Bird of prey frequenting my backyard! (1 Viewer)

A few days ago my wife saw something big flying away from the backyard where the feeders are. This morning, I saw a bunch of very fine feathers dropping out of an oak tree; sure enough, it was a good-sized grey bird of prey up in the tree eating its kill. As soon as I opened the door to go outside, it flew away. Didn't get much of a view, other than its general color and size.

So now I know why the number of birds has declined significantly the last week or so. Before, it was non-stop action all day long
with cardinals, doves (mourning, white-winged, and inca), and continually lots of finches. Now, they're often all gone for hours at a time.

I think I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. Any ideas on how to get the bird of prey to leave my yard alone?

A high quality problem, as raptors are relatively scarce and often hard to find.
That said, there is no real solution, these birds of prey are smart enough to remember where they found lunch and will come back, so even taking down the feeder for a while won't really solve the problem, plus they are protected by law.
The best option imho and the easiest is to accept the occasional loss, but make it easier for the prey birds to hide. Add shrubbery around your feeder that the small birds can escape into.
Here in NYC Central Park there are feeders and resident predators both, they balance out. When the feeders are empty of birds, you can look for a raptor perched in the vicinity.

What @etudiant said above - plus:

If you're able to, I'd suggest you learn from it...

Observe how the potential-prey species react to a Predator.

• How do they react to local alarm calls from other species (Crows and other Corvids, Squirrels)?
• Do they react differently to different attacks? - if the Hawk flies off with a bird, how long before the other birds return?... which is the first species to return?
• If the Hawk misses (which it will more often than be successful) but flies off, do the other birds return more quickly than if the Hawk was successful?
• If the Hawk feeds nearby (tree or on the ground), what interactions are there with other birds (especially Corvids)... how about Squirrels?
• etc.

I've been doing the above for years - have learned more than I could have done about Nature than any other way I can think of, and my garden is always full of many different species of birds... many more survive than are killed, and many more would die of starvation if I stopped feeding them (nobody feeds birds locally except me - it's all concrete and barbecues)

etudiant said:

A high quality problem, as raptors are relatively scarce and often hard to find.
That said, there is no real solution, these birds of prey are smart enough to remember where they found lunch and will come back, so even taking down the feeder for a while won't really solve the problem, plus they are protected by law.
The best option imho and the easiest is to accept the occasional loss, but make it easier for the prey birds to hide. Add shrubbery around your feeder that the small birds can escape into.
Here in NYC Central Park there are feeders and resident predators both, they balance out. When the feeders are empty of birds, you can look for a raptor perched in the vicinity.

Click to expand...

Good advice - I'd view the presence of a raptor as a bonus :t:

Raptors are evolved to have predatory advantages, but that in no way gives them a guarantee in the survival stakes. They have to eat and survive too - their lives are far from easy, and survival is a day by day, meal by meal proposition ..... be really thankful you have them around.

Being evolved and equipped hunters, there is evidence that they operate by familial habits and learned behaviour, however they also take advantage of opportunity. If there is prey available, that is of lower risk of causing injury, and with more certainty of success for lower calorific output then raptors won't pass that up.

Prey will also learn - it's survival of the fittest, and so you could expect the equation to naturally rebalance at some stage. As Etudiant said - provision of dense shelter shrubs for the prey birds to hide in will help. That would also help their sense of security and willingness to frequent your vicinity .... they also operate on a set of base instincts and will naturally seek out the best food/ water/ shelter/ security and safety equations for them.



Chosun :gh: