Gonna bump this up as I'm in New England and after a snow saw a beautiful and agile hawk buzz my wife and dog before barrel rolling over the house. This guy was like a fighter jet and WIDE. How do folks handle hawks? They're just as beautiful as the martins but I'm not trying to open op Chic-Fil-Martin either.
Pictures and idea please. I already have tunnel on all the gourds I purchased and thinking main plan is to get decoys which I should move for defense?
Owl decoy?
Geez. Didn't see that you bumped this up. I sent Sue a lengthy e-mail. Sorry, Sue.
I'll send the same to you CT. Owls are a threat to Martins same as hawks so I don't think an owl decoy would be advisable.
Accipiters will catch them coming in to roost in the eve or land on house in early morn and wait for them to leave. They will catch them feeding young, or gathering nest material.
these hawks used to have an 'unofficial' season on them when there were 10s of thousands of small game hunters looking for squirrels, rabbits for quail for lunch.
Now, they are the most common hawk species I see outside of red tails. They are in every suburbia, eating grackles, robins, etc. Sparrows and starlings are smart and hard to catch.
Martins, being in the open, being loud and conspicuous, are at real risk from these.
