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I can understand this upsets some people. If your bird feeder is being frequented by a hawk every day and ruining the bird-feeding experience for both you and the little birds, the best thing to do is to take the feeder down for a week or so. When the hawk realizes the "watering hole" has dried up, it will move on to another area. As soon as you put the feeders back up, the smaller birds will return to the yard right away.
Just about everybody with a bird feeder sees them sooner or later: those clumps of feathers strewn nearby like leftovers from an old-fashioned pillow fight.
The response is to cringe in recognition: A hawk must have nailed a small bird while it was trying to grab a meal on a cold winter's day.
The cringe is typically accompanied by a twinge: You are somehow complicit in this carnage. After all, you're the one who put out the feeder in the first place.
When a pair of the squirrels scooted up a nearby tree, things got testy, in an adversarial kind of way. Perched on a thin limb that gave it a great vantage point to observe the goings-on at the feeder was a meat-eater, a predator, a Cooper's hawk.
"Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks pose a real ID challenge, even for longtime birders. Throughout the year, there is great variation in plumage and in size for these two species. They look so much alike that no single field mark stands out to help bird watchers easily tell one from the other."
I don’t think a passing bald eagle or even an infrequently soaring hawk would cause birds to shy away from feeding areas for any length of time. A sudden local shortage of birds can result from a frequent, unwelcome visit from a resident hawk. When a sharp-shinned or Cooper’s hawk appears on the scene, birds appear to “freeze” without any movement and can remain motionless for as long as a half-hour.
Excellent article about raptors.
Raptors – hawks, eagles, owls and falcons – are one of more common yet least known wildlife inhabitants of Falls Church City. The Cooper’s hawk and its smaller cousin, the Sharp-shinned hawk, are occasionally seen hanging out near bird feeders in our suburban back yards.
This is an interesting article about another predator for small birds. Watch for them at your bird feeder.
Short-tailed shrews are abundant and widespread in the Eastern U.S. They inhabit both deciduous and coniferous forests as well as old fields, thickets and hay fields. Their only habitat requirement seems to be a thick layer of leaf litter that keeps the surface of the ground moist. The thick mat of sunflower hulls under feeders certainly qualifies.
The Hammonasset autumn tour season is concluded but Connecticut River eagle watches are scheduled for Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, 12, 19 and 26.
Bird Watchers Scan Skies, Trees, And Long Island Sound For Rare Bird Species
Cooper's hawk 0 Songbirds 1. Read about an entertaining visit by a Cooper's hawk trying to get the songbirds to come out of hiding.
There was a big Cooper's hawk on the fence right above the star jasmine bush. He knew there were a bunch of birds in there but couldn't flush them out. He tried his best though.
