I Have A Hawk Hanging Around Right At My House

Discussion in 'Science & Nature' started by John Brunner, Jul 8, 2021.

  1. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    Are you sure he/she flew into the woods? Check out this photo:

    CVA3AQaheCh-png__700.jpg
     
    #166
  2. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    My chickens run like that! What a cutie!
     
    #167
  3. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I commented to my daughter about a hawk calling in the yard. She said it was not a hawk but a blue jay imitating a hawk. She knows a lot about bird calls and can draw birds by calling. She said the birds respond because they are defending their territory.
     
    #168
  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    You find some real nice critter pics, Tony. I assume that's a baby Snow Owl.

    The Burrowing Owl

    -They live in the ground in burrows they've dug, in abandoned burrows, or in man-made structures (pipes.)
    -They hunt during the day and store ahead. One burrow explored in Canada had over 200 mice stashed away.
    -The scatter their dung around the entrance to attract dung beetles and other insects.
     
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  5. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    Amazing Birds, the way they run maybe we should start a new sport owl races. The animal kingdom is so fascinating it's stories like this that make my day.
     
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  6. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    It looks like a snow owl, they didn't identify the bird in the picture.
     
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  7. Joy Martin

    Joy Martin Veteran Member
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    Darn, my daughter sent me a couple photo's of hawks that she saw on one of her
    walks some months ago, she got up close to it...I'm looking for the pictures but can't find them, darn. This is not in the country but in our city hear her house.
     
    #172
  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Find those pics, darnit!

    There is a 24 hour cam feed set up in our state capital of a peregrine falcon nest, smack in the middle of the city.

    Out here in the sticks, I've had a great horned owl take up residence along with the barred owl. Every once in a while it sits in a tree just outside my living room window and scares the poop outta me.
     
    #173
  9. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    A few Towns over from where I live about 8 Mi away there are a few colonies of Monk Parrots, there's also a very large nest in Brooklyn in one of the cathedrals. Interesting how they can adapt to the cold environment.
     
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  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I just read a little about their feral colonies in WIKI. Apparently they survive the cold by building communal nests around heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles. They're even in Chicago!!! Regarding the ones at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, at first their nests were destroyed by groundskeepers, but after a chemical analysis showed that pigeon poop destroys brownstone (I assume because of its level of acidity) and monk parakeet poop does not, the monk parakeets were allowed to continue nesting there. They displace the destructive pigeon population, thus saving the historical structure...free of charge.
     
    #175
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2022
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  11. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    My cousin had them visiting her bird feeder. There's one Street in her neighborhood that you can see the nest on top of the poles.
     
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  12. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    We have some spoiled crows here who chase away the hawks. Ironic that one of the hens killed Pretty Bird the crow who protected them from the hawks, then the same night something killed Goldy the hen in the pen. still can't imagine what could have killed her because our pens are really secure.
     
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  13. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Weasels can get into tight spaces, suck the blood out of a chicken and leave the body.
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Weasels sneak up behind chickens, bite their necks, then lap up the blood that spills out onto the floor. But weasels don't suck the blood out of them...they lack the jaw strength (according to what I just read.) You're thinking of the IRS. ;)
     
    #179
  15. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    It's Hawk Mating Season again. This usually entails 2 or more males fighting over a female as she watches to see who's gonna buy dinner. Most years it's an aerial battle, with the males dive-bombing each other and the female circling high overhead. Today I heard them screaming outside my kitchen window so loudly I thought one of them had caught a feathered meal right at the house. I looked outside and spooked them...they were either fighting on the ground or were flying close to the ground. When I got near the window, the 3 of them flew into the woods.

    I've not seen (or heard) much of my owls this year...either the 4 barred owls or the great horned owl. The 3 juveniles that were around so often in 2021 will be hitting breeding age soon, if they've not already. I hope they take up residence nearby.
     
    #180
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