Relentless hawk attacks.

[brent]

Hi all. I am trying just about everything but is it just my colony or is anybody else having an unusual high amount of hawk attacks? Last year at about this time the attacks seemed to have lessened. Today, 2 attacks and that’s just what I witnessed. The last attack resulted in a martin being taken. I know it’s nature but that doesn’t seem to make the hurt and disappointment less. So far I’ve witnessed several attacks with 3 martins taken. Anybody else having excessive hawk attacks? Brent

[SSMartin]

I had a Merlin that was constantly bothering the martins daily and even landing on the racks and just lounging there waiting for a bird to leave a gourd. I saw him catch one but it managed to escape with my help. I’m sure he was being successful or wouldn’t return each morning for weeks on end. He seems to have finally moved on for breeding season up North.

Not sure if it helps but I feel your pain. It’s completely natural but let’s face it many of us have a lot invested in these birds, and we don’t want to see them get snatched up.

[Phil01]

Hi Brent. I’m very sorry to hear about your increased hawk attacks, it’s VERY annoying and frustrating I know! I think I’m about on par with last year for Hawk attacks, (so far) but I’m not home all the time in the morning cause of work. I have seen 3 so far but it’s early still and who knows what happens when I’m not watching. Luckily the alarm was sounded and the Martin managed to escape each time in a pretty epic chase. Still hard to watch, you hate to lose even one. Sux cause it breaks up the harmony at the colony cause the birds fly off for many hours as they should. Now when I hear the alarm call I’m not sure if they are excited cause more birds are showing up or if there is a hawk… They have modified their behavior since and don’t start landing, socializing and nest building till later in the morning now. Yesterday they didn’t start going to the ground nest building till almost noon and didn’t do it but for a hour or so.. They do the early morning stuff in the air till they feel safer. But it’s probably best they do. When they come in for the night now it’s much later than before also, like 20-30 minutes after sunset..
I did have a forth hawk attack but not on a Martin… My wife and I always bring our parrots out on the lanai inside the screened enclosure for about an hour every evening before the martins come in. About a month ago I was putting my bird to bed and I heard my wife yell. A hawk flew straight into the lanai screen trying to snatch her bird off her hand a ft from the screen… Bounced off the screen, hit the ground and flew off. I wish it would have broken its freakin neck… I have no doubt it would have gotten him had the screen not been there. Our Avian vet had told us not to bring our birds out in the open, he has had clients have their birds snatched right off their shoulders by hawks. We never being them out in the open here..
My numbers are up this year so far so I don’t think the hawk pressure has effected too much yet but once they start feeding hatchlings they are very easy targets and more predictable..
I hope your hawk issues slow down! I’ll keep you posted if mine increase.
Phil

[Thomabear]

Sorry to hear that, Brent. Hopefully it will move on soon. I had one hawk a couple weeks ago but only saw it once. A pair of mockingbirds nesting nearby put on some serious harassment towards the hawk. Not sure if it was the harassment that made it leave or if it was just moving through. It flew across my lawn about 5' above the martin housing, surely looking for an opportunity. I'm now curious if there are benefits to having mockingbirds around. The martins don't seem to be bothered by them.

[Phil01]

Well Brent I must have jinx myself or hawk karma got me for badmouthing that hawk earlier. lol Had another one at 1245 while they were right in the middle of nest building. They saw him way early sounded the alarm and everyone took off before he could get close but he came through at speed in hunting mode. Man those things are fast!

Thomabear, I think mockingbirds do help quite a bit. Those birds are fearless and afraid of nothing. I’ve seen them dive bombing hawks and crows here. Chased them away, they are relentless. They never mess with my martins at all. They’ll sit on the gourd rack and just fly off when the martins come in..,
Phil

[Martintown33]

Sorry to hear this Brent. Definitely sucks. So far this season, in Laplace, I’m not having many hawk sitings at all, and no attacks that I know of, fortunately. I do have the fortune of having a pack of crows that hang out in a tree about 35 yards away, and several mockingbirds around. The hawks I have seen, have been divebombed by my martins and chased off.. I know you have your decoys up, so I would try this suggestion that whippy gave me a couple seasons ago. Walk the tree line , where you see the hawks coming from. Try to see where they’re perching. Hawks usually aren’t skittish of humans, so you should be able to get relatively close. Get as close as you can , and then shoot bottle rockets at him to scare him off. He will return, but if you are persistent , he will get the message and leave. I did this to a hawk, who was perching on my deck, early this season, and I haven’t seen him since. I purchased my bottle rockets online. They are legal to ship to Louisiana..
Good luck
Rob

[CAK]

Brent, sorry to hear about the hawk trouble. I started the year with a persistent Cooper’s hawk that I know took at least one bird but saw him hanging around every day hunting my birds. A few weeks ago I spent a little time making a “hawk guard” for the Trendsetter 16 house that I have. Since I’ve put it up I haven’t seen him. I’m not sure if I’ve made it just difficult enough he found somewhere else to hunt or if it’s just a coincidence. In any event, I believe it offers added protection and I’ve attached a picture. Basically it’s two pieces of 36” x appx 5.5’ wire fencing wired to 4’ fiberglass rods for stability, and the two pieces join together to encircle the house. The Trendsetter 16 house has the two perches it sits on which made it easy. Without that, this design would need something else to help support it, but may be able to be adapted depending on your setup.

