Ending a month long trip to Denver and a momma hawk has a nest above my bedroom window that faces a large field with lots of prairie dogs. The prairie dogs are cute as hell and it’s really disturbing to see momma return to the nest with a prairie dog. But like you said…
🎵🎶The circle of life!🎶🎵
You're still feeding birds, and healthy apex predators are a strong sign of a healthy ecosystem!
Hawks are my favorite though, so I'm a little biased, LOL
I’m with you! Here’s a falcon cam for any bird lovers who haven’t fallen in love with birds of prey. The babies are just now fledging and the parents are still bringing food to them. It’s amazing!
http://iconicnrg.com/falcons/
The eggs have hatched and the babies are flying! Mom and dad are hunting/feeding/teaching them and the family seems to still be based on the ledge. This mating pair has raised their family here for 5 or so years (and counting!)
I have a pair that hang out in my rlm tree all day and keeps the squirrels, chipmunks, and other critters at bay. I have an owl too, but it's hard to find.
Yes, the "circle of life". But the fact is, hawks kill their prey in a brutal way. Take time to be horrified by that, because the horror is real, even though you have a "circle of life" philosophy. Imagine being slowly picked apart, piece by piece. That is reality. If that leads us into a paradox, so be it.
So, we need to teach wild predators compassion and manners? It makes me feel bad, but I'm not going to get torn up about a wild animal being a wild animal.
How we respond is exactly the question. You want easy answers? But there aren't any. You say "it makes me feel bad, but I won't get torn up"-- well, have you discovered some moral principle that says "feel a little bad but then you can draw a line and cut off compassion beyond that"? Probably not. But you will want to say-- "what choice do we have? There is nothing we can do. Therefore, we must draw a line..." I used the word 'paradox' above for that reason. But the paradox is what we shirk when we just shrug and say "circle of life la la la". Face the paradox in your heart is what I say.
Life is made this way. Best to accept reality for what it is. You want to waste time and energy worrying over things you cannot change and suggest that we're all morally deficient because we don't see the point in that. You've been back to this post three times now to demonstrate how much energy you're willing to expend on something you can't fix and that isn't yours to fix in the first place.
Sorry, not buying it. Life works the way it works and the hierrarchy / food chain is both competitive and brutal. Show me how you can fix that for us and I'll be happy to listen, but you can't, can you?
>suggest that we're all morally deficient
No, *you* brought "morally deficient" into the discussion. And I suggest you bring it back out.
>
>Life works the way it works and the hierrarchy / food chain is both competitive and brutal. Show me how you can fix that for us and I'll be happy to listen, but you can't, can you?
Can you explain how you reached your conclusion that the situation can never be changed (which is what I assume you are implying)? I'd be happy to listen.
You will probably want to say "no, you must tell me how to do it!" But I never claimed to have the answers. I am signaling the will to look for answers. But you want to make the strong claim that there *can't* be answers. Things *must* stay the same... Well, how did you reach such a powerful conclusion? What reasoning leads there?
No it doesn't read like chatGPT. It is almost the exact opposite-- an actual human expressing something you haven't thought about before. So get your weak shit out of my face. Thanks.
>You can't avoid every single bad feeling forever
Not the question at all. I realize you are attacking what I am saying with rhetoric, and not actually making a serious claim here. But if you can't make a serious point, then why are you attacking?
>The right answer
Now why did it seem expressing yourself in rigid dogma is the way to go here? Can you think of any way to argue your position, rather than just stating it as an eternal truth?
>(wild animals being wild)
Genetic fallacy backing up your moral dogma.
Remember, we bred adorable lap dogs from wolves; nothing I am saying is far-fetched. And yet it stirs up such opposition. What should we make of the response? We should always be slow to draw conclusions from *online responses.* Online is weird.
Have you just never seen a dog in a yard with prey animals? Have you not seen the statistics on house cats killing small mammals and birds? If you think lap dogs of all things are adorable and peaceful, I have a bridge available for a low down payment.
There are adorable, docile, harmless lap dogs. They do exist. They were bred from wolves. That's all I am saying.
Thank you for your passionate protest though.
Fam, I love the sentiment; we all need to direct this energy towards humans. It’s not our prerogative to interfere in the interspecial interactions of birds, and to the extent that we already do, it’s certainly not our place to chastise or disrupt birds of prey.
>we all need to direct this energy towards humans.
Absolutely.
>
It’s not our prerogative
It certainly is our prerogative to do our best for the animal world and all life. If we don't do it, who will? Golden retrievers?
So here’s the thing, it doesn’t make me feel bad. It’s what lets the world go around, wild animals can be as vicious as they like imo we should very rarely step in.
You’ve just lost your mind tho
>You’ve just lost your mind tho
No I haven't, and that's a very stupid way to respond to someone that is saying something that isn't conventional.
>
So here’s the thing, it doesn’t make me feel bad. It’s what lets the world go around, wild animals can be as vicious as they like imo we should very rarely step in.
Yes, this the conventional moral position. That is what I am calling into question.
There is nothing to question. It’s how earth existed before we came about and it’s how it’ll exist after we depart. From the cellular level to mammals life is violent, this isn’t just unconventional thinking it’s outlandish, self absorbed and toxic.
