Owl cage pays off during a sharp shinned hawk visit

[Dave Duit]

Several years ago I had Mr. Owl decide to pay my colony a visit. I quickly manufactured a functional cage around the houses and gourd racks; not an easy task on short notice. That fall I made an owl cage that was up to my standards for protection. The cages are 30 feet around each of the three racks, and each has a 10 foot diameter corrugated roof and a suspended floor. So, they are completely enclosed within the confines of a safety zone. Tonight a hawk landed on one of the racks roof. Since it was dusk, the martin were just going into their compartments or sitting on their porches. They darted inside and stayed there. The hawk had no chance of an attack this round. The cage openings are about one foot from the porches and I have conley 2 entrances and troyer tunnels on every gourd and compartment for added security. My point in this thread is to have everyone be aware that it is not if a hawk or owl attack may occur at your colony, but when it will happen. Don't wait for the attack without being prepared, install owl guards and or cages.

[Grant O]

Hi Dave...would you post a picture or 2 to show your stuff?
Thanks.

[KathyF]

So glad to hear that Dave! When I mounted mine this past weekend, I was thinking how much safer they would be during a blitz surprise attack by a hawk. Nice!

[rlf]

I've had birds for close to 30 years and they disappeared this week. I suspect a hawk or owl. I don't see any signs of damage to the gourds or bird remains on the ground below. How long will it take to establish a colony again? Are there gourds on the market that along with a pole gaurd will prevent this in the future. I don't want to deal with a cage . My backyard is not the same and I know it's my fault. Don't make this mistake!!! I didn't realize how much I enjoyed them until they were gone.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

rif, nothing in the gourd line on the market that works. Its unusual for an owl to wipe out a colony so quickly. Do you have a predator guard on the pole to protect from snakes and raccoons? Your case sounds more like a snake...

Since you do not like a cage, all reports indicate very good success using a tunnel that has a 90 degree turn in it. The owls cannot see the martins in such a setup, and all reports are that they work, and the martins like the 90 degree turn, usually choose them first.

BTW, I do not like the appearance of the cages around a large gourd rack, but they do work. Instead, I am starting to put the gourd tunnels on one side of the gourd instead of in the center. This method works because the owls cannot see the martins.

[rlf]

Thanks for the reply. Does this tunnel attach to a natural gourd or is this a manufactured gourd?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The tunnel must be attached by the landlord (I use lexel caulk), it works on either natural gourds or on plastic gourds. Nothing on the market yet along that line.

[rlf]

are you using thin wall pvc for the tunnel? please excuse a slow reply as I'm at work this morning.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Yes, thin wall is much lighter. The schedule 40 is much heavier but can be used.

A problem that you may have is that the gourd may not hang level after you add the tunnel, you may need to hang it differently.

[rlf]

sorry I missed your question on the predator guard. I don't have one and I haven't lowered my pole to inspect the gourds. I have sixteen natural gourds on a home made set up and if it stops raining I will inspect when I get home today.

[Dave Duit]

The angles on the gourds are great. I use the cage because the timbered area holds many hawks and owls. Once the owl realizes it was way too much effort to perch outside the cages and too slow to attack after a martin leaves the gourd, they give up after a week or so. An owl will beat the outside of a gourd to flush out a martin. The tunnels will help if the martin stays inside the gourd. They are sight predators, but they can also hear the martins in a large colony. I believe that any protection is better than none at all. Once the weather warms up I will take some pics of the cages and post.

[KathyF]

I'm not sure what 'reports' there are about 90-degree tunnels working or how that theory has been proven.

If one were to seriously think about it from the perspective of an owl, an owl would have to 'hover' in front of a gourd in order to look in and see if there is any prey available. First, owls don't hover - they hunt first by sound, then by sight. If they did hover, it would burn an inordinate amount of energy to just 'look' for food. That is not smart for predators that have to rely on large amounts of food to feed themselves.
Secondly, to *prove* something works, you have to monitor and document. How do you do that? You either stay up all night and *watch* the predators movement or you monitor with game cameras, online cameras, etc.
I would propose that the 90-degree tunnels haven't been proven. If you look at the pictures of the first GHO owl attack I documented via pictures (game camera), I essentially have the same setup as a "90-deg tunnel". The entrances on my Trendsetter are offset - bird enters, turns 90 deg to the right or left and goes in to the nesting chamber. check out the pictures - the owl was first attracted to my site because of all the sounds the martins makes (yeah, drives me CRAZY), then went after the source of the sound (the Trendsetter) and tried to flush them out. In this case, I had to mount a cage - the owl still grabs it, but it prevents him from being able to grab them as they exit - at least slows him down.
See the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8psDGf3Fg9M

