Possible hawk deterrent

[cabin man]

Hello everyone. Hope the year is going well. I have a thought regarding hawk attacks. As I’m waiting for my Martin to trickle in, I have noticed a large influx of tree swallows. I normally host one or two pairs every year since I’ve got an established colony, it has not been a problem. It was a problem for many years though, until I got the Martins established. Anyway, I thought about how the swallows seem to sound the alarm much sooner than the Martins do regarding hawks, so I decided to put 3 gourds about 60 feet from my Martin set up in a triangle formation . I even had another one by my pond about 120 yards away. As the Martins trickle back, they harass the swallows and they take right to the gourds. I put a few Pineneedles and feathers in them and it really worked. Anyway, this is just my hope. I can never have done it before I had an establish colony, but I do now and I’m hoping to use that to my advantage regarding the hawk attacks. Again, just my thoughts. Hope everyone has a great year. Rob.

[C.C.Martins]

Sounds like a good set up, early warning to rival NORAD. more alert eyes the better, they will support each other.
Our sucessful hawk attacks went down when my neighbor put up his gourds in front, he is 2 houses down. Soon as one colony goes up, they all sound the alarm.

[Martintown33]

Very smart to use the swallows as an early alarm system.. great idea.. your observation of the swallows behavior will save both your martins and the swallows. Very ingenious!
Rob

[jhcox]

I have noticed that all the different species of birds tend to sound a alarm when snakes hawks owls are in the area. I have all of my martins racks inside a perimeter of my 2 acres that are all fenced in with 15 BB boxes and 5 or 6 gourds on the shepherds poles for the tree swallows that are along to fences. I also have 11 nest trays under my front and back porch eaves for doves and Ruby throated finches and robins to nest in. They all seem to work well together because which ever sees the predators first they start the series of alarms by all the different species. Last year i think i had around 70+ martin pairs. add those to all the tree swallows, BB, Doves, Ruby throated Finches. Man that is a lot of eyes watching. Good season everyone.

God Bless
JHCox Heiskell TN

[Birdiegirl]

This is a fun thread! Seems like there are a lot of different bird species that serve as good hawk detectors. At our place, it's the red-winged blackbirds. They are swift to escort any hawk right out of the airspace.

[Martintown33]

Agree. It seems like the best defense are the natural ones .. I’m fortunate to have a group of crows that hang out in a tree about 35 yards away from my site. I have seen them harassing hawks several times, and my martins join in to dive bomb the hawks, as the crows chase them. They are definitely a great early warning system.. I was indifferent to crows, before, because I didn’t like them stealing the mockingbird eggs, but now I love having them around!
Rob

[Dave Duit]

Thank you Cabin Man for the post.
Here is the response on another post thread "Relentless hawk attacks" in which I provided the following. I accidentally omitted your insight on Tree swallows. I will add it to the end of my suggestions:
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.) Place dedicated gourds on shepherd hooks to attract tree swallows to take up residence to act as early hawk alarms for your martin colony. This works best for already established martin colonies.
9.) It helps to share all your ideas on hawk deterrents. Spread the word and try anything even if it sounds strange.

[Habsboy]

Tons of blue Jays around here. Great early warning and they gang up and chase too.

[cabin man]

Thanks everyone for all the positive replies. Yes all birds and animals seem to key in on each other when it comes to danger. As was mentioned, the more eyes the better. And Dave, thanks for that in depth solution to some of these attacks. Hopefully it won’t be too bad. Again hope we all have a great year and God bless to all! This is a great hobby.

[Thomabear]

This year I’ve had a few mockingbirds perching on my martin rack and hunting insects in our lawn and flower beds. Just today I found a mockingbird nest in our satsuma tree with 3 eggs about 50’ from the martins. In fact, this is the first year I haven’t had to deal with a hawk. Thanks for this excellent post cabin man. I think you’re definitely on to something…