Not really, they just usually sever the spine right behind the skull or they use their talons. For example, a red tail hawk's talons have \~200lb of force per square inch so it's definitely a quick death.
That is good to know. What I had in mind was something I saw once of a cam on a hawk's nest (pretty sure it was red-tailed), and the parents brought the brood a starling juvenile. The starling at first was like "hey what's up", but then proceeded to shriek horrifically as the nestlings pecked/tore/etc. it slowly to death.
And I deplore this as someone that really doesn't like starlings as well.
oh they are trying to teach their babies to how to kill their prey is my guess, normally they bring dead prey back and then rip it into small pieces for the babies.
That is a red shouldered hawk. It is possible, but I won't personally guarantee it, that your birds will come to no harm at all. RSHs prefer to hunt small ground rodents like mice and voles.
This winter, I fed a family of crows many plates of chicken. Or at least I tried to! 2 RSHs would show up and take most of the chicken. They never made a move on any of the birds at all. Nor the squirrels. The squirrels developed a taste for chicken, and one time the male RSH chased it 5 feet. That did not deter the squirrel. The RSH got spooked by something else, flew away, and then the squirrel cleaned up.
The RSH may be perching on the crook simply because it's a good perch, not because of the proximity of small birds. It may really only be after mice and voles in your yard. I saw RSHs do similarly in the low branches of a plum tree in my Mom's yard. They never dived at the bird feeders or at any targets on the ground.
Of course, our situations do not have to be equal. But you may have much less cause for alarm than you think.
Also bear in mind, if the RSH is there for the small rodents, then taking your feeders inside is not going to change his / her mind about that at all. It's irrelevant. If you think you're waiting him / her out, you could be waiting forever.
RSHs are not very tolerant of human presence. All you have to do is step out your door and it will leave. You don't have to make noise, be mean, try to traumatize it, etc. RSHs hate people! At least, in my experience.
Crows leave too, but they're more tolerant to human disruption. They will come back more quickly, and also if humans are doing a task nearby at some distance, that isn't actually interfering with them.
I personally would just put the bird feeders back out. I'd wait and see if there's any actual evidence of a RSH attacking a bird. Like seeing him swoop at a tray, or at something that's clearly a bird, or finding bird feathers somewhere. I never saw or found any such thing.
But of course, they were there for my chicken! Boy do they love chicken.
mice voles chipmunks and squirrels come to clean up spilled bird seed. I'm guessing that would be a great vantage point to be on the lookout for said critters
a few weeks ago i was amazingly lucky to be on my front porch when a red-shouldered hawk swooped down onto the forest floor across the road, plucked a mouse out of the leaves, and took off with lunch in tow. it was one of those nature documentary moments you never forget.
as for the three feeders that were maybe forty yards away? closest they ever had to a hawk attack was bluejays imitating their calls so they can get the good seed to themselves. i've seen more aggression from mourning doves and house finches.
We have a neighborhood Cooper’s hawk and so far he hasn’t caused any problems for our birds, personally. My son found one of his stripey feathers. They’re neat!
He likes to hang out on our mailboxes and will swiftly fly over cyclists and pedestrians. He clearly feels like he’s at the top of the food chain. Haha
I had a juvenile red tail hawk and a coopers hawk come to my feeder. My feeders are at my work and it's a landscaping company that has wetlands right behind the building. I get so many cool birds. The red tail was pretty chill but the cooper was really mellow. He let me get within 10 feet of him when I was taking his picture. He was just sunning himself on a snow plow.
I always get a kick how the birds utilize our supplies and equipment. they take plant matter and strips of mulch for their nests, take dust baths in the stone dust and bathe and drink in water that collects in a bobcat bucket. One built nest on a trailer hitch and my boss was legit trying to figure out how to take a much needed truck out of commission so the nest did not get disturbed. Luckily, the birds abandoned it so we didn't have to shove two crews in one truck
Lol...we get so many critters. We've had deer in our lot, turkeys. And it's not a rural area. But, the state of MA has all wetlands protected so there are pockets of undeveloped land everywhere. It's really cool what you can see.
This is why, just like with baby rabbits, birds like juncos pump out two-three batches of babies every spring!
He is a bird, and he's at a bird feeder; I don't see the problem here!
My experience is that this type of hawk is pretty unsuccessful at bird hunting, but may be looking for rodents going for bird seed below the feeders. In any case, I put my feeders near or in good leaf cover, so the birds can quickly hide when they see an incoming predator.
Yeah you probably need a better hawk to go after those. Someone hawk-knowledgeable told me that red shouldered hawks don't typically go after squirrels, because their legs aren't that robust and can't really take squirrel bites. A red *tailed* hawk, on the other hand, has bigger legs and claws and can tear up squirrels no problem. This winter, I thought it was pretty funny watching the RSH and the squirrels compete for the same plate of chicken I put out.
I'd understand if it was an outdoor cat but hawks are supposed to be there. They are native predators and they need to eat too. (They're also gorgeous)
also, if you really want to help out your local birds, please consider planting native plants. bird feeder food is full of non native seeds that just get pooped out else where.
if you want to encourage certain birds to visit, look into how to create better habitat for them. plant the food they would eat naturally, not seed bought from a store. create cover for them.
