Hey Dave- I grew up in Oakhurst and actually went to kindergarten at the Methodist Church. I was up and down Monmouth Rd. at least 6 times today and once I actually glanced up at the steeple remembering the day the put it up!! Very spooky!!! I always am amazed at the amount of birds in our area also. I now am in Shark River Hills (which kind of reminds me of Oakhurst) and I have quite the bird sanctuary in my backyard. I unfortunately do not have an awesome camera, as you do. I love raptors. I'm always driving on Rt. 18 looking at them soaring above-I have a convertible. I know...doesn't sound too safe!! There are many hawks in the area of Deal Rd.- just west of Logan. I guess with Palaia Park (Deal Test Site to me), there is plenty of room to nest. Keep posting those pics and hopefully you have some good painkillers for that tooth!!

I realize this is an older thread, but you might want to check out the Farm life forum. Lots of talk about the same issue there. Advice on stopping hawk from killing chickens "I have been reading posts on this site and everyone keeps saying hawks won't disturb anything above 4lbs... I just caught a hawk eating one of my chickens yesterday afternoon." A link that might be useful: forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ farmlife/msg0515452820753.html?12

Thanks! So when do their tails get the reddish plumage? This one had brown striped tail feathers, I thought that the adults had red tails but I know very little about red tailed hawks so I thought I would ask, thanks! Oh, also, what's that whistling noise that it is making? There is a redtailed hawk couple that lives in my area, I used To see them Together all the time, now they seem to be hanging out solo mostly, I wondered if this one might be one of their "kids" from this year or year before, this one's plumage looks a lot darker than the male and female I usually see in the area.

Yes, I agree places to hide are a great help. About a year ago, my husband was standing near the chicken coop, which has trees/shrubs dotted around it, they were out running around, and a hawk landed on a lower branch just 10 feet away from him and aimed at one of the hens. He immediately shouted "hey!" at it and it was so startled it almost fell, but then flew off. In another incident, my largest Golden Laced Wyandotte hen had a small skirmish with a redtail hawk. I was in a nearby garden, and at first thought 2 hens were fighting over something, but the hawk jumped up to a limb and we made eye contact, and it flew away. The Roo was on his way, but I'm glad the hen was on the large side so she had a chance at holding her own for a few seconds. The turkey vultures like to circle low over them as well, and I've been told that they likely won't eat the chickens, but the way they behave, I think they will! They get very low, and I can see their eyes!