7 years and going..

[Julio]

After 7 years of having a prosperous colony, my numbers appear to be dwindling. The Hawks have become more prevalent through the years and and im down to 22 birds. Have an army of decoys and my paintball gun does its job at times with its loud report. I'm not gonna give up however. Good to see so many people from the past here, best regards.

[Anthony Neira]

Hi Julio, Sorry to hear about the hawks, Maybe (?) try a wire cage like Kathy has for Owls ? Might be one of the last resorts ? Let's see the PM Brain trust chime in ! Good luck ! Keep us posted !!

[Matt F.]

Great to hear from you Julio!
I often wonder how you and your colony are doing.
I'm afraid what you're seeing at your colony, is something that's becoming more and more common.
The smaller raptors, in this case the Sharpies and Cooper's Hawks, are not only adapting to urban sprawl, but they're thriving.
They are taking full advantage of an unfair situation - bird feeders and housing that our songbirds rely on, and congregate at.
For them, it really is the proverbial "shooting fish in a barrel", when stalking and attacking bird feeders and housing.
What makes our situation with the Martins even more dire, is we talking about a species of songbird that is already dwindling in numbers, even without this new threat of an exploding Accipiter population.
Hopefully, with the help of efforts from folks like the PMCA's Chief Biologist Jim Ray, federal and state wildlife entities will take notice, and do something.
Something like if someone has Purple Martins, and they are experiencing repeated attacks, they can contact their state DNR or USFWS, and they will send someone out to legally trap, and relocate the offending raptor.
I know that's probably a total pipe dream, but one can still hope.

[Louise Chambers]

Julio, is there anything you can do to make your site more open? I was looking at some of your photos and don't know current amount/distance to trees, but open space = increased safety from hawks.

Matt, I doubt that state or federal wildlife would be willing to trap & relocate hawks, especially if they are nesting. The best things landlords can do is to maintain as much open space as possible around their martin systems, and use decoys, both martin and dove. Installing cages will help too.

[Matt F.]

Matt, I doubt that state or federal wildlife would be willing to trap & relocate hawks, especially if they are nesting. The best things landlords can do is to maintain as much open space as possible around their martin systems, and use decoys, both martin and dove. Installing cages will help too.

Great point Louise, about not being feasible to relocate while nesting.
You are absolutely right.
Like you mentioned, the best thing we can do, is to make it as difficult as possible for the hawks to sneak up on, and grab a Martin.
There have been so many great testimonials about the hawks mistakingly going for a decoy, and in turn giving the Martins a chance to clear out, unharmed.

[James Strickland FL]

Julio, I have know you for years and I wish you would stay involved, but I understand that sometimes just watching them get killed is not fun.

[Dallas]

Julio, I understand your frustration. I have had more hawk attacks this
year than I remember before. Last year my birds would land in my yard
to collect nesting material but this year they are flying in with mouthfuls
from somewhere else. When they come in with the material they fly real
fast into there gourd. I have them safe from owls now but this hawk
is a challenge. I am going to get more decoys out and see if that slows
him down. Around three years ago I had around thirty pair now between
the owls and the hawks I have less than ten pair so far.
I am excited about these few and still enjoy them being around so don't
give up.

Dallas

[Julio]

Thanks for the replies everyone, im going to attempt to open my site more perhaps by thinning out these large oak trees nearby, i cant do anything about the neighboring trees though. I'm probably going to build a dock in the lake and extend the housing 25 feet away from the trees further into the lake. Darn hawks i wish we had more flexibility with these darn things. Good to hear from all of you, glad you guys are all still active. James hows that colony of yours doing?

[James Strickland FL]

Julio, I am really growing this year. I have 20 pair this year where I had 8 pair last year. I still have a hawk that like to come around and by luck I see him when I am outside and he know to move on when I am outside. I have a Dock and and that is where I have my houses. I think you should build a dock and put the houses out there and if you can clear the trees on your property that should help a lot. I surely would hate to see that you are not going to be involved any more, I know how much you love these birds. I have always looked forward to see your postings each year. Remember that even if you do not put your house and they go to another site they will still have to deal with hawks at there new place. I know I would hate to loss birds to hawks, but the martins figure out how they deal with everything that is after them. Remember that every fledgeling that you put into the air only helps the martins all around. Also, most of the fledgeling are lost in that first year.