Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Birds, murder and mayhem

How sweet birds are....I've given many thoughts of having a few in my home but the cats put a screeching halt to that whim. Phooey....well maybe someday. Until then I'll enjoy my outside birds who frequent the feeders.
Lately though...I have become concerned about the lower amount of visits to the station. I've had annoying blue jay who keep me busy with peanuts and crackers. If they don't find that for dinner, they tend to eat ALL of the seed........
no BJays though.
My male evening grosbeak was regularly a sight to seed at the feeder,always after we've eaten our own dinner.
But he too is gone.......
Lately I have had a pair of yellow finches, a male with his mate but they soon stopped coming.....


 
I could always rely on Mr Robin bob, bob, bobbing in my backyard, using it's keen hearing for those purchased earthworms we planted. He or she has been a staple every morning for the last 2 years. Might not be the same one but still....

 Okay....hubs was getting ready for work on Monday and heard commotion, bird screeches and blamo! My Robin was gone.....food for this....
 A hawk, believing it to be a red-tailed hawk. We watched it make a quick ending of suffering for my Robin.
It was mantling as birds of prey do when it comes to feeding but I also felt it was done for my Robin not to escape while injured. Poof....my poor robin was gone.
Although I'm impressed with the beauty of this bird, I'm less happy with the quality of freedom for all the little birds. I've removed the attraction of the feeders, although I fear it might be too late.

 He, or she...had her back to us (and back to to my female cat who quietly watched the murder and mayhem from the deck), the hawk flew off within less than a minute clutching my bird, of course.
 He, or she....was a young juvenile and looked more like the photo below, the tail was still banded and not reddened but was most defiantly square. It has amber eyes (another hint of age) and it was smaller the the normal adult.
Wikipedia has all the info
anyone could want to read about when it comes to these raptors. It informs that these are the birds falconers use for their falconing. The falconer is only allowed to take "passage" hawks for training, that is birds under one year are are out of nesting (Hey, I know where one is!). It is to make sure the population of the hawks are on steady numbers. Hawks are protected in the United States and their feathers fall under the Eagle feather law....that is, no feather may become the property of anyone and only American native Indians can apply for a permit to keep feathers, and keep for tribal purposes/uses only. This is ONLY if the proof of the heritage of the applicant is solidly clear.
Wikipedia goes on to say the Red tailed Hawk (chicken hawk) will eat any bird, amphibian, rodent, squirrel, chipmunk, rabbit (which is heavier), groundhog (which is heavier), and has  even been known to ferret out a badger or two (which is heavier), I'm petrified for my cats.....if Wooly get caught he'd be on the menu for the rest of the summer!
These are migratory birds, will nest 4 meters off the ground to higher heights and they sometimes lose their homes to owls as owls aren't into nest building. Relocation of the new nest is within a mile though. This bird reaches a speed of 120 miles per hour while diving in air and can catch a bird in flight by doing so. Grrrr. Nothing I can do to help in preventing other birds from being food. Grrr. The other thing about this hawk......they will siren screech when upset.(apparently my backyard Robin made someONE angry that morning!) They will also be flying free following a falconer as he walks with (dogs?) and the hawk will hunt above the trainers head. When it kills its acquired food, the gourmet dinner will be willingly removed for a traded piece of meat.
Read about Pale Male by clicking here. He is the New York, Red Tailed Hawk, with interesting background history.
Juvenile graphic of a red tailed hawk. C&G Design
Words and photos by Dawn, C&G Design.

6 comments:

tina said...

Awww, poor little robin. I hate it when this happens. I learned a lot about the red tailed hawk on this post. We have them around here but never in my yard. Watch those pets though as I've heard of them taking small dogs too!

Jean Merriman said...

The food chain but still sad. Pale Male has quite a history but the poor thing has sure had bad luck with his mates.

Lola said...

So sad for the little robin. I've never seen any hawks around here.
I did find the carcass of 2 little baby birds 1 on each side of the house {strange}. Couldn't tell what they were but suspect they may have been mocking birds.
Boy, it sure is hot out. Had to come in & cool off.

Nancy said...

Wow! I worry about the dogs, but I think they are a bit larger than a badger. Hope so. How frightful, even though I do love watching them fly.

Debbie said...

Hi Dawn! So glad to see you writing still. You are about as frequent as me! We have a lot going on at the house here and it is not all good. Will fill you in sometime. I am pretty sure that this hawk has been in my yard this year too.I've never seen one before this year. They are extremely fast...so when I try to see it in flight I can't get a good look. Mine has some red. I just looked outside my back field to see mom and pop and little baby turkeys wandering around. The deer have eaten half my sunflowers in the garden again this year. It's so hot I can barely make it out there to water so my garden is suffering...weeds and not enough water...not a good combo! I hope you are feeling well. I think of you often and I also wonder about Kathleen too. She's on facebook but i am not. Are you? I can't wait for fall...hate, hate, hate this heat~~

Skeeter said...

Poor Robin and others that become a meal for a hungry hawk. But as Jean says, the food chain....

We have some feathers that I find on the ground from the hawks. Wonder if I would be in trouble for having them? I doubt it but still wonder....

I took our big bird feeder down due to the pesky Grackles showing up. I no longer see them but am enjoying the nice neat look of undisturbed pine straw under the area where the feeder belongs. No squirrels or doves scratching around. But I do miss my birds. May put the feeder back up when the temps get cooler. Too hot to erect it now...