To birdlover5897, you can now get stainless steel screens that cannot be cut or torn open. We've added them to our sunroom to keep our cats in and predators out. They are not inexpensive but worth it!

I'm not sure what kind of hawk has been making our local birds his private banquet, but I found him sitting right on top of the bird feeder today! I know they have to eat too, but I just wish they'd do it somewhere else. It breaks my heart to see the little Sparrows disappear one by one. And it infuriates me that some of them are killed but not eaten! I wish they'd feed off from the Grackles and Starlings instead!

Darla ... Don't blame a hawk for being a predator when you are providing a trap with bait. If it breaks your heart to see a hawk take advantage of the unnatural prey concentration you have caused, the birds you are luring to their doom, the buffet you are providing, then TAKE DOWN THE &^%#* FEEDER!

Lazy-I'm not blaming them. I did say that I know they have to eat too. But when it becomes just a game and not for survival, then I would much rather they do it elsewhere. If I took down the feeder then I wouldn't be able to enjoy them. So why don't you keep your wise remarks to yourself and mind your own business!

Darla, take the feder down as lazy has suggested. You seem to be concerned with your "enjoyment" and not the welfare of the sparrows. Sorry to say, you gotta make the sacrifice.

Sevdiyar, nice try, but you are mistaken. My concern is that the birds be allowed to use the feeder, without the fear of being eaten. They like all gatherng together first thing in the morning for some chatting while they have breakfast. I've had to stop feeding them before for a week or two when the Starlings and Grackles would take over, or if hawks were steadily stalking them. The birds welfare is and always has been my main concern. I would even be willing to put the feeder somewhere out of my sight if it meant they were safer. Yes, I do find enjoyment from watching them, but that doesnt make me a bad person. I have one lousy feeder while others have several. The reason i posted on here to begin with was to hopefully get a response from someone that might have some ideas on how to outsmart the hawks. I certainly didnt expect such rudeness!

" My concern is that the birds be allowed to use the feeder, without the fear of being eaten."

There is no way to make this happen, no matter how much you may want it. Your feeder is creating a dense, artificial concentration of prey, and the hawks are taking advantage of it.

Like herons and a koi pond, or foxes and a chicken coop ...

The best you can do is place the feeder where the birds can dive into dense cover quickly if a hawk attacks.

As I sit here reading your last response, I can feel the tears begin. Not because I'm upset about how rudely you attacked my first post, but because in my heart I know you're right. I've basically created a death trap for the very things I love. I'm just giving them their last meals. I feel horrible! Thank you for waking me the hell up! My feeder days are over.

florencetopaz - I realize this is very late, but saw your post asking if a hawk can take a 7 pound cat. I noticed someone replied no. That is not true. YES a hawk can and will kill a cat. Be careful letting your cats outdoors if there are hawks nearby. Remember hawks eat rabbits, ducks and chickens too, which are similar in size.

and by the way to everyone who has a bird feeder - in most states it is illegal to feed the wildlife!!!! This is because you are creating a problem within the ecosystem and natural food chain. You are allowing wildlife to become dependent upon you, which inhibits their natural abilities to forage and feed themselves and they are not spreading seed and fertilization naturally, which they are meant to do. not just my two cents, but the facts.

I have a video of a large red tailed hawk hunting on my yard at 10:00 PM and hitting my office window tonight. He was also hunting one night about a week ago. Swooping down at midnight to catch who knows what. I've never seen this before. Interesting behavior. I can only assume he is desperate for food. Wish I could feed him (but we all know that is fruitless . . . because they are hunters).

By the way . . . I had a small falcon hit, kill and feed on hummingbirds about 3 weeks ago. I would walk out onto my porch into a "hummingbird murder" scene. I love those hummers, but a hawk has to eat too! Interesting behavior. Also on video (those security cameras . . . turn out to be fairly decent wildlife behavior cameras as well).

Rehabber46-Thank you so much for participating, and responding, on this subject. Can I private message you somehow? There are many questions I would like to ask you. You're like my angel that has finally arrived in a place that is less than friendly!

