, and I am ordering a couple of decoys tonight.

Last year things were not as bad early in the season, , but seemed worse around fledging. We are going to make an intense effort to be out there at dusk, and won't give up. Three nights in a row for us seems to have made a difference. There are many small colonies in our area, so maybe the hawk will move on. Paula

[Guest]

Thanks, Jim and Paula!

Jim, I am definitely no expert on IDing these Hawks, so I got my ID from a friend who knows these hawks very well. He says it is a Cooper's. In re-looking at the photos and reading the text in Brian Wheeler's book, "Rapters of Western North America" I still think it is a Cooper's Hawk.

Not to belabor the issue, but would you mind sharing the diagnostics that you think make it a Sharpie?

One other factor is that Sharp-shinned Hawks only show up here in North Texas during migration, they do not summer here, and most people will say their migration is over. Cooper's Hawks, on the other hand DO summer here, and in fact there are several nests right now within a few miles of my house.

But having said all that, "what do I know", it could be a Sharpie, a late migrant. It would be good if it WAS a Sharpie because in that case it will not be around much longer, if at all.

Here's another shot of the Hawk sitting on my fence.

[Guest]

Wow - that hawk is certainly a beautiful bird. I have seen one once or twice but fortunately not when PMs were around. Do you think that the decoys are helping to attract him or do you think that they will eventually help in that he will get frustrated with fake birds? I don't know if the frustration will get it to go elsewhere for meals.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Gus,

It is definitely an adult Cooper's hawk. The rounded tail is a main characteristic of a Cooper's hawk and this hawk has one. The hawk also has a large head. Sharpie has a square tail and smaller head. It is most likely a male hawk, judging from the size and brighter coloration. The female Cooper's hawk may have a more dark brown/slate gray back area. Male Accipiters are about 1/3 smaller than the females. He is also a mature hawk with deep orange/red eyes and has probably hunted martins before.

The male hawk hunts for his mate while she incubates the eggs and broods the small young. So he is the primary hunter for the family until the young become larger then female hunts, too for the young. If he is a resident, then he may be looking for a ready food source for his mate if she is on the nest.

We have PLENTY of resident Cooper's hawks over here in northwest Louisiana and at least two pairs nest within a mile of our martin colonies each season. We probably lose well over a hundred martin fledglings to these hawks every year. I witness as many as five martin fledgling kills a day to these hawks during June/July each season.

Steve

[Peggy Riley]

Great photos! I've seen exactly that happen at my place and it was a Coopers. They are so bold. Quite shocking to witness.

Peggy

[Guest]

Are these hawks illegal to kill?

[Peggy Riley]

Yes the are protected, unfortunately.

[Jim Rockford]

I actually had a hawk in my back yard last year around my sparrow trap (with several sparrows in it). It looked very different from the one in your picture, Gus, and I ID'd it as a Cooper's based on some research I did on the internet (I just looked for Google images of Cooper's hawks). In thinking about it now, it must have been a juvenile, and the one you photographed was an adult. Based on Steve's ID, the differences between adults is pretty subtle; far too subtle for a amateur like me to ID!

Anyway, I hope he leaves your martins alone!

Ed

[Guest]

Thank you all for your comments! Steve, thank you for confirming this as a Cooper's Hawk. Yes, I think you are correct in that it is hunting for it's mate while she is sitting on the nest. I don't think there are any chicks hatched yet so when that happens the Hawk attacks might get even worse. (A birder friend of mine knows the exact location of the nest)

Jim, juvenile Cooper's Hawks look quite different from the adults. Search Google/Images for both juvenile and adult Cooper's Hawks and you will see the difference.

An ineresting bit if trivia. A couple days ago, a Cooper's Hawk came and perched in my neighbor's tree. My Martins saw him coming in and scattered up in the air. While all my Martins were gone, a lone Starling came into my yard and perched on a camera wire that was inside my back yard. The Cooper's noticed the Starling and took flight directly toward it. The Starling took off with the Cooper's close behind it. The Cooper's was closing on the Starling as they went over my house. I could not see whether the Hawk was successful or not, but I suspect that he was. The next day, I saw a Cooper's Hawk come flying into my yard along that exact same flight path. He paid NO attention to my Martin housing or my decoys, but went right where the Starling was perched the day before. There was no Starling there this time, so the attack was in vain. I don't know if this episode is good or bad for my Martins.

Steve, I am in almost daily contact with Troy Galloway and I have incorporated the hawk deterrent features that he has which I am sure helps a lot.

[Guest]

guess I need to do some reasearch before I have hubby pulling out his 4-10! The only bird that aggitates me currently is ofcourse the mocking birds messing with the BB's and those brown headed cow birds. Not that they are interested in my Martin housing, but that they lay there eggs in the nest of others.....what a mouch!

[Guest]

I fixed a water hose to shoot upwards underneath the martin houses and sort of arch over them. I could turn it on from the garage window. Anything comes close, give it a 5 second shot or two. I dont know if it will work on hawks or not but it kept the crows away I also put up a mannequin in a sort of flowing dress. Ok it was a male mannequin and all the neighbors called it the drag queen but the predation by crows stopped. Might work. For pity sake dont even talk about killin a hawk on here. Just ask the roller pigeon people what happens. It gets Federal ugly quick.

[Guest]

LOL male manequin in a dress....now theres a picture!

[birdy girl]

I am so sorry the Coopers are attacking and catching your martins. It is heartbreaking and just makes me sick when that happens. I am usually upset for days after a see a hawk catch a bird. Hawks and owls are beautiful birds but devastating on martin colonies. I know they have to eat. It would be nice if they would just go somewhere else to do that. Hopefully your martins will escape if any more attacks occur.