hawk trouble

[dee]

Thanx for the suggestion BN. Can anyone else help with ideas? I have a hawk coming and trying to eat my birds in my aviaries. I'm scared they'l die of fright. The hawk, (and yes the same 1) keeps landing on the wire on the side or top of my cages obviously trying to eat my birds. My birds are starting to breed and I dont think its healthy for them to get this stressed. and is there anyway to destress the poor things after I scare away the hawk, they sit in a corner shivering and being very unusualy quite.:mad:

[Jean]

You do have a problem. That big hawk must scare your little birds half to death. :eek: Once a bird of prey finds an easy pray they are dead set on getting their kill. Maybe, start with some alluminum pie tins hanging drom string around the aviary will help. I have a friend that had that problem and they were a great help. She also had a hose ready with a strong shooting nozzle ready to attack the hawk with a forceful spray, which she used on it once before she hung the pans up. She hung several around her small aviary then ordered these discs because they had such reflective glow. They seem to work great. If there is a tree or anything near the building , you may also want to hang some there too.

http://www.alwaysbrilliant.com/?PID=881&SC=98818V&PN=Wild+Bird+Repellent&KW=bird+stop

Maybe, someone will have other ideas.

[Jean]

Another thing you may want to shield the outside upper part of the aviary screen to preven the hawk from grabbing onto the mesh or screen area. Even some tinted plexiglass may help.

[Islandzoo]

We're putting a roof on our aviary most of the way across in case of animals getting on there.... doesn't help if he's landing on the side of the wire though.....
The plexiglass might be an idea though.

[dee]

Thanx for your ideas I'll try all of them (in the morning) and get back to you.

[Shirley]

Hi Dee,

Your birds definitely need a place out of view from birds of prey... and consider building a space around the aviary like a zoo does... where the others cannot touch the actual walls of the aviary - a buffer zone, so-to-speak. Otherwise, your options are to bring your birds inside to save them from being frightened to death or becoming emotionally frantic. The privacy area will also offer a shield from bad weather and wind. Birds of course are not going to procreate when danger is near... they instinctively know their babies will be in danger. Gouldian finches, for example, will toss their eggs or their hatchlings out of their nestboxes if strange people enter the room! That's how easily frightened they become during breeding season.

I have my doubts that the ideas for scaring birds of prey away will work long term when live dinner is sitting there waiting for them.... They are way too smart for that! It certainly doesn't work to keep Koi fish safe in a pond...

[Shirley]

Hi Dee,

I've moved your thread from the ER Help Desk to the Squawk n Talk forum... I didn't realize it was in the ER Help Desk forum until just this afternoon... Sorry about that! :)

The ER Help Desk rules clarify that it is for extreme emergencies only -- birds in need of urgent care *right now*.

This is more of a discussion, not an emergency, though it certainly could be an emercency once the hawk rips through the aviary walls or terrifies a bird to death. But... to prevent that you will need to bring your birds inside and seriously redesign your aviary so that the birds have private indoor quarters along with the aviary, and the aviary walls have a buffer zone from the outside...

Meanwhile, we can continue your concerns and discussion here. :)

[Jean]

I've been doing mpre research about birds of prey trying to get into aviarys. The most logical thing to do is what Shirley suggested, putting up an outer enclosed fence around the aviary to protect the birds. You still may want to add other precautions such as a portable view blocking area in addition to an outer enclosed fence so they can not see the birs and the birds will not see it which will help with protect your birds from fright of an attack.

Temporary, you may have to put something up to block the view of the hawk and secure the birds from getting attacked and being scared. along with the tin pans and what ever else you can get to secure them until you get an outer fence with enclosed top. If that is the way you choose to go.

You need to have a secure area for the birds to go such as a secure cage and nesting area. on the inner wall of thew aviary. Good Luck!

[Islandzoo]

We were talking about this this morning. Trevor suggested (and I don't know if it's a good idea, or whether it would work)
to put poles up all along your aviary on each side, or sticks, and run a line of string between, to create lines running over the roof, thus discourageing the hawk because there's nowhere for him to land.