Hi Darla - I just now saw an email from Houzz with your comment.. it must have been put into a junk file. I assumed Houzz allows for private messaging but I'm not that familiar with it.. if so, please feel free to message me so we can talk about this issue.

I have a few minutes more than I thought so looked into messaging. I have a messages button but you do not. This means you must have disabled the messaging feature. You will have to enable it in your account settings for us to message privately.

Thank you, I have enabled it now. Please message me letting me know that it works, and I will respond. Thank you again.

Just thought I'd add a bit more info that someone commented on earlier. The comment involved placing feeders underneath trees to hide them. Unless you have alot of trees that hide every angle, including the dropped seeds and hulls, this wont work. I used to hang a feeder from the bottom of a hemlock (evergreen). The tree is located next to my garage and there's a fence behind it so it's not easy to spot the feeder from above but a female coopers found it and would perch in the higher branches, waiting for an unsuspecting bird to come to the feeder before attacking. If there is a cluster of thick trees grouped together where even the dropped seed wont be seen from angles, it may work. I'd recommend that filling the feeder is done when dark or you conceal any trace of seed when going to or coming from the feeder.

I realize many months have gone by Darla, and you must have solved the issue by now. I read most of the answers, I'm not sur if anyone suggested to place something shiny like a mirror or CD over the feeder. The glare disturbs the eyes of a raptor , being very sensitive to sudden light changes . Some pigeon breeders do so. I did place a CD at my window, we have an enormous number of red tailed hawks in NYC, one once tried to grab one of the birds ( pigeons and the cute little sparrows) that come on my windowsill. It's been working up,to now, for several months . Red tailed ( not sure about other hawks) do certainly hunt at and after dusk here. That's when the city rats come out, at night , and a very large red tailed is often perched here near by on a fire escape, perfectly mimetic, waiting.

I have woodpeckers, cardinals and other birds coming to my feeders on regular basis for the last two years. Recently, early in the morning there has been a silence - not a bird in sight. Under the feeders I found a half eaten wing of what looked like downy woodpecker. Brought tears to my eyes. I have all my feeders on my deck and i though about installing a polymer shield over the feeders. Do you think it would protect the birds?

It was quite scary to see a red tailed hawk laid on a fire escape staircase next to my co-op building in NY. I have no idea why a wild animal doing in a residential area? My maltese puppy was kept on looking at the window. Perhaps he knew there's something going on out there. Just hope that the red tailed hawk will not break into my bedroom screen window and hunt my maltese!!!! I covered the window with curtain to block the hawk's sight.

room_650- Thank you for your idea. Fortunately, I've had very few hawk threats or attacks on my local birds. I now have 3 feeders, 2 bird baths, 2 suet holders, and 1 squirrel feeder. I took rehabber's advice and so far so good! I'm just glad that I didn't have to give up on feeding them after all. I find it odd that NYC would have such an abundance of red tailed hawks? I guess I just figured they were more of a country kind of bird. I suppose that since they know where to find the rats, that's a good place to keep going back for more. That concerns me since people do poison the rats, and then the birds eat the rats, and well, you know where I'm going with that sentence. We've got an owl family close by my house, and mice are something owls like to eat. My roommate was setting out poison for the mice, and I put a stop to that immediately! I found all the boxes of poison that were in the house, garage, and basement and threw it out. Ha! And when my roommate asked me where it had all gone to, I told him what and why I had gotten rid of it all. He wasn't real happy about that, until I made him a more humane mouse trap. A bucket with a rod going across the top with peanut butter on it. When the mice crawl onto the rod, it spins and they fall in the bucket. Then you take them for a little ride into the country and let them go. Problem solved! ;-)

Hello darla_Scott. Yes we do have many red tailed in NYC, and also Coopers hawks (even more in wintertime), and falcons. It is now illegal to use poison for rats and in general. They only use those ecological boxes, except in subways where they still put rat poison. The poison has been banned in fact because it killed protected species second hand , and other birds not meant to be killed. I'm a pigeon lover and constantly watch out for hawks in wintertime, when I go feed the pigeons.

