Hawk

I saw the hawk and it was a red tailed hawk. There are two of them
frequenting our yard this winter. Gulls are fairly large and very durable,
so hopefully the one I rhabbed made a full medical recovery. Mike.
<ef29.TakeThisOut@drexel.edu> wrote in message
news:1109686794.562699.126910@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
> Mike D. wrote:
> > We are in New Jersey located one mile away from New York City. We
> have been
> > having lots of problems with hawks the last ten years or so. Earlier
> this
> > winter, my neighbor came to my door telling me that a hawk had a
> pigeon on
> > the ground in his yard, and it might be one of ours, so I went
> outside into
> > his yard and found a seagull laying face down in the snow. There was
> some
> > blood and feathers, but the seagull got up to his feet and tried to
> take
> > off. The gull was too severely injured to fly, so I left him in my
> yard and
> > returned to my ( it was lunchtime) at my workplace across town. I
> returned
> > home that evening and went outside with a flashlight and found the
> gull
> > still on the ground, but now he was in my other neighbor's yard. He
> clearly
> > was unable to get himself airborne.
> > I caught the gull with a towel and gloves, and placed him in a
> plastic
> > doghouse I had in my yard, and placed a screen of turkey wire from a
> piece
> > of my old coop aviary. I kept the gull in the doghouse like that
> for six
> > days, feeding him catfood and bread and water. After about five days
> I
> > started opening the entrance to allow the gull to leave. He didn't
> venture
> > out of the doghouse for a couple days, and finally on the sixth
> afternoon,
> > he came out, stretched his wingsa a bit, and went aloft. He flew
> about a
> > hundred yards up to a train parked on the railroad tracks near my
> house, and
> > stayed on top of the train for about twenty minutes. Then he took
> off, and I
> > like to think he might have survived. Mike.
>
> Well, the only relativity I see to pigeons in this story is the hawk?
> Did you see the hawk? Do you know what kind it was?
> Anyway, it was still a cool story!%^)
> Gulls are actually huge aren't they? Never saw a hawk attack one
> before, so
> I would assume it was a large hawk. (Red-tail maybe?)
> E-Man
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

> Mike D." <mikdan7.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote
>
>
> We are in New Jersey located one mile away from New York City. We have been
> having lots of problems with hawks the last ten years or so. Earlier this
> winter, my neighbor came to my door telling me that a hawk had a pigeon on
> the ground in his yard, and it might be one of ours, so I went outside into
> his yard and found a seagull laying face down in the snow. There was some
> blood and feathers, but the seagull got up to his feet and tried to take
> off. The gull was too severely injured to fly, so I left him in my yard and
> returned to my ( it was lunchtime) at my workplace across town. I returned
> home that evening and went outside with a flashlight and found the gull
> still on the ground, but now he was in my other neighbor's yard. He clearly
> was unable to get himself airborne.
> I caught the gull with a towel and gloves, and placed him in a plastic
> doghouse I had in my yard, and placed a screen of turkey wire from a piece
> of my old coop aviary. I kept the gull in the doghouse like that for six
> days, feeding him catfood and bread and water. After about five days I
> started opening the entrance to allow the gull to leave. He didn't venture
> out of the doghouse for a couple days, and finally on the sixth afternoon,
> he came out, stretched his wingsa a bit, and went aloft. He flew about a
> hundred yards up to a train parked on the railroad tracks near my house, and
> stayed on top of the train for about twenty minutes. Then he took off, and I
> like to think he might have survived. Mike.