[Spiderman]

Cages will help with the hawk attacks. He basically hunts in an ambush mode. When the wire (2”X4”) of the cage stops him the Martins will escape out of the other side.

I added cages to my racks last year to deter owls landing on the perches and beating the gourds with their wings to flush martins at night, but seeing the hawks crash into the cage is an added benefit…….lol.

Some hawks migrate and some don’t and are a permanent fixture when the Martins are here.

[Dave Duit]

Hi Brent,
First off, I feel your pain and frustration. I'm also going through the headaches of coopers hawk attacks. As you already know, when a colony grows large there is an increased chance for predator attacks. That doesn't make the problem easier to deal with when the attacks continue. I will make some suggestions later in my response.; since that is what we are deep down needing to stop the attacks. Two years ago I witnessed the first attack. Last year it let up after a month, maybe the hawk moved on or he got tired of me harassing him. I figured this season would be better. But, I only had 6 martin scouts start showing up and that is all it took for the darn hawk to pick up where he left off last season. I have a lot of time and money wrapped up in being a landlord for this large colony to allow one stinking hawk ruin everything. My martins only land at the end of the day just after sunset and they are frantic in entering their entrances; they are simply terrified at that time due to the hawk waiting for them to enter the same time every day. Their behavior is not like the norm and I fear they will simply abandon their long standing colony.
In my experiences in dealing with hawks I hope the following works in decreasing the attacks.
1.) Place a ton of martin and dove decoys scattered throughout the area near your martin colony. The hope is that it will cut down on the number of successful attacks.
2.) I know this one is a real pain to carry out; but be present with a loud noise maker during the times when you think the attacks are most common. One ladies husband made a hard wood clacker to make a sharp loud noise.. Or use a noise maker such as an airhorn when the hawk is present or even fireworks if legal in your area.
3.) It has been noted in some observations that hawks do not like crows. So, in addition to your dove and marin decoys; purchase a few "assault" crow decoys and place them around your colony. A crow will pester hawks and is one of te few birds that do not feel fear when dealing with hawks.
4.) Contact a "LEGAL LICENSED FALCONER WITH PROPER CREDENTIALS" to capture the hawk and safely remove the hawk from your colony. I stress the fact that it is not legal to capture a hawk without the proper license. Under no circumstance should you attempt this.
5.) Place a metal pole near your colony that has at least a 6 foot string and feather from a starling and or sparrow tied to the end to mimic a flying bird. When the breeze happens to come up the feathers will appear to be prey for the hawk. This is just another version of a decoy.
6.) This one is questionable. I have heard that placing a mirror ball (disco ball" on top of your rack pole can act as a deterrent. This technique is unfounded, but what the heck it can't hurt to try it.
7.) Cak and Spiderman mentioned cages around their housing. I'm grateful for their suggestion and I appreciate their insight. Here is what I had to change on my existing owl cages. I had 4 x 4 inch mesh size fencing around my housing; but the hawks simply picked off martins as they perched in the cage openings. The old cage would deter owls, but had minimal effect on hawks. So, I spent a lot of time removing the cages to eliminate the perching of martins on the cage openings and forcing the martins to only perch on their house porches. This stops the hawk from simple picking them of a cage. Instead, I replaced the cage with sturdy plastic with metal core clothesline wire going only vertically 5 inches apart and about 1 foot to 1 and 1/2 feet in front of their porches with a clear fly path in and out. The martins quickly adapt to this set up. When the hawk comes in for an attack, the only way he can be successful is if he takes on a full straight approach directly into the porch. It makes it very difficult for the hawk and it gives ample time for the martin to escape. Most of the hawk attacks with the old square cages were accomplished with side swipe techniques instead of head on attacks. This change from cage to vertical style clothesline has virtually stopped successful attacks. It is simply eliminating perch opportunities for the martin in a dangerous perch position, but still allows for safe perching on their own porch. It also keeps owls out because they do not like to enter small opening with their wings. If your cavities are deep it also helps keep owls from reaching to the back of the cavities.
8.) It helps to share all your ideas on hawk deterrents. Spread the word and try anything even if it sounds strange.