Well Darla, I've almost completely eliminated the bird feeding but coopers hawks and sharp shins are no longer a problem with hunting birds. I am seeing an eastern cottontail rabbit population crash because of the sheer number of hawks preying on them (and I guess they had had a few good years and their numbers must have exploded). It's been a bit of a nightmare really. Poor things. My garden is the only one with connecting hedgerows. I've put out objects for them to crawl into during the day to escape detection. It looks really junky and overgrown which, as most people know, isn't how I keep my garden but I don't feel right taking away the cover for vanity. They all gravitate to my place because of how open everyone else's gardens are with few, if any connecting hedgerows. I've almost completely eliminated bird feeding but had to continue because of the cool, damp weather that extended into May. I have far fewer birds coming and I'm glad of it. This year, we've had peregrine falcons, golden eagles, bald eagles, red shoulder, red tail, broadwing, coopers and goshawks preying on these poor rabbits. What a difference a year can make! The birds of prey are beautiful though, and one can't help but admire their cunning.

Everyone has to eat!

Yup, just wish they'd do it in someone else's yard :) They're amazing creatures tho. I've changed my opinion from sheer hate to slight admiration. Cunning bastards.

That's how nature works, and it just does it without judgment or opinions it just happens to be that way.....,but yes I too wish never to witness any killing

msewas, I can relate with how you're feeling. Although I'm definitely not a pro to be able to give you any advice, in my opinion I would have to say a polymer shield would probably not be enough to protect your birds. The predators will most likely wait them out for the attack. So sorry I'm not able to give you any good advice, but if you scroll up, you should be able to read rehabber46's advice she gave to me. It was a huge relief when she responded to my problem. Good luck to you, and your feathered friends.

msewas, a half eaten wing sounds more like an attack from a cat. Can you describe the condition of the wing? Were some of the feathers mangled and have a fluid that made some feathers stick together (like sticky saliva fusing pieces together)? Usually, a hawk plucks some of the feathers on the ground before flying off with the prey but they don't usually eat a wing. It's possible you have multiple predators coming. Does your deck have an overhang or is it visible from above? I would try to catch the predator in the act so you know what you're dealing with.

Hawks are amazing animals. I have quite a few in my neighborhood. I do leave food out for the birds but I throw it on the ground. I dont know if it helps spreading it out this way, but I only rarely find a bird that has been eaten. That being said, I have seen the hawks herd birds into my windows to kill them. I used to have a huge sun screen over a courtyard in my previous home and they would trap them in there as well. Once, I had a hawk land on my balcony under the sunscreen, literally two feet from my face. He just looked at me unfazed as if saying "what are you going to do about it?"

I have parrots that I used to take for walks (only after their wings were trimmed at the vet). One day I walked by a palm tree with a huge red tail hawk in it. We all saw each other at the same time. My parrots panicked and I struggled to hold onto them. My small conure, broke free and hit the ground. I flung myself over her body, just as the hawk swooped down over my head!

A few years ago, I brought my littlest bird with me on a trip to look for a new home. I stayed at a resort where a large group of older people were staying. They loved my bird, Rocky, and would call for me to bring her out. One day I obliged, and sat with her on a patio chair. It was then that I saw the dot over head in complete free fall! A hawk had spotted her and was dropping straight down, even though there was a large group of people milling around. I grabbed Rocky and when I looked up, it was gone.

I now have a stroller with a mesh covering that I use to take them for walks.

I live in Southern California and about 2 hours ago I heard a yelp from the smaller of my 3 dogs from my backyard. My heart sank as I knew something was horribly wrong. I believe a hawk came and swooped my 3 1/2 lb chihuahua. I have been looking in my neighborhood and when I came back there was a hawk sitting on my neighbors patio cover looking into my yard. Is it typical for the same hawk to come back?