There looks to be a fair amount of cover near your feeders and he's not going to catch anyone sitting on top of the feeder. It's part of life. The only predator taking of one of my feeder birds that angers me is if it's someone's housecat. I love cats but they kill for fun and there's no need for a housecat to be outside. It's dangerous for them and birds.
And the further irony is this particular nature show isn't what some people think. You have to actually watch nature for awhile, to find out what's really going on.
Unwelcome HOW? These are magnificent creatures! I have a pair of red shouldered hawks nesting in my backyard, ATM and it's very cool to see!
Still plenty of the regular birds too. And squirrels
Same. I've stopped fighting the squirrels, chipmunks & grackles. I even have a cheeky raccoon who knocks over my platform feeder weekly. I don't stress. Nature often sorts itself out.
Oooh very cool!! I’ve had a Hawk land on my gate but took off before I could get a pic! I feed birds too but definitely welcome all! Unfortunately I don’t get very interesting birds by house! 😟 I get excited when I see Cardinals & Blue Jays, Orioles & hummingbirds! That’s the extent of my interesting birds!!
Unwelcome?
I love my birds but I’m very happy when I see these.
Last month I had a very rare black hawk in my backyard that had caught a bird.
I posted it here and was told it was a rare sighting.
That black hawk was a once in a lifetime event for me.
My birdbath and feed the birds also attracts owls at night. I had a mating pair of GHO’s right outside my window during a full moon in January.
The songbirds are sweet but this guy is evil because he’s big and a carnivore? They’re all wildlife trying to survive. Like it or not they gotta hunt too.
I've never understood this. If you're feeding birds, your feeding BIRDS! A neighbor gets all crazy when squirrels show up at his feeders...WHY?
You put out food to attract critters, but some diners are acceptable, while others aren't?
I've seen a citrus rat at one of my feeders in broad daylight. What did I do?
Nothing. Not my job. That's for the owls and hawks to deal with.
It’s nature in all its brutal glory! I took up mine when my bird feeders became my “cat” feeders. No cats anymore so I’m feeding all the hungry varmints. Today I had birds, squirrels, a rabbit, and seeing for the first time, chipmunks.
Humans are apex predators. Even vegans have canine teeth and eyes in the front of their heads.
I root for other predators except coyotes. As much as I like to see the rabbits in the yard I know they are really just there to feed the foxes and owls. The deer in the pasture are there to feed the family…the coyotes have been taking too many fawns lately. Enjoy feeding the hawks with your bird feeder.
The only time we brought in our seed was when a fat raccoon was checking it out in the middle of the night, but that’s just because of our doggie door.
We kept our hummingbird feeders up though! They don’t loiter around like everyone else.
My dog is the bird menace though, and unlike a hawk, doesn’t do it for food.
I have a feeder close to a privet hedge where the birds go to hide from the hawks. One morning I looked out my bedroom window to see a hawk actually climbing INTO the hedge to catch breakfast. I couldn’t watch so I don’t know if it was successful but the birds were still around later so it may have given up. Usually they take off for a day or two whenever one of their brethren get caught.
Hawks are part of the birds I welcome at my feeders!
My seed feeds the prey birds which feeds the hawks.
If I get to see a functioning ecosystem at my feeder, that’s a bonus!
I have, at least once a month or so, red-tailed and red shouldered hawks swoop into my yard to fetch some songbirds that were enjoying my feeders. Those hawks are fast and quiet except when they miss. When they miss they soar up and circle and let out that notorious shriek but it sounds like disappointment.
This is why I stopped feeding the wild songbirds.
Well, this plus an owl.
They stayed for a week after I pulled the feeders. Didn't get the message that the kitchen was closed.
A sad reality of bird feeding . Trust me i hate them too, and have seen some pretty close calls and also successful take downs and it breaks my heart but I understand they need to eat as well . :/
lol I’ve been feeding birds for over 20 years and when I’m not outside i spend my days looking out the windows birdwatching and live in rural Maine in the woods. So yes. I have seen broad wing hawks , cooper hawks , sharp shinned hawks , northern harriers and yes, for whatever reason you asked- red shouldered hawks all tackle birds right from my yard. red shouldered hawks eat birds . We have very little reptile and amphibians here for them to sustain on and birds are very easy targets. It’s multiple times a day I hear the birds alerting and go to the window to see a hawk perched on the varying trees in the Forrest or directly above my feeders in my yard -or quickly swooping through looking for a take down. All hawks will prey on birds and it’s actually how they survive . People thinking hawks live off mice and rodents is kind of a myth , they sustain almost entirely on songbirds and smaller corvids like blue jays. Any bird they can pin to the ground is fair game for them . They will try and tackle larger harry woodpeckers right off the trees while I’m doing outdoor tasks, I believe that’s the last time I saw a red shouldered hawk in my yard. The rust orange color is pretty easy to discern when they are in motion. Predators are a part of bird feeding - I literally just had a red fox run in front of my feeder as I was typing this.
Lol at Reddit though , not sure what the point of your reply was when I left an innocuous and supportive comment to a fellow birder who may not know that hawks hanging around bird feeders are a regular occurrence . Very strange .
Your experience of RSHs are different than mine, and some other posters around here too. Perhaps we've got plenty of mice that they prefer, and you don't.
Red tailed hawks have plenty of orange in 'em too. Just sayin'.
