Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Red-tailed Hawks

A question for anyone here....

Are you seeing as many Red-tailed Hawks as you've seen in previous years, at your residence, or at your pond?

I ask because in my neighborhood, for the past 15/16 years, there were always at least 2-3 Red-tailed Hawks that you would see, with just a little observation time. My neighborhood is largely unpopulated, so there's plenty of habitat for the birds, wildlife, etc.

Now, I've gone as much as a month or so without seeing any.

I'm just wondering if anyone is experiencing the same.

Unfortunately I'm seeing plenty of them.

They been chasing ducks on my pond in the past, to the point I'm hardly seeing ducks on my pond anymore, had one nest of ducklings hatch out last spring and the male was gone from that hatch, the female was raising them for awhile by herself then they disappeared too.

Sunil, do you have any owls around there? They're one of the few predators, and they do hit hawks at night. Also, we quit seeing ours for a few weeks after their juvenile hawks leave the nest.

Yes, we have owls here, as we've always had, so I don't know if that's the sole cause.

I do think owls hang around my house at night as I've found things like the head of a rabbit behind my house, and recently, a massive bird crap dump on my car, which is parked right behind my house; this dump was so big that I can't imagine how it happened unless there was some kind of brutal struggle.

Any wind turbines nearby?

I see plenty here , ospreys and bald eagles...but im a little further north in ontario. The bald eagles keep most of the others off my lake - the hawks and owls spend most of their time in the oak trees hammering chipmunks and bluejays.

Interesting enough I watched a chipmunk chowing down on a garter snake and then dragged it down its hole.

Cheers

No, no wind turbines close by, but I appreciate the thought.

We do have west nile virus in our partridge and crows, not sure if it affects hawks. And the avian flu hammered our waterfowl population over the last 3 years - again not sure how that affects things.

I think we have had the normal number of hawks, redtail and otherwise, this year.

We've seen less of the osprey(s) and bald eagle(s) around the ponds, but I suspect it has been easier for them to get fish in the creeks that were drying up during the drought this Summer.

I have two pairs of red-tailed hawks at my farm. They like to scream at me from high above while I am working - even when I am not anywhere near their nests.

I have been serenaded this fall, but I didn't look up enough to see if I still have all four, or just a pair.

P.S. I do have a breeding pair of Great Horned owls on the farm, and I have actually gotten their young on game cameras when they first started flying. I also have barred owls on the farm, but have never found a nesting tree, so I don't know if I have a breeding pair.

It is not a safe neighborhood to be a rabbit at my farm!

We have an abundance here in NW Oklahoma. They are thinning out the wife's chickens, which is fine with me, too expensive to feed with winter coming on they don't have much to eat and not laying many eggs. lol

I put a fake owl on a fence post by my pond. Looking out of my window yesterday and see a hawk sitting a fence post right next to the fake owl. He looked at the owl for a bit and then took off and hammered the owl and knocked it off of the post - pretty funny to watch

The crows gang up on any owls they find at my farm.

I have observed this most often right at the crack of dawn. I assume the owls stayed on the hunt a little too long, or the crows caught them on the ground eating a kill?

I have never seen any of our various hawks going after the owls.

However, I am pretty sure that the red-tails that will scream at me for an hour straight, would almost certainly be brave enough to attack a stationary owl on a fence post.

We have the usual amount here, and a lot of crows to pester them.

When I brush hog the fields, sometimes the hawks come in to catch the fleeing mice. I find that if I don’t look the hawks in the eye, I can observe them very closely. Close enough to hear the mouse squeak before it gets its head bitten.

As an aside, we have a few northern harriers in our area. While the crows go after hawks with confidence, they are clearly scared to death of harriers. A very different squawk from the crows when a harrier shows up. From what I understand, harriers like crows for breakfast.

I appreciate all the feedback.

Still not seeing any Red-tailed Hawks. I'm not sure there's been any changes such as the presence of more owls, etc.

Maybe there have not been any changes at all, Sunil.

I think my red-tails are very territorial. I assume if they even die just of old age, then it will take a while (later next spring?) for a new pair to move in to your inviting open territory.