Sorry to hear this; it's possible a hawk got your dog although it could also be coyotes. Hawks generally hunt in a territory of one square mile so if a hawk finds food it will continue to hunt the area until the supply is gone. If a hawk got your pup, which is possible, it will likely be around a few days or longer pending further hunting success. It's late advice now but never allow a small dog to venture without human guard in hawk areas. We have a 6-pound cat and an 8-pound Shi-tzu that any hawk would take. They are never in our fenced yard without one of us nearby.

rockybird, that definitely is the first time I've heard of anyone walking birds...haha! Love it!! It sounds like you've had your fair share of hawk interactions that's for sure! Happy to hear that you've figured out how to walk your birds safely!

Sandy Ayers, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog!! What a horrible thing to experience, for you and the dog!! Please don't let the other 2 dogs outside without you close by. And even that might not be enough to stop a hungry hawk. Good luck to you, and my deepest sympathy for the loss of your furbaby!

Hawks will always return to an area where they had a successful kill. It is now marked in his or her mind that your neighborhood yields a meal and unless the hunting success diminishes entirely, the hawk will continue to visit. I would say that supervision for a small dog or any small pet isn't enough as hawks are bold and can swoop in and out before you've drawn a breath. Your best bet is to buy some cheap chicken wire and 2" x 2"'s and throw together a safe zone for your pet or buy a walk in dog kennel (pricey tho). Either way, better safe than sorry.

I'm so sorry about your dog. I have a friend who was dog sitting and she let the two little dogs out into the back yard. She was out with them and had turned her back for a minute. She heard a noise and turned around. One of the dogs had been gutted live by a great horned owl. It flew off with the entrails. Luckily, the dog died instantly.

I'm so sorry Sandy. We had just similar incidents here in the city. It's a terrible feeling of complete powerlessness.

No one controls nature.

I have a 10lb Maltese, 5 years ago I had a161/2 y/o lasapoo that was attacked and killed by a coyote right in front of me in my yard we all have 1/2 acre lots no fence I let my guard down for one time and the coyote grabbed him I chased him he dropped him about 100 feet away but punctured his treichia and I had to put him down one of the most worse day of my life. Well now we got a toy Maltese she is 2 1/2 years old wieghs under 9 lbs. I since put up a 6 ft privacy fence along with the neighbors on both sides and back so I'm not concerened about the coyotes anymore but 2 weeks ago I seen a cooper hawks swoop down at my Maltese now there are 4 of them I see in the morning and at night 1 or 2 seem to come back. I now stand over my dog as she does her business and then I play fetch with her to get her excersize I will always be on the look out for the hawks when i do wee them I shoo them away they do leave for the time being but come back a day or 2 later. I heard that an air horn will scare them away and after a few times I was told they wont come back don't know if that's true or not but I will be watching my dog like a hawk...

Think about a nerf gun or a water gun. Also, pay attention to the coloring of the coopers. If brownish, they're likely juveniles and they will go for odd prey and do foolish things when learning to hunt. Does someone feed birds in your area? I'd put up aviary bird netting in at least one section to allow your dog an area to exercise. I got some from amazon and it's very sturdy netting.