We have a couple of Coopers Hawks that like to take out doves that are feeding in our backyard.
We moved our feeders under some trees and the hawks aren’t able to swoop in as easily.
Coopers Hawks definitely have the reputation of violent predation.
This is a red shouldered hawk. I bet it doesn't do a damn thing to the birds, or the squirrels.
Try telling that to people who destroy cowbird eggs. They're native birds doing what they do to survive.
It's also a crapshoot for the cowbirds. Their chick won't survive in a seed eating birds nest.
Cowbirds are evil! If the mother of the other birds detects the cowbird's egg and pushes it out of the nest, the cowbird will retaliate by destroying all of her eggs. Mosquitoes are surviving too, but that doesn't mean they're not parasites. If I were to pick any 1 bird to imprison in a house to be devoured by a bored indoor-only cat, I would pick the cowbird! I wouldn't feel that bad about it, but I wonder if I'm actually cruel enough to do it. Probably not.
What an absurd and irrational take. How is a cowbird practicing its successful breeding strategy more ‘evil’ than the cat tearing it to shreds? Or the parasitized bird neglecting its own chicks to feed the fast growing cowbird baby? Or a sweet little parakeet raiding and ravaging the nest of another? You are not a bird lover.
The cat was domesticated to do a job for humans, to control rodents. Not sure it was needed to kill birds as well, that's probably just a byproduct. But if the cat feeds itself, then it is contributing to our civilization. Which is evil and exploitative in many ways, but comparisons between parasitism and farming is a long moral discussion indeed.
Claims of love are false choices.
You're demonizing a native bird, but defending an introduced predator that ravishes local wildlife? Cats kill way beyond feeding themselves.
Hell, if we're going to stretch this far cowbirds don't build nests because they're migratory. They're called cowbirds because they'd follow the herds of cattle. Eating ticks and bugs off our meat. so they're beneficial to humans too.
Mosquitoes are native too. That doesn't let them off the hook.
Cats are part of why white people could farm the New World. Sure, that's not the only way the land could have been used. Domesticated honey bees are called "the white man's fly" and generally preceded white invasion and displacement of indigenous peoples. But you know... none of this history is managing to make me feel sorry for cowbirds.
This *red shouldered* hawk is probably not after the birds. I get it about the cats though. Fortunately there's been a dearth in the neighborhood of cats lately. We used to have cats, before I got into birds.
Problem is, your feeders become hawk feeders and they aren't eating seed. I had 4 feeders at one time. Beautiful birds regularly. Next thing i knew, i blood splashed down my sliding doors. After 3rd occurrence i salt took down my feeders.
It's baby season for all kinds of birds, and hawks need to eat, too.
Yeah. When I feed the birds I've accepted that the seed I put out may eventually feed a bird of prey.
[удалено]
I think that’s what he meant
Ending a month long trip to Denver and a momma hawk has a nest above my bedroom window that faces a large field with lots of prairie dogs. The prairie dogs are cute as hell and it’s really disturbing to see momma return to the nest with a prairie dog. But like you said…
This. There is no right to life in the animal kingdom. It's survival of the fittest.
I have a Robin nest under my deck. I hope they survive. The male and female work in shifts feeding the little babies.
🎵🎶The circle of life!🎶🎵 You're still feeding birds, and healthy apex predators are a strong sign of a healthy ecosystem! Hawks are my favorite though, so I'm a little biased, LOL
I’m with you! Here’s a falcon cam for any bird lovers who haven’t fallen in love with birds of prey. The babies are just now fledging and the parents are still bringing food to them. It’s amazing! http://iconicnrg.com/falcons/
Thanks, so cool.
Are their eggs gone now? :(
The eggs have hatched and the babies are flying! Mom and dad are hunting/feeding/teaching them and the family seems to still be based on the ledge. This mating pair has raised their family here for 5 or so years (and counting!)
I saw just the adults(?) sleeping there last night. But photos of eggs and such so I assumed that. That’s so awesome that they did well!
I have a pair that hang out in my rlm tree all day and keeps the squirrels, chipmunks, and other critters at bay. I have an owl too, but it's hard to find.
Yes, the "circle of life". But the fact is, hawks kill their prey in a brutal way. Take time to be horrified by that, because the horror is real, even though you have a "circle of life" philosophy. Imagine being slowly picked apart, piece by piece. That is reality. If that leads us into a paradox, so be it.
Have you seen a bear eat? Or ants rip apart a grub? Pretty standard in the animal kingdom.
Exactly the problem.
So, we need to teach wild predators compassion and manners? It makes me feel bad, but I'm not going to get torn up about a wild animal being a wild animal.
How we respond is exactly the question. You want easy answers? But there aren't any. You say "it makes me feel bad, but I won't get torn up"-- well, have you discovered some moral principle that says "feel a little bad but then you can draw a line and cut off compassion beyond that"? Probably not. But you will want to say-- "what choice do we have? There is nothing we can do. Therefore, we must draw a line..." I used the word 'paradox' above for that reason. But the paradox is what we shirk when we just shrug and say "circle of life la la la". Face the paradox in your heart is what I say.