We don't have hawks where I'm at, we have Osprey. Yet I don't see them
feasting on pidgeons.
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 19:26:45 GMT, "EddieM" <eddie.g.m04.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>> Mike D." <mikdan7.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote
>>
>>
>> We are in New Jersey located one mile away from New York City. We have been
>> having lots of problems with hawks the last ten years or so. Earlier this
>> winter, my neighbor came to my door telling me that a hawk had a pigeon on
>> the ground in his yard, and it might be one of ours, so I went outside into
>> his yard and found a seagull laying face down in the snow. There was some
>> blood and feathers, but the seagull got up to his feet and tried to take
>> off. The gull was too severely injured to fly, so I left him in my yard and
>> returned to my ( it was lunchtime) at my workplace across town. I returned
>> home that evening and went outside with a flashlight and found the gull
>> still on the ground, but now he was in my other neighbor's yard. He clearly
>> was unable to get himself airborne.
>> I caught the gull with a towel and gloves, and placed him in a plastic
>> doghouse I had in my yard, and placed a screen of turkey wire from a piece
>> of my old coop aviary. I kept the gull in the doghouse like that for six
>> days, feeding him catfood and bread and water. After about five days I
>> started opening the entrance to allow the gull to leave. He didn't venture
>> out of the doghouse for a couple days, and finally on the sixth afternoon,
>> he came out, stretched his wingsa a bit, and went aloft. He flew about a
>> hundred yards up to a train parked on the railroad tracks near my house, and
>> stayed on top of the train for about twenty minutes. Then he took off, and I
>> like to think he might have survived. Mike.
>
>
>
>We don't have hawks where I'm at, we have Osprey. Yet I don't see them
>feasting on pidgeons.
>


A quick Google will explain that for you, they live on fish.
tonyf
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

Mike D. wrote:
> I saw the hawk and it was a red tailed hawk. There are two of them
> frequenting our yard this winter. Gulls are fairly large and very durable,
> so hopefully the one I rhabbed made a full medical recovery. Mike.

Hi Mike,

I inquired about Red Tails to a falconer once. He said Red Tails don't
usually bother pigeons because they don't usually take prey from the
air. They seem to prefer to swoop down on prey that's on the ground.

I have a pair of Red Tails that nest near my loft. I think it's
actually a good thing cause they don't bother my pigeons and they will
keep other raptors away as far as I know.

--
Onorio Catenacci
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

On 9 Mar 2005 05:35:22 -0800, ef29.RemoveThis@drexel.edu wrote:

>
>
>> Hi Mike,
>>
>> I inquired about Red Tails to a falconer once. He said Red Tails
>don't
>> usually bother pigeons because they don't usually take prey from the
>> air. They seem to prefer to swoop down on prey that's on the ground.
>>
>> I have a pair of Red Tails that nest near my loft. I think it's
>> actually a good thing cause they don't bother my pigeons and they
>will
>> keep other raptors away as far as I know.
>>
>> --
>snip;
I hope you guys don't mind me snipping this.

I have Red Tails, Coopers, Sharkskin (sp), Bald Head Eagles and Peregrine Falcons in my area. I
have had attacks by every one of the birds above. I have never had a hit by a Red Tail on wing on
any type of flying bird? They have flew into the doors on my lofts numerous times. A few times while
I was standing under the over hang of the loft. They will hit my birds while on the patio feeding or
walking in the yard. The Red Tails do stoop birds that are flying. I have never saw even a young one
per sue the flying birds over a few minutes at the most. I have a friend in NJ that gave up his
homers because the Red Tail hawks were killing all of his racers. Catching them on the wing. I had a
Coopers hen take a roller sitting less than three feet from my head on the roof of the kit loft. I
have only lost a few rollers to the falcons. The Coopers are the worst. They are now catching the
Voutes in flight. They never caught one on the wing untill the last few months. I had lost a couple
of young Voutes that had landed on a house or a tree in the area. They can't catch the Voutes on the
dive. I have watched the Voutes avoid the Peregrine on the dive. I do believe that if the falcon was
to come down on the Voutes in flight he would be meat. The only thing different this year is that I
have been training and resettling birds this year. That and the Coopers seems to have spent a lot
of time sitting in the trees "observing/learing my birds. Could it be that there are different
varieties of Red Tail Hawks? There has to be a good reason one in my area can't catch any fly
pigeon on wing and the someone else have to get rid of his birds or let the hawks eat them all.
I still am of the opinion that we ought to go on a campaign to eradicate all birds of prey. We pay
a hell of a lot more taxes than the hawk so why should we have to pay to protect them so they
can kill our pigeons?
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