Theories *sound* great, until you see the predator in action - then all theories go out the window and you have to work with the evidence you see before you. I have nothing against the tunnels - by all means, if you want to do it, go for it. I just think you need to manage your expectations - don't put the tunnels on and think, "I'm done". You will need to monitor to see if they're working. You will also need to ensure your martins are QUIET, and NOT ONE of them roosts on any arms or porches where the owl can see them when they do show up to your colony.
Because, by the way, just because you have protection, doesn't mean the owl won't ever catch anyone - you're just reducing her chances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4KmeBYVdGI
I have given up on all the "theories" out there - been there, done that. The *ONLY* thing that works here is the cages or guards that prevent the owl from grabbing a martin as they exit. Because SOME of them WILL exit with Godzilla shaking their home.
Check out my blog for all the pictures and videos to see what a GHO will do.

http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/05 ... -thee.html

[eyeamtheman]

I'm quite sure the reports Emil was referring to were mainly from other landlords who used the 90 degree tunnels, and they seemed to offer better protection. In a perfect world, we would just benefit from the martins staying in the back of their compartment when they know there's danger outside. But that world doesn't exist I'm afraid.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Johnny, old buddy, you are right on. Let others believe whatever their heart desires.

[KathyF]

There have been a lot of suggestions offered to me and other landlords that have experienced GHO attacks.
Unfortunately, I've tried all of them and they failed. Or maybe that should be "fortunately", because I continued to monitor the colony and took pictures / video as each reported, proposed solution failed. It was so disappointing as I have invested tons of mine and my husband's time as well as untold amounts of money (sssshhhhhh, don't tell hubby)
The only suggestion I haven't tried and I WON'T is the one to shoot the owl.

The new (I call them car lot scarecrows - "dancing scarecrow") that came out earlier this year that were reported to work, have been found to NOT work at a landlord's site in Louisiana. He purchased one, thought it was working, but when the owl came around, it ignored the scarecrow and attacked anyway. At least I hadn't invested in that one yet - I just finally gave up and installed the cages.

Here are the things I've tried:

Lights - tried it - failed.
Radio - tried it - failed.
Lights + radio - tried it - failed.
Motion detection lights - tried it - failed.
Regular Scarecrow - tried it - failed.
90 Degree turns - Trendsetter house has them - failed.

I can't stress enough - even if people still want to TRY any of the methods reported to work, they need to MONITOR their colony to see if the solution is working. Don't wait until you lose your colony to discover it didn't work.

[Lewis]

I have seen a cooper hawk on my gourd rack early in the morning before the martins come out. I have not seen the hawk catch a martin but I have seen the remains of two martins below the rack so I assume he has been successful. The hawk sits absolutely still and waits. If I see him I scare him off. I think the martins have learned to either stay in their gourds are come out 90 miles per hour fast. I have seen evidence of an owl I think from feathers and one of the doors on my Trio house that I no longer use was pulled open and nest pulled out. I now have 2 Safe Haven houses that are heavy duty and designed so an owl can not reach the nest. There is a partition between the entry way and the nest chamber. I use Troyer horizontal gourds with Tunnels and Conley II srehs that I have modified by raising the floor and adding the PMCA wing guard over the entrance. The gourds are attached to the gourd rack so they will not move with "No rocker". The Safe Haven House and the no rockers are no longer made since the firm went out of business.
I have seen no evidence of owls with my present set up. I don't think the owl can see or reach the martins and I'm hoping the martins have learned to stay put.
PS I use both electric and the metal detachable pole guard mounted above the electric.

Lewis

[KathyF]

The tunnels will help if the martin stays inside the gourd.

Dave, that's the problem with every type of protection - some of them will flush no matter what and then it's out of our control. I was thinking I could probably make a fortune if I could come up with a way to automate some little shutter doors that close down at night after all the martins go inside for the night. But they'd probably freak out and abandon the colony as soon as the doors opened in the morning.
Sometimes, we can't even protect them from themselves.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The gourds are attached to the gourd rack so they will not move with "No rocker". The Safe Haven House and the no rockers are no longer made since the firm went out of business


Lewis

Lewis, Your setup sounds great. I also have my gourds attached so that they do not rock. A local person lives a few miles from me has his gourds mounted solid using pvc pipe screwed and glued into the top of the neck, and he uses 90deg tunnels. The way he mounts the gourds results in no problem to balance the gourds. Owls are plentiful here, but in 5 years, he has never lost any martins to owls to the best of his knowledge. His racks are heavy but they work for him. It may be possible that owls act differently at different sites. Our owls are the Barred owls.

[Gauxt]

Kathy,
Your shutter doors reminded me of an insane thought I had last week while not being able to sleep.
"Doggie doors" or like a clear plastic with an X sliced into it. Not for owl / hawk defense but wondered it it might deter sparrows / starlings.
It would probably have to be attempted with a commited pair with eggs which I'm not willing to try with my small colony :]
Like I said, ridiculas idea.

[Dave Duit]

I'm very happy to see the thread has generated great discussion. The more input, opinions, suggestion we share the more informed we become in the long run. Thanks everyone.