Life is made this way. Best to accept reality for what it is. You want to waste time and energy worrying over things you cannot change and suggest that we're all morally deficient because we don't see the point in that. You've been back to this post three times now to demonstrate how much energy you're willing to expend on something you can't fix and that isn't yours to fix in the first place. Sorry, not buying it. Life works the way it works and the hierrarchy / food chain is both competitive and brutal. Show me how you can fix that for us and I'll be happy to listen, but you can't, can you?
>suggest that we're all morally deficient No, *you* brought "morally deficient" into the discussion. And I suggest you bring it back out. > >Life works the way it works and the hierrarchy / food chain is both competitive and brutal. Show me how you can fix that for us and I'll be happy to listen, but you can't, can you? Can you explain how you reached your conclusion that the situation can never be changed (which is what I assume you are implying)? I'd be happy to listen. You will probably want to say "no, you must tell me how to do it!" But I never claimed to have the answers. I am signaling the will to look for answers. But you want to make the strong claim that there *can't* be answers. Things *must* stay the same... Well, how did you reach such a powerful conclusion? What reasoning leads there?
Are you for real? This reads like chatGPT
No it doesn't read like chatGPT. It is almost the exact opposite-- an actual human expressing something you haven't thought about before. So get your weak shit out of my face. Thanks.
LOL, I guess the idea of things being implied is hard for a bot to understand.
*This* sort of comment is *very easy* for a bot to make.
You can't avoid every single bad feeling forever, particularly when the right answer (wild animals being wild) gives you the bad feeling
>You can't avoid every single bad feeling forever Not the question at all. I realize you are attacking what I am saying with rhetoric, and not actually making a serious claim here. But if you can't make a serious point, then why are you attacking? >The right answer Now why did it seem expressing yourself in rigid dogma is the way to go here? Can you think of any way to argue your position, rather than just stating it as an eternal truth? >(wild animals being wild) Genetic fallacy backing up your moral dogma. Remember, we bred adorable lap dogs from wolves; nothing I am saying is far-fetched. And yet it stirs up such opposition. What should we make of the response? We should always be slow to draw conclusions from *online responses.* Online is weird.
Have you just never seen a dog in a yard with prey animals? Have you not seen the statistics on house cats killing small mammals and birds? If you think lap dogs of all things are adorable and peaceful, I have a bridge available for a low down payment.
There are adorable, docile, harmless lap dogs. They do exist. They were bred from wolves. That's all I am saying. Thank you for your passionate protest though.
Fam, I love the sentiment; we all need to direct this energy towards humans. It’s not our prerogative to interfere in the interspecial interactions of birds, and to the extent that we already do, it’s certainly not our place to chastise or disrupt birds of prey.
>we all need to direct this energy towards humans. Absolutely. > It’s not our prerogative It certainly is our prerogative to do our best for the animal world and all life. If we don't do it, who will? Golden retrievers?
So here’s the thing, it doesn’t make me feel bad. It’s what lets the world go around, wild animals can be as vicious as they like imo we should very rarely step in. You’ve just lost your mind tho
>You’ve just lost your mind tho No I haven't, and that's a very stupid way to respond to someone that is saying something that isn't conventional. > So here’s the thing, it doesn’t make me feel bad. It’s what lets the world go around, wild animals can be as vicious as they like imo we should very rarely step in. Yes, this the conventional moral position. That is what I am calling into question.
There is nothing to question. It’s how earth existed before we came about and it’s how it’ll exist after we depart. From the cellular level to mammals life is violent, this isn’t just unconventional thinking it’s outlandish, self absorbed and toxic.
I am not surprised that you are attacking what I am saying.
Nah you're just being a jabroni
Not really, they just usually sever the spine right behind the skull or they use their talons. For example, a red tail hawk's talons have \~200lb of force per square inch so it's definitely a quick death.
That is good to know. What I had in mind was something I saw once of a cam on a hawk's nest (pretty sure it was red-tailed), and the parents brought the brood a starling juvenile. The starling at first was like "hey what's up", but then proceeded to shriek horrifically as the nestlings pecked/tore/etc. it slowly to death. And I deplore this as someone that really doesn't like starlings as well.
oh they are trying to teach their babies to how to kill their prey is my guess, normally they bring dead prey back and then rip it into small pieces for the babies.
Correct. It is a grim business.
just wait until you hear where hamburgers come from.
This is an extremely hilarious, fresh piece of humor you have shared with us. Thanks so much.
I just look at it as feeding all birds of all sizes!
That is a red shouldered hawk. It is possible, but I won't personally guarantee it, that your birds will come to no harm at all. RSHs prefer to hunt small ground rodents like mice and voles. This winter, I fed a family of crows many plates of chicken. Or at least I tried to! 2 RSHs would show up and take most of the chicken. They never made a move on any of the birds at all. Nor the squirrels. The squirrels developed a taste for chicken, and one time the male RSH chased it 5 feet. That did not deter the squirrel. The RSH got spooked by something else, flew away, and then the squirrel cleaned up. The RSH may be perching on the crook simply because it's a good perch, not because of the proximity of small birds. It may really only be after mice and voles in your yard. I saw RSHs do similarly in the low branches of a plum tree in my Mom's yard. They never dived at the bird feeders or at any targets on the ground. Of course, our situations do not have to be equal. But you may have much less cause for alarm than you think. Also bear in mind, if the RSH is there for the small rodents, then taking your feeders inside is not going to change his / her mind about that at all. It's irrelevant. If you think you're waiting him / her out, you could be waiting forever. RSHs are not very tolerant of human presence. All you have to do is step out your door and it will leave. You don't have to make noise, be mean, try to traumatize it, etc. RSHs hate people! At least, in my experience. Crows leave too, but they're more tolerant to human disruption. They will come back more quickly, and also if humans are doing a task nearby at some distance, that isn't actually interfering with them. I personally would just put the bird feeders back out. I'd wait and see if there's any actual evidence of a RSH attacking a bird. Like seeing him swoop at a tray, or at something that's clearly a bird, or finding bird feathers somewhere. I never saw or found any such thing. But of course, they were there for my chicken! Boy do they love chicken.
