Hawk nest, fledgling hawk baby (1 Viewer)

Hi,
I am in the US and live outside the city. We have lots of hawks, eagles etc. around here and a big lake l mile away.
I noticed early this spring a hawk with a nest over our backyard and watched her and seemed she came each day and laid an egg. I then noticed she sat on the nest and apparently hatched 2-3 young.

Now, I have chickens and their pen is almost directly under this tree which holds the nest, so I wasn't happy :C that there is chicken dinner in their backyard. I have put heavy wire over their run and am sure they are safe.

Anyway, tonite I noticed a baby that apparently has fledged on a branch about 30 feet below where this very high nest is. The poor little guy is very unbalanced and barely able to balance on this branch he did make a successful attempt to fly a very short distance to another branch even lower and further away from the nest and is just sitting there afraid to go any further. It is now nightfall and he is still just sitting there.

Will he be okay? I see the parents going into the nest where there are at least one more baby. Will they bring him food down to where he is? What if he would fall? Not sure if there would be anything I could do to help him.

I am not sure of his species as it's hard to tell what kind of hawks they are, but am guessing they are red tailed hawks as they are abundant here and these are also VERY large birds.

Thank you for your time..........

Ob behalf of staff and moderators a warm welcome to Birdforum.:t:

Sounds to me like the bird has just fledged. The parents should continue to feed it out of the nest. I've no idea whether your birds feed on chickens not knowing the species; not all Birds of Prey do; the Black Kites and Pacific Bazas I get around here feed mostly on invertebrates. Even if they do, it sounds like your chickens are safely secured.

I am hoping the parents will bring it food. These are a very large hawk and they for sure kill chickens, many many people lose their chickens to these raptors every day.

Also, from what I read the only predator these large hawks have are the bigger owls which we also have here and this young guy could be a "sitting duck" tonight for one of those, hope he will be ok.

Thank you for your reply and the welcome.

Hello truegrit, welcome.
Predation by raptors does happen occasionally.
Far more often by mammals, both wild and feral domestics, and by reptiles
An article >Here< has depictions of various enclosures that can be easily built, if it helps.
As article notes, any direct mitigation of raptors requires coordination with authorities, as they are all protected species.

Adult should continue to feed it, as it fledges and learns to be self sufficient.
That period can be up to 3 weeks or so, after leaving the nest. Great Horned Owl could be a threat if close by and on the hunt. You have the hands full there, a balance that hopefully works out for you.

I do have an enclosure for my chickens that is built to keep out predators including heavy welded wire over the top of the run because of the hawks. I am also well aware of the laws protecting raptors in this country

As an update we had heavy rain last night and the poor little guy is now on the ground as apparently he fell from his high perch last night. I don't think he will make it very long on the ground with the coyotes, fox etc. that are around here. Not sure if we should just let nature take it's course or contact the MO wildlife and see what they suggest??

truegrit said:

Not sure if we should just let nature take it's course or contact the MO wildlife and see what they suggest??

Click to expand...

You could try Missouri Conservation Department. Being a raptor, there might be some interest in getting it back up into some protective structure, close by. All speculation, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.