Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Hawks stealing fish?

I can see my pond out of my office window and I keep seeing a couple of hawks dive bombing my pond and coming up with my bluegill and flying off - any remedy or it just "is what it is" -

would some fake owls around the pond scare them off?

What kind of hawk do you figure ? Osprey?

If our Osprey only took BG, I'd be thrilled.

I am not sure - I will get a better look next time I see them - could be an osprey - he was a pretty big bird

We've got some big red tail hawks in our neighborhood, but I've never seen them do anything with our pond.

Every time I have seen an osprey taking fish in the spring, a little more observation time revealed TWO osprey taking fish.

If they are building a nest near your pond, then they are going to be taking more fish in the future while they nurture their young.

If you see them starting to build an eyrie, perhaps you can induce them to move by throwing a tennis ball in the treetop, etc.

I would check the Texas rules and regulations to determine what is permissible as regards "discouraging" raptors ... and strictly follow those rules.

Personally, I would want them to breed, but not at my pond so I would try to legally get them to move prior to building a nest.

If they are already on the nest, then I would try to get some cool wildlife pics of them taking fish and posting them on Pond Boss. If life hands you lemons ...

so putting some fake Owls out will not bother them? Internet says it can deter hawks because owls are territorial - maybe worth a try

Worth a try unless the decoy owls are costly. Reminds me of one of the 'Harry Bosch' books where he spots a decoy owl at a crime scene.

they are not expensive - will give it a try and report back

Like others, I am doubtful that it is a hawk, more likely an osprey or even an immature bald eagle that doesn't have the distinct markings yet, I don't expect that an owl will be much of a deterrent to either one. I may be wrong tho, Good Luck!

We have a few Redtail Hawks and Cooper's Hawks that live in the middle of our city.

I have seen a Cooper's sitting on the top corner of a billboard. There was a plastic Great Horned Owl "sitting" on the other corner.

I think the owl was sufficient to keep pigeons off of the billboard. I also think the hawk was smart enough or observant enough to figure out that the owl was fake.

Like you say, the fake owls are not expensive. However, you might need to rig it to somehow move. Either rotate or bob up and down in the wind to hopefully scare the ospreys enough to encourage them to move on to the next tasty fishery.

Mrs. Augie put a fake owl on the garden fence a few years back.
I moved it once and got stung on nearly every square inch of my body by the 10,000,000 red wasps that lived inside.

I had an Osprey visit my pond last year for about a month. I could be on the pier and it would grab a fish out of the pond not 50 feet from me. I don't mind feeding it or it's family. Had a mature Bald Eagle here too, sitting in a tree over the road eating a fish. All the neighbors came by to take it's picture.

Now Great Blue Herons on the other hand? I have no tolerance for them.

I don’t mind any bird eating fish except cormorants….they cheat by diving…..

Can't somebody train the ospreys and bald eagles to prey on cormorants?

They probably taste like fish, so it shouldn't be too hard!

I had some birds (presumably ospreys) catching fish when the feeder was going off. Ultimately, I changed the time the feeder went off to a different time frame and that seemed to make a difference.

I'm pretty much the same. I've thought about getting a drone to aggravate fish eating birds, but I can't figure out how to get one to play the Ride of the Valkyries while it's doing so.

Probably need a stand-off chopper with huge speakers!

That's not a bad idea. Playing cards hitting the drone propellers is probably no bueno.

I had a GBH that used to show up at my dock just before the feeder went off. It would flop down in the water when the feeder went off getting a fish right off. Then an extremely clumsy water take off with fish in tow. I had never seen a GBH take a fish in deep water before but this one got the technique down. Changed feeder times and didn't notice it on the dock any more.