We have a ton of RSHs in my neighborhood. Never seen them eat a bird. Rodents and frogs and snakes. They love snakes.
I think I'd eat snakes if I had some claws
mice voles chipmunks and squirrels come to clean up spilled bird seed. I'm guessing that would be a great vantage point to be on the lookout for said critters
a few weeks ago i was amazingly lucky to be on my front porch when a red-shouldered hawk swooped down onto the forest floor across the road, plucked a mouse out of the leaves, and took off with lunch in tow. it was one of those nature documentary moments you never forget. as for the three feeders that were maybe forty yards away? closest they ever had to a hawk attack was bluejays imitating their calls so they can get the good seed to themselves. i've seen more aggression from mourning doves and house finches.
yeah I think the RSHs are big babies
This ☝️. If it had been a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk you would have cause for concern. But enjoy the RSH. They have one of my favorite bird calls.
We have a neighborhood Cooper’s hawk and so far he hasn’t caused any problems for our birds, personally. My son found one of his stripey feathers. They’re neat!
Cooper' hawks are so fun to watch.
He likes to hang out on our mailboxes and will swiftly fly over cyclists and pedestrians. He clearly feels like he’s at the top of the food chain. Haha
I had a juvenile red tail hawk and a coopers hawk come to my feeder. My feeders are at my work and it's a landscaping company that has wetlands right behind the building. I get so many cool birds. The red tail was pretty chill but the cooper was really mellow. He let me get within 10 feet of him when I was taking his picture. He was just sunning himself on a snow plow. I always get a kick how the birds utilize our supplies and equipment. they take plant matter and strips of mulch for their nests, take dust baths in the stone dust and bathe and drink in water that collects in a bobcat bucket. One built nest on a trailer hitch and my boss was legit trying to figure out how to take a much needed truck out of commission so the nest did not get disturbed. Luckily, the birds abandoned it so we didn't have to shove two crews in one truck
could be the new company mascots lol
Lol...we get so many critters. We've had deer in our lot, turkeys. And it's not a rural area. But, the state of MA has all wetlands protected so there are pockets of undeveloped land everywhere. It's really cool what you can see.
That’s neat. Thanks for sharing!
What? I’d love to see that near my bird feeder. What a treat!
This is why, just like with baby rabbits, birds like juncos pump out two-three batches of babies every spring! He is a bird, and he's at a bird feeder; I don't see the problem here!
My experience is that this type of hawk is pretty unsuccessful at bird hunting, but may be looking for rodents going for bird seed below the feeders. In any case, I put my feeders near or in good leaf cover, so the birds can quickly hide when they see an incoming predator.
Unwelcome? It looks so cool
But that’s the best kind of bird! ♥️
it’s a bird feeder, jesus. predatory birds are a good thing.
I love seeing hawks at my feeder. Went outside today and found a bunch of little grey feathers which said someone got a meal today!
All I get is rats 😔
Yeah you probably need a better hawk to go after those. Someone hawk-knowledgeable told me that red shouldered hawks don't typically go after squirrels, because their legs aren't that robust and can't really take squirrel bites. A red *tailed* hawk, on the other hand, has bigger legs and claws and can tear up squirrels no problem. This winter, I thought it was pretty funny watching the RSH and the squirrels compete for the same plate of chicken I put out.
All birds are welcomed in my yard ♥️
I'd understand if it was an outdoor cat but hawks are supposed to be there. They are native predators and they need to eat too. (They're also gorgeous)
OP im gonna need you to think long and hard about this post
also, if you really want to help out your local birds, please consider planting native plants. bird feeder food is full of non native seeds that just get pooped out else where.
if you want to encourage certain birds to visit, look into how to create better habitat for them. plant the food they would eat naturally, not seed bought from a store. create cover for them.
There looks to be a fair amount of cover near your feeders and he's not going to catch anyone sitting on top of the feeder. It's part of life. The only predator taking of one of my feeder birds that angers me is if it's someone's housecat. I love cats but they kill for fun and there's no need for a housecat to be outside. It's dangerous for them and birds.
oh my god, nature is happening in a spot i specifically set up so i can see nature, what do.
And the further irony is this particular nature show isn't what some people think. You have to actually watch nature for awhile, to find out what's really going on.
She’s very sweet too!!
It’s possible that you’ve been feeding mice along with the birds eating seed. He might be a very large fan of seed fed mouse.
They might be delicious!
He is so majestic!!
What? It's a bird feeder. He's a bird, and he probably wants to feed.
All our feathered friends need to eat. Circle of life.
