Coopers Hawk!

[M.Stephens]

Well I finally seen the first hawk fly through my colony earlier today! The martins went crazy!!! I hope this is not the start of terrorizing my colony!

It's a never ending battle! I have been trying to shoot or trap 2 starlings but they are too smart ! I added a 5 or 6 ft. perch on one of my houses.I've been waiting for them to land on it. I've already shot at them a few times! If you don't get them the first few times they get smart to you!
Edit:
I just lined my fence row up with my decoy poles. 4 of them with 4 on each pole. I also have my dove decoy pole up. Hopefully they'll go for the plastic buffet I have set up for them. Does anyone think too many decoys would attract rather than deter hawks from the martins? I figure they're gonna be here regardless. Just my thoughts.

[Laverne]

I don't know the answer to your question; but I have a resident pair of Cooper's around here and they are relentless.

I hope the decoy's help -- anything is worth a try.

[jeffwilliams72]

I would think the more decoys the better, especially since you have witnessed one in your area.

[M.Stephens]

Well this hawk must be terrorizing them. I stood out around the colony this evening at roost time and watched the martins swirl above and then a few at a time would dive down straight into their cavities. I never saw the hawk but the one time earlier today. Hopefully he went on but I have a feeling he'll be here tomorrow. He flew directly over and just above all of my housing. I just hope he eats plastic and not my birds.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Friday and Saturday the weather was cloudy and cool so I flipped some crickets in the morning.Both days soon after I started a coopers hawk made a run at my martins, it wasn't sucessful so I guess that's a good thing.

[Mike1624]

I lost my second martin (that I know about) to a Coopers Hawk yesterday as I was working beside on of the boxes to fabricate a cage to give the martins a little more safety. He came from behind me and took a bird from the top of the house. He or she certainly isn't concerned about proximity of humans.

[Mike Coupe]

I've got the same problem too. It happens so fast I can't tell if it's a coopers or sharp shinned hawk. Almost every day they will take a martin or bluebird. I put up my 3rd rack 3 weeks ago and have 48 gourds now. Just about full but how long will the martins last? Been trying decoys and they worked once. No wonder the starlings stay away. I do have two starlings that come around but fly away when they see me and my 20 gauge. I've trapped about 30 so far this year. But it just sickens me about the hawks though. My 9 year old son said another martin just got taken while I was here at work about 15 minutes before I wrote this. The hawk grabbed the martin in mid air a couple hundred feet from the gourd racks. This is the worst year of hawk predation here. I use to enjoy it this time of year while they pick out gourds and pair up. I hope the hawks move on to somewhere else like where there's lots of starlings. I rememember when the late Victor Stoll use to hobble around with his shot gun trying to protect his site about 15 years ago. The more martins I guess the more predators. Maybe I'll move my 3 purple martin decoys when I get off work this friday. Stuck here till 7pm today and next.

[Mike1624]

Mike, it really does hurt to see birds taken and you can't really do much about it. I finished my 2nd cage to cover my other house. Now we'll see how upset the martins will be when they return tonight. There were about 30 birds flying around for the first hour that I was working, but they finally took off. We had a big influx of subbies today, so throw that into the mix and it should be an interesting few days. A lot of the birds want to sit on the top or sides of the cage, so the hawk will have field day until they all figure it out

[Mike Coupe]

I didn't have to move my decoys friday. A hawk(s) moved two of them for me before I got home yesterday! My wife called before I got off work and told me about what happened. What force they must have when they strike! Snapped a 3/8" bamboo rod off the arm of my gourd rack. Flipped another upside down. Hopefully they saved some martins. Had to stick one on a shepards hook type perch till I can lower my rack friday.

[Mike1624]

I'd say that they served their purpose quite well. I've seen some posts here where people put the decoys on long bamboo pole and moved them daily. I may try that. Most of my martins have adjusted to the cages and are flying in and out pretty easily. I'm afraid some of them are going to learn the hard way about perching on the outside of the cage.

[Dick Sherry]

I am a big believer in the benefit of having cages around your housing, if you are having hawk predation. The martins learn to navigate through it very quickly, and if you use a larger mesh wire like goat or hog fencing, they can go right through it without landing.

The presence of hawks will definitely change the behavior of your martins because they will not sit on the housing and socialize as much, and the coming in for the evening is done quickly and quietly.

Good luck with protecting your colonies!

[M.Stephens]

I use the long bamboo poles and currently have 3 of them set up in the middle of my colony. They are mounted in 2 gallon galvanized paint cans that you can get at any farm and garden store . I screw them to a christmas tree stand that looks like an x and fill them with quikrete . I center a 2" piece of PVC pipe in the middle to hold the cane pole in. You can move them any where you see fit to help deter the hawks . I find being closer to the gourd racks to be the best at my site.

[Mike1624]

Thanks, Dick. I used the 2x4 dog wire to get a little more strength and I cut one 4x4 in the center of each side and outlined it with foil for a visual reference. I've observed some of the birds flying through the 2x4 openings with barely a pause. Malcolm, I appreciate the detail on your post. I knew that I had read it, but couldn't remember all the finer points. At least now that they've gotten used to the cages, their back to socializing on the porches.

[Carlton]

Does it seem like we are hearing A LOT more reports of coopers hawk attacks the past two or three years? Maybe it is just my imagination..

[Dennis D]

Does it seem like we are hearing A LOT more reports of coopers hawk attacks the past two or three years? Maybe it is just my imagination..

No I dont think its your imagination. I almost started a thread about it the other day. Steve K is the expert on this but I have been on the Forum for over ten years and it sure seems to like there are many more reports. When you have pairs or Coopers raising young in residential areas, I beleive there are many more of them around