That's right Osprey eat fish and they catch them on the wing right off the
surface of the water. Mike.
"EddieM" <eddie.g.m04.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:VPIWd.4584$C47.3431@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
>
> > Mike D." <mikdan7.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote
> >
> >
> > We are in New Jersey located one mile away from New York City. We have
been
> > having lots of problems with hawks the last ten years or so. Earlier
this
> > winter, my neighbor came to my door telling me that a hawk had a pigeon
on
> > the ground in his yard, and it might be one of ours, so I went outside
into
> > his yard and found a seagull laying face down in the snow. There was
some
> > blood and feathers, but the seagull got up to his feet and tried to take
> > off. The gull was too severely injured to fly, so I left him in my yard
and
> > returned to my ( it was lunchtime) at my workplace across town. I
returned
> > home that evening and went outside with a flashlight and found the gull
> > still on the ground, but now he was in my other neighbor's yard. He
clearly
> > was unable to get himself airborne.
> > I caught the gull with a towel and gloves, and placed him in a plastic
> > doghouse I had in my yard, and placed a screen of turkey wire from a
piece
> > of my old coop aviary. I kept the gull in the doghouse like that for
six
> > days, feeding him catfood and bread and water. After about five days I
> > started opening the entrance to allow the gull to leave. He didn't
venture
> > out of the doghouse for a couple days, and finally on the sixth
afternoon,
> > he came out, stretched his wingsa a bit, and went aloft. He flew about
a
> > hundred yards up to a train parked on the railroad tracks near my house,
and
> > stayed on top of the train for about twenty minutes. Then he took off,
and I
> > like to think he might have survived. Mike.
>
>
>
> We don't have hawks where I'm at, we have Osprey. Yet I don't see them
> feasting on pidgeons.
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

That's what these hawks are doing. They wait in a tree over the coop,
usually about a hundred feet or more away, and fifty feet up, then when a
pigeon lands on the coop or the ground around the coop, they swiftly glide
down onto the bird. The red tailed hawk is large and it quickly overpowers
the pigeon, but the cooper's hawk is another story, in which the pigeon has
somewhat of a fighting chance. T Cooper's Hawk could never have tackled the
sea gull that this red tailed hawk was killing. I wish I could find my
pellet gun, I would b waiting for the hawk LOL. I ain't kidding though.....I
am fed up with this raptor. Mike.
"Onorio Catenacci" <Nospam.TakeThisOut@Nospam.Noway> wrote in message
news:LOqdnYBX5e602bPfRVn-vw@wideopenwest.com...
> Mike D. wrote:
> > I saw the hawk and it was a red tailed hawk. There are two of them
> > frequenting our yard this winter. Gulls are fairly large and very
durable,
> > so hopefully the one I rhabbed made a full medical recovery. Mike.
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> I inquired about Red Tails to a falconer once. He said Red Tails don't
> usually bother pigeons because they don't usually take prey from the
> air. They seem to prefer to swoop down on prey that's on the ground.
>
> I have a pair of Red Tails that nest near my loft. I think it's
> actually a good thing cause they don't bother my pigeons and they will
> keep other raptors away as far as I know.
>
> --
> Onorio Catenacci
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

We just had, I'm assuming, one of the pair of our resident red tails
that I was so happy to have because the afore mentioned reason of
keeping other birds away, hit one of our young birds in the air. Now
granted this bird was not very old, and probably wasn't paying any
attention, and wasn't all that efficient at flying yet. But I guess
the point is that the red tail made the attempt, and then I couldn't
get him to go away after that for like 2 weeks. My wife ran him off of
the bird, she thought it was a cat that got the pigeon the way he was
rolling on the ground with it, bird survived and will hopefully be one
of our "hawk spotters". I can empathize with mike though, he made 3
other passes that we saw that night over the loft, and who knows how
many that we didn't see. Then I would run him out of the trees over my
loft for a couple weeks, very frustrating. We've started letting the
birds out again, and I guess they'll just eventually figure out that
they are faster than these hawks, or the ones that aren't will be
naturally culled out.


p.s. Also in regards to red tails and pigeons, those two famous ones
Pale Male and whatever the female's name is, have made quite a
"killing" off New York pigeons.
~Mickey
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

At two of the lakes I fish at there are resident Osprey. It is something to watch
one of those big birds soar over the water and then dive down and catch a bigger
large mouth bass than I have all day. :-)
tonyf
If you are gunning for a bird of prey you better watch out for the man. A friend
of mine paid a $10,000.00 fine and had five years probation. He had never had
as much as a speeding ticket.
tonyf