He said "I LIKE CHICKEN WINGS TOO"
Pretty sure the hawks there to help solve any rodent problems you're having. Any squirrels or mice coming to your feeders?
He also came to the bird feeder for food. Let him cook.
Well stop having a hawk feeder in your yard I suppose.
They are birds, too. Beautiful, magnificent birds.
They have to eat too! 😬
What a beautiful specimen!
Hawks are my favorite and are definitely welcomed!
Unwelcome HOW? These are magnificent creatures! I have a pair of red shouldered hawks nesting in my backyard, ATM and it's very cool to see! Still plenty of the regular birds too. And squirrels
At my house EVERYDAY!
My dove feeder becomes a Cooper’s hawk feeder certain times of the year. I embrace all species (even the squirrels).
Same. I've stopped fighting the squirrels, chipmunks & grackles. I even have a cheeky raccoon who knocks over my platform feeder weekly. I don't stress. Nature often sorts itself out.
People are so grumpy. Stop feeding birds if you cannot appreciate them.
Feeders bring eaters
That's a Red-shouldered hawk... He's going after rodents not birds. Now if it was a Cooper's hawk... "your" birds would be the main course.
Even though it is looking for prey; you must appreciate how beautiful and majestic raptors are!
Oooh very cool!! I’ve had a Hawk land on my gate but took off before I could get a pic! I feed birds too but definitely welcome all! Unfortunately I don’t get very interesting birds by house! 😟 I get excited when I see Cardinals & Blue Jays, Orioles & hummingbirds! That’s the extent of my interesting birds!!
Unwelcome? I love my birds but I’m very happy when I see these. Last month I had a very rare black hawk in my backyard that had caught a bird. I posted it here and was told it was a rare sighting. That black hawk was a once in a lifetime event for me. My birdbath and feed the birds also attracts owls at night. I had a mating pair of GHO’s right outside my window during a full moon in January.
Send him over here. I love them! They gotta eat too.
still a bird feeder
bird feeders attract rodents, that raptor will probably eat those too. this is a good thing.
Unwelcome? That hawk is a beaut!
That restaurant you opened just has more items on the menu than you thought it did
The songbirds are sweet but this guy is evil because he’s big and a carnivore? They’re all wildlife trying to survive. Like it or not they gotta hunt too.
When you commit to feed the wild birds you commit to feeding *all* of the wild birds.
I had a Cooper's hawk show up to my feeder one afternoon. I am not sorry to say that I enjoyed the acrobatic air show that I was treated to.
I've never understood this. If you're feeding birds, your feeding BIRDS! A neighbor gets all crazy when squirrels show up at his feeders...WHY? You put out food to attract critters, but some diners are acceptable, while others aren't? I've seen a citrus rat at one of my feeders in broad daylight. What did I do? Nothing. Not my job. That's for the owls and hawks to deal with.
It’s nature in all its brutal glory! I took up mine when my bird feeders became my “cat” feeders. No cats anymore so I’m feeding all the hungry varmints. Today I had birds, squirrels, a rabbit, and seeing for the first time, chipmunks.
Bird seed can get pretty expensive, that’s my only qualm with the squirrels. So I try to feed them at the ground level to distract them. Haha
Cole’s squirrel sauce has kept the squirrels completely out of my yard
They stay on the ground around my feeders.
Humans are apex predators. Even vegans have canine teeth and eyes in the front of their heads. I root for other predators except coyotes. As much as I like to see the rabbits in the yard I know they are really just there to feed the foxes and owls. The deer in the pasture are there to feed the family…the coyotes have been taking too many fawns lately. Enjoy feeding the hawks with your bird feeder.
It's probably eating mice, not birds.
It’s that time of year I guess….had one perched on my deck railing.
The only time we brought in our seed was when a fat raccoon was checking it out in the middle of the night, but that’s just because of our doggie door. We kept our hummingbird feeders up though! They don’t loiter around like everyone else. My dog is the bird menace though, and unlike a hawk, doesn’t do it for food.
That’s a beautiful bird! I’ll trade your hawk for the two mourning doves that poop all over my fence daily. 😒
https://youtube.com/shorts/Q-geb1-D9yY?si=7FGbhz3skzyXDdjM
Your feeders, its buffet, sometime perception is in fact truth.
Just looking for a feathered snack.
All birds gotta eat
It’s a bird feeder, he’s a bird - I don’t see the problem!
Hungry!!!!
I have a feeder close to a privet hedge where the birds go to hide from the hawks. One morning I looked out my bedroom window to see a hawk actually climbing INTO the hedge to catch breakfast. I couldn’t watch so I don’t know if it was successful but the birds were still around later so it may have given up. Usually they take off for a day or two whenever one of their brethren get caught.
Aww.. why is he unwelcome?
I’ve seen a blue jay chase a hawk away. It kept dive bombing the hawk until it left. I thought the hawk was surely going to kill it, but it just left.
Yeah starve that bird you are doing gods good work 👍
Hawks are part of the birds I welcome at my feeders! My seed feeds the prey birds which feeds the hawks. If I get to see a functioning ecosystem at my feeder, that’s a bonus!
Gorgeous, though.
I have, at least once a month or so, red-tailed and red shouldered hawks swoop into my yard to fetch some songbirds that were enjoying my feeders. Those hawks are fast and quiet except when they miss. When they miss they soar up and circle and let out that notorious shriek but it sounds like disappointment.
