"Safe havens" from birds of prey for smaller birds. (1 Viewer)

I have noticed an interesting thing about my yard and the area surrounding it in what seems to be like a "safe haven" for songbirds.
I get very rare visits by hawks ( usually Red Tails) and if they do fly over they seem usually uninterested in scoping out a meal and landing nearby. Also Owls ( have to go further in the woods) are hardly ever seen or heard in my area. However I believe there is a "danger point" where a songbird bird can fly that is very unsafe that is just beyond my area..and I always see hawks and other larger birds flying beyond in those areas.

In a way it reminds me of small fish in the ocean that stay in the shallows nearer to shore for better shelter ...but swim any farther out to sea where it's deep and dark and you could be eaten much easier by much bigger fish with too much open water.

I believe my yard is like a sort of "bird safe haven" as far as staying out of the way of birds of prey...yet still songbirds can be also a danger and prey on other smaller songbirds and nests so maybe it's not as safe as I think.
We don't always see the harsh realities of nature..especially in a bird's world.

Still if your a songbird.. my yard and surrounding area seems a very good and safe place to potentially live longer and have success in raising your young.

The last time I saw a Red Tailed Hawk land in one of my trees it was treated very roughly by a mob of Mockingbirds, Robins and Blue Jays. I almost felt sorry for it because it didn't seem like it was actually there hunting for birds..only squirrels or chipmunks . I have only seen Red Tails around here eating rodents tbh...though I know occasionally they must sometimes snatch an easy bird once in a while.

It's good to have a variety of different shelter shrubs /densities etc.

Of course it's always good also to have a structurally complex and diverse landscape (even at the yard scale) so predators (such as hawks) can live too (and keep the population of rodents /squirrels etc in check). Balance is the key along with natural food shrubs /trees /grasses, shelter, and moisture /water. The Web of life is key.

It's a pretty harsh world out there - it's not like they can just pop down to the supermarket for a meal. For the Raptors etc - it's search - find something - catch it - kill it - and eat it - then get back to their shelter ..... all without being injured or worse, or expending more energy than calories they can actually gain. ......... :eek!:






Chosun :gh:

Chosun Juan said:

It's good to have a variety of different shelter shrubs /densities etc.

Of course it's always good also to have a structurally complex and diverse landscape (even at the yard scale) so predators (such as hawks) can live too (and keep the population of rodents /squirrels etc in check). Balance is the key along with natural food shrubs /trees /grasses, shelter, and moisture /water. The Web of life is key.

It's a pretty harsh world out there - it's not like they can just pop down to the supermarket for a meal. For the Raptors etc - it's search - find something - catch it - kill it - and eat it - then get back to their shelter ..... all without being injured or worse, or expending more energy than calories they can actually gain. ......... :eek!:






Chosun :gh:

Click to expand...

You are correct it's good to have an assortment of places where different kinds of birds can thrive as well as birds of pray.

I believe my yard as well as a few of my neighbors (who also love birds) has just the right densities of plant life and wooded areas..yet nice sized open grass areas good for worm eating birds, yet still has always some brush near to them where they can go quickly if they feel threatened.

Outside this zone it's more wide open "grasslands-wetlands" and wide meadows with sparse trees ..where you can find birds like Red Tailed Hawks,American Kestrels,Loggerhead Shrikes,Kingfishers,American Crows,Brown Headed Cowbirds,Red Winged Blackbirds,Vultures,Great Blue Herons,Great Egrets ect.

It's amazing how the variety of bird species varies in such short distances and in such different environments!