On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 21:38:26 -0800, "Mike D." <mikdan7.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:
>That's right Osprey eat fish and they catch them on the wing right off the
>surface of the water. Mike.
>"EddieM" <eddie.g.m04.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:VPIWd.4584$C47.3431@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
>>
>> > Mike D." <mikdan7.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote
>> >
>> >
>> > We are in New Jersey located one mile away from New York City. We have
>been
>> > having lots of problems with hawks the last ten years or so. Earlier
>this
>> > winter, my neighbor came to my door telling me that a hawk had a pigeon
>on
>> > the ground in his yard, and it might be one of ours, so I went outside
>into
>> > his yard and found a seagull laying face down in the snow. There was
>some
>> > blood and feathers, but the seagull got up to his feet and tried to take
>> > off. The gull was too severely injured to fly, so I left him in my yard
>and
>> > returned to my ( it was lunchtime) at my workplace across town. I
>returned
>> > home that evening and went outside with a flashlight and found the gull
>> > still on the ground, but now he was in my other neighbor's yard. He
>clearly
>> > was unable to get himself airborne.
>> > I caught the gull with a towel and gloves, and placed him in a plastic
>> > doghouse I had in my yard, and placed a screen of turkey wire from a
>piece
>> > of my old coop aviary. I kept the gull in the doghouse like that for
>six
>> > days, feeding him catfood and bread and water. After about five days I
>> > started opening the entrance to allow the gull to leave. He didn't
>venture
>> > out of the doghouse for a couple days, and finally on the sixth
>afternoon,
>> > he came out, stretched his wingsa a bit, and went aloft. He flew about
>a
>> > hundred yards up to a train parked on the railroad tracks near my house,
>and
>> > stayed on top of the train for about twenty minutes. Then he took off,
>and I
>> > like to think he might have survived. Mike.
>>
>>
>>
>> We don't have hawks where I'm at, we have Osprey. Yet I don't see them
>> feasting on pidgeons.
>>
>>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

> E-Man wrote
>
>
>
>
>
> Falcons can catch pigeons at will. Coopers and sharpies have to be a
> little stealthy. I have had GOS get them like a coop, AND out of the
> air. I have seen a red-tail chase a roller across open space and sky,
> and catch it. But they do better when catching them unaware or low and
> slow. They all have more trouble catching racers than rollers.
> E-Man


At one time, I had one of those rare moments of wishful thinking fancying
about things I wish I had. I was fascinated with falcons after watching them
in Discovery Channel being showcase in some sort of informal documentary
demonstrating what an awesome fyers they are. They fly high and soar so
fast that the camera men actually caught them singly clubbed a pigeon to
death mid-air and then turnaround and flew back to grab the lifeless body of
that pigeon as it falls spinning down from the sky with their claws . So then
in my flight of fancy, I begun entertaining the thought what it might be to
have them as a bird of pet. To love 'em to death and just give 'em
everything they ask for in life including a handsome coop big enough for a
table or two.

The problem of course is that I always love pigeons, and in that fantasy I
had above, I would have several of them strutting themselves in my mind as
a side show. I actually had it built that their coops would be sitting side
by side and back to back, and seeing the falcon swaggering next door in
a pompous gait all day long. Somewhere along then and no sooner, I came
to realize that there were some serious problems with these ideas flowing
out of my head.
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 05:54:29 GMT, "EddieM" <eddie.g.m04 DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

>> E-Man wrote
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Falcons can catch pigeons at will. Coopers and sharpies have to be a
>> little stealthy. I have had GOS get them like a coop, AND out of the
>> air. I have seen a red-tail chase a roller across open space and sky,
>> and catch it. But they do better when catching them unaware or low and
>> slow. They all have more trouble catching racers than rollers.
>> E-Man
>
>
>At one time, I had one of those rare moments of wishful thinking fancying
>about things I wish I had. I was fascinated with falcons after watching them
>in Discovery Channel being showcase in some sort of informal documentary
>demonstrating what an awesome fyers they are. They fly high and soar so
>fast that the camera men actually caught them singly clubbed a pigeon to
>death mid-air and then turnaround and flew back to grab the lifeless body of
>that pigeon as it falls spinning down from the sky with their claws . So then
>in my flight of fancy, I begun entertaining the thought what it might be to
>have them as a bird of pet. To love 'em to death and just give 'em
>everything they ask for in life including a handsome coop big enough for a
>table or two.
>
>The problem of course is that I always love pigeons, and in that fantasy I
>had above, I would have several of them strutting themselves in my mind as
>a side show. I actually had it built that their coops would be sitting side
>by side and back to back, and seeing the falcon swaggering next door in
>a pompous gait all day long. Somewhere along then and no sooner, I came
>to realize that there were some serious problems with these ideas flowing
>out of my head.
>
>
I have a friend in Marietta, GA that raises birds of prey. He also raises pigeons.
There was a roller guy a couple of miles from me that also raised hawks. There
was an old guy at the racing club years ago that had a Red Tail Hawk. Most of
the time it sat on a t-post in the yard about thirty feet from his pigeon loft. As
far as I know he never had any problems with his arrangement. Maybe you
need to smooth some of the sharp edges from your fantasy to make it more plausible.
tonyf
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