[Martintown33]

Great points dave. The vertical wires seems to be a great solution, in that , as you said, it doesn’t allow the martins to perch in a vulnerable spot, while still protecting them from the hawk. I hope you and Brent get a break from the damn hawks! Gotta be really tough to go through that. I’m so grateful for the flock of crows that hang out near my site!
Rob

[Dave Duit]

Thanks Martintown,
I love those smart crows. It would be ideal if I could just simply enjoy the martins without the headache of those hawks. I have over the years constructed new ideas and turned them into real world solutions for those in the martin world. I try not to pat myself on the back to much; but it does make me smile knowing I have assisted many landlords over the years. Some of the best ideas that every landlord can come up with are from scrutinizing observations of martin behavior as well as predator and competitor observations. Years ago I developed a robin and starling proof feeding tray that has provisions built in the design to keep Canadian geese from doing their duty on top of the platform feeder. lol. Years ago I improved the concept of heating with ceramic heaters for those early spring nights and mornings when the temps drop. Ceramic heaters are nothing new to landlords, I just developed the idea into a slide out metal three sided front, top and back, pullout box that slides into the back side of back to back gap metal grampa style houses. Shaped like a fourplex with an open cross in the middle in which the unit slides in and out. I need to share these solutions with pics some day. A pic is worth a thousand words. Enough of my rambling for now. lol.

[Martintown33]

Yes Dave, necessity is definitely the mother of invention. Speaking of your heater design, I made one following your description on this forum. As you described, I mounted a ceramic heater element, and built a 5 x 5 inch hardware cloth cage around it, so the element can’t make direct contact with the compartment walls , floor or ceiling. It slides in and out of the compartment, as needed.. I ran the wire down the pole and to my patio , where it’s plugged in. I wired a rheostat (dimmer switch) in line, so all I have to do, is come outside the patio door, and adjust the rheostat to increase or decrease the amount of heat given off by the heater element inside the Martin house. Works great! It spreads radiant heat through the whole Martin house on very cold nights. Thanks for the idea.
Sorry to divert from the hawk thread..
Good luck to y’all with these hawks! Has to be a tough go..
Rob

[jhcox]

An air horn works great if you witness it. But its all the ones you don't see that bothers me most. Last year the attacks were fast and furious. Every time a young martin would attempt to fledge and land out in the yard or near by field the hawks would get them. And the bad part the more cavities you put out and the martins you get the and the attack just escalate. Just part of having a larger colony its like a buffet to all the predators. Its all part of the circle of life the part that makes me fill better about it is that we are really helping the over all population to increase. Even if the hawks take their 10% the 90% that make it increase the world total. And if we landlords were not doing what we do where would these birds go to raise their young.

God Bless all,
JHCox Heiskell TN

[brent]

Thanks everyone. All are great suggestions. Dave, I sent an email to you requesting a picture of your vertical clothes line guard. If you have one please post. I am very grateful to everyone. Brent

[Dave Duit]

Several pics of the hawk deterrent cage. The clothesline is strung up over and down around the top through blue pex on the gourd racks. The metal houses are the same concept but strung through an old automatic garage door frame pieces. Any metal tubing will work. The gourd rack blue pex is attached to a 2 inch metal band that makes up the edge of the roof. The anchor bolts are put through the the white tubing that is part of the floor which is suspended from the lower part of the gourd rack. So, the entire floor and gourd rack lowers together. I simply push out the bent end anchor bolt from the holes I drilled in the lower floor blue pex and lower away. The wire is clothesline with plastic coating and a metal wire core for strength. It all sound complicated and it was when assembling the set up. But, the concept is easy and can be modified as seen fit by those who wish to construct such a hawk deterring cage. This type of cage eliminates the chances of martins perching on the exterior of a square mesh style cage. The martins fly through the gaps between the clothesline wire and land on their gourd porches. When drilling holes to string up the clothes line, be sure to center the gourd porch or entrances in the center between the clothesline wire and it is approximately 14-16 inches distance from the gourd porch to the clothesline gaps. Hopefully the pics , if they post will help you in visualizing the set up. Distances between wires (gap) is about 8 inches on the gourd rack set up and the metal housing unit distance (gap) is about 4.5 inches. The first four pics are of the metal housing units; it is a four plex. In pic #4 of the metal housing you can see the black pull out metal box that fits between the back side of the metal houses. Inside the box is a ceramic heater that is positioned in the center of the box. Each metal house has 2 inch round soffit vents to allow radiant heat from the ceramic heater to heat indirectly the interior of each individual compartment The last 4 are of the gourd rack set up.

[Martintown33]

Awesome design and build , Dave… purple Martin bomb shelter for sure!
Rob

[Dave Duit]

Thank you Martintown. Coming up with improvements that aid the martins is one part of the hobby I enjoy. I have chatted with others in coming up with ideas. I just posted pics of my Platform supplement feeder cricket /eggshell design that is robin and starling proof and hawk resistant a few minutes ago. Someday after the season is finished, I will take some pics of my design for the slide out ceramic heater box used for metal housing heating. Thanks again. I'm sure many people besides myself have come up with some very clever ideas for the martins.

[brent]

Great design. That will be my next project. Thank you for posting!! Brent