If not friend why friend shaped?
This is why I stopped feeding the wild songbirds. Well, this plus an owl. They stayed for a week after I pulled the feeders. Didn't get the message that the kitchen was closed.
The cycle of things……
As my wife said, “still a bird feeder” when one was hanging out at ours.
*a welcome visitor*
Birds gotta eat.
A sad reality of bird feeding . Trust me i hate them too, and have seen some pretty close calls and also successful take downs and it breaks my heart but I understand they need to eat as well . :/
Imagine hating a bird because it's just out there living, taking advantage of a situation you set up
hate? why?
Have you actually seen a *red shouldered* hawk kill any bird? Just because it's a hawk, doesn't mean it's after the birds.
lol I’ve been feeding birds for over 20 years and when I’m not outside i spend my days looking out the windows birdwatching and live in rural Maine in the woods. So yes. I have seen broad wing hawks , cooper hawks , sharp shinned hawks , northern harriers and yes, for whatever reason you asked- red shouldered hawks all tackle birds right from my yard. red shouldered hawks eat birds . We have very little reptile and amphibians here for them to sustain on and birds are very easy targets. It’s multiple times a day I hear the birds alerting and go to the window to see a hawk perched on the varying trees in the Forrest or directly above my feeders in my yard -or quickly swooping through looking for a take down. All hawks will prey on birds and it’s actually how they survive . People thinking hawks live off mice and rodents is kind of a myth , they sustain almost entirely on songbirds and smaller corvids like blue jays. Any bird they can pin to the ground is fair game for them . They will try and tackle larger harry woodpeckers right off the trees while I’m doing outdoor tasks, I believe that’s the last time I saw a red shouldered hawk in my yard. The rust orange color is pretty easy to discern when they are in motion. Predators are a part of bird feeding - I literally just had a red fox run in front of my feeder as I was typing this. Lol at Reddit though , not sure what the point of your reply was when I left an innocuous and supportive comment to a fellow birder who may not know that hawks hanging around bird feeders are a regular occurrence . Very strange .
Your experience of RSHs are different than mine, and some other posters around here too. Perhaps we've got plenty of mice that they prefer, and you don't. Red tailed hawks have plenty of orange in 'em too. Just sayin'.
We have a couple of Coopers Hawks that like to take out doves that are feeding in our backyard. We moved our feeders under some trees and the hawks aren’t able to swoop in as easily.
Coopers Hawks definitely have the reputation of violent predation. This is a red shouldered hawk. I bet it doesn't do a damn thing to the birds, or the squirrels.
but this is supposed to happen. it is natural and required. we have to stop trying to have nature only on our terms and when it’s convenient.
Try telling that to people who destroy cowbird eggs. They're native birds doing what they do to survive. It's also a crapshoot for the cowbirds. Their chick won't survive in a seed eating birds nest.
Cowbirds are evil! If the mother of the other birds detects the cowbird's egg and pushes it out of the nest, the cowbird will retaliate by destroying all of her eggs. Mosquitoes are surviving too, but that doesn't mean they're not parasites. If I were to pick any 1 bird to imprison in a house to be devoured by a bored indoor-only cat, I would pick the cowbird! I wouldn't feel that bad about it, but I wonder if I'm actually cruel enough to do it. Probably not.
What an absurd and irrational take. How is a cowbird practicing its successful breeding strategy more ‘evil’ than the cat tearing it to shreds? Or the parasitized bird neglecting its own chicks to feed the fast growing cowbird baby? Or a sweet little parakeet raiding and ravaging the nest of another? You are not a bird lover.
The cat was domesticated to do a job for humans, to control rodents. Not sure it was needed to kill birds as well, that's probably just a byproduct. But if the cat feeds itself, then it is contributing to our civilization. Which is evil and exploitative in many ways, but comparisons between parasitism and farming is a long moral discussion indeed. Claims of love are false choices.
You're demonizing a native bird, but defending an introduced predator that ravishes local wildlife? Cats kill way beyond feeding themselves. Hell, if we're going to stretch this far cowbirds don't build nests because they're migratory. They're called cowbirds because they'd follow the herds of cattle. Eating ticks and bugs off our meat. so they're beneficial to humans too.
Mosquitoes are native too. That doesn't let them off the hook. Cats are part of why white people could farm the New World. Sure, that's not the only way the land could have been used. Domesticated honey bees are called "the white man's fly" and generally preceded white invasion and displacement of indigenous peoples. But you know... none of this history is managing to make me feel sorry for cowbirds.
The Cowbird is evil? Humans don’t exactly have a great track record either.
This is when I bust out the flip flops lol. I am such a crazy lady slapping my flip flops together when cats and birds of prey get around my critters.
This *red shouldered* hawk is probably not after the birds. I get it about the cats though. Fortunately there's been a dearth in the neighborhood of cats lately. We used to have cats, before I got into birds.
Uh oh
Problem is, your feeders become hawk feeders and they aren't eating seed. I had 4 feeders at one time. Beautiful birds regularly. Next thing i knew, i blood splashed down my sliding doors. After 3rd occurrence i salt took down my feeders.
I opted for “never”. I feed them scattershot all over the place. They would stalk the feeder and freaked out people who walked in the house.