>Tony wrote
>
>
>
> I have a friend in Marietta, GA that raises birds of prey. He also raises
> pigeons. There was a roller guy a couple of miles from me that also
> raised hawks. There was an old guy at the racing club years ago that
> had a Red Tail Hawk.

What entrance me about falcons is the fact that they will tuck their wings to
their chest while soaring up in the air then dive and literally turn
themselves into a speeding bullet and clobber a pigeon to death using
their torso in a single act.

That's an awesome instinct. The alternative to mishaps and injuries to
their body and senses could be a plummeting death.


> Most of the time it sat on a t-post in the yard about thirty feet from his
> pigeon loft. As far as I know he never had any problems with his
> arrangement.

I bet though they have string tied to their legs. What if the falcon happen
to attract mates and others of his ilk and thereby seeing the pigeons
around near and mistake them for little hotdogs prancing around, babbling
their heads in flock ?


> Maybe you need to smooth some of the sharp edges from your fantasy to
> make it more plausible.
> tonyf

You appear to be lacking in sense of humor.
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk 

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 06:53:03 GMT, "EddieM" <eddie.g.m04.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>Tony wrote
>>
>>
>>
>> I have a friend in Marietta, GA that raises birds of prey. He also raises
>> pigeons. There was a roller guy a couple of miles from me that also
>> raised hawks. There was an old guy at the racing club years ago that
>> had a Red Tail Hawk.
>
>What entrance me about falcons is the fact that they will tuck their wings to
>their chest while soaring up in the air then dive and literally turn
>themselves into a speeding bullet and clobber a pigeon to death using
>their torso in a single act.
A friend of mine in Chicago saw a falcon and one of his Greek Voutes fly
into each other head to head. He said it was like they didn't see each other.
He said by the time he got the pigeon was taking to the air again, the falcon
was laying in someone's back yard dead and he left it there. What is funny is that
the Greek Voutes dive just like the falcon. They will go up into the clouds out of
site and when the cue is given the dive exactly like the falcon and doesn't pull
out untill they are within a couple of feet of the ground. Pretty amazing to watch.
>That's an awesome instinct. The alternative to mishaps and injuries to
>their body and senses could be a plummeting death.
>
>
>> Most of the time it sat on a t-post in the yard about thirty feet from his
>> pigeon loft. As far as I know he never had any problems with his
>> arrangement.
>
>I bet though they have string tied to their legs. What if the falcon happen
>to attract mates and others of his ilk and thereby seeing the pigeons
>around near and mistake them for little hotdogs prancing around, babbling
>their heads in flock ?

I think you are right, they tether the hawks to their roost. I asked old man Mercer
about the Red Tail in the yard by his racer loft. He told me that they didn't pay any
attention to the hawk and that he never saw another hawk around his.

>
>> Maybe you need to smooth some of the sharp edges from your fantasy to
>> make it more plausible.
>> tonyf
>
>You appear to be lacking in sense of humor.
>
Oh, contraire Mon pair, if you have lost as many good to great pigeons to the
birds of prey that I have and still be able to talk about it.........well I've got
a lot better sense of humor than you could imagine. You appear to lack the
intelligence to understand the relationship between the pigeon and the bird
of prey or the heartbreak of seeing one of your favorites get taken away
after a year or two of time consuming training. If you are joking then make
it clear. If you are asking serious questions then ask. This isn't gospel, it is
just the way it has worked out for me.
tonyf
 >> Stay informed about: Hawk