For the last two years, I've been experimenting with methods used to deter hawks. I wanted to see if any particular method worked better than another and, I was hoping to find their achilles heel so I could perhaps create a method that would help people who want to enjoy the critters in their yard. I did this for not only songbirds but mammals, such as rabbits. I found that tape, for the hawks here, did nothing. I didn't try CD's but I would think they'd have little effect on a seasoned hunter. I tried that easily torn regular bird netting and fishing line. This did deter bigger hawks like a redtail or goshawk and definitely eagles. It did nothing to deter male coopers hawks, peregrines or sharp shins, assuming they could find a tiny gap between pieces of netting. Now if you get the holes small enough with the fishing line, it could have an effect but a quickier and easier alternative would be the aviary bird netting. I bought some on amazon. It's very strong, and the holes are 2" x 2" which is too small for any hawk to enter. That did deter them, as long as the netting completely covers everywhere the prey animal is located. So basically, a barrier is needed since gadgets used to 'frighten' or 'confuse' don't usually work. A bigger hawk, like a redtail, could possibly go crashing into the netting and if it isn't stuck in it, it would not only ruin your set-up, it would probably kill the prey but redtails here tend to avoid netting. For smaller mammals like rabbits, I recommend burying the surface of a solid corrugated pipe at least a few inches deep from the surface, not in a low spot where water can sit and possibly get in an entrance, covering up with the soil and putting a brush pile over top. Hide entrances in shrubs if possible. Make sure the pipe is pretty long at least 12 feet but preferably 18 ft or longer as hawks will try to flush the rabbits and this is less likely if pipes are longer. If you have larger mature rabbits in the area, I'd recommend you buy 8" if offered, or split the 6" pipe (that's the only size pipe our stores offer) and open it up a bit before burying, to allow a bigger rabbit entry. If trying to protect a small dog or other small animal, I'd definitely go with chicken wire whenever possible but otherwise, the aviary bird netting is strong and on a strong frame, should deter most attacks. It's also black which makes it blend in much better than chicken wire. I've tried water guns, nerf guns, clapping and yelling. Yelling is very effective if you see a hawk chasing down prey. It distracts them for a moment and the prey gets away but given you'd have to be monitoring constantly, that's not practical. But if you see it, a great big 'hey!' usually is enough to break up the chase. Nerfs work but again, you have to be there constantly. Recordings of owls or a peregrine falcon will work but usually only on juvenile hawks. I've buried pipe but found the pipe wasn't long enough and wasn't hidden well enough. All the hawk has to do is be able to put a talon at the opening of the pipe and the rabbits or whatever small animal is hiding, will flush from cover that the hawk couldn't possibly have accessed. So best protect entrances with brush or a large stone.

In conclusion, hawks will go where the food is. They are also capable of retaliation when they think you're trying to stop them (confirmed by a falconer and my own experiences) and will try that much harder to thwart you. The best thing is to not concentrate any animal or bird to avoid attracting them and if you do decide to feed, hide feeders or mammals/buried pipe under trees and shrubs before they discover it because once you get on their radar, it takes a couple of years for them to forget you.

I'm so glad I found this site. We had 2 cats and moved into a new house in January. My granddaughter asked us to take her cat as well, which we did. A couple of months ago, a stray cat would wander into our yard, so not wanting to put food out to attract more animals, we kept a back door open most of the night to allow it to come in and eat, which it did. Soon, we had a little possum do the same thing (yes, we love animals). It would just eat some dry cat food and leave every night. All of a sudden about 3 weeks ago, no more stray or possum. Then 2 weeks ago today, my granddaughter's cat went out back, but has not returned. Then Saturday, our beloved little long haired white cat with turquoise eyes went out, and has not returned. Both of these cats have disappeared for 2 weeks at a time before, but have returned. Now we are down to our original cat who I am not letting out of my sight! The cats love to go out rather than use the litter box and they love to explore. We do have a fenced back yard, but are surrounded by woods. I am more than concerned now that they have fallen to possibly a red tail hawk or owl. My daughter is beside herself. We have found no remnants of any animal in the yard, and I don't know if they would be able to lift 8 pound cats up over a 6 (maybe 8) foot wood fence. I just really need to know IF they have been killed, if the death would be pretty quick or not. We are still hoping for the return of our 2 cats.

" I since put up a 6 ft privacy fence along with the neighbors on both
sides and back so I'm not concerened about the coyotes anymore"

Coyote, inside a 6-foot fence.

@lazyGardens - Please still be vigilant about the coyotes. I lived in a suburb of Los Angeles and 6 ft. privacy fence was nothing to a coyote. They readily jumped/climbed the fence to take cats and small dogs in broad daylight. Do not leave your small pets unattended.

@Cheryl - I am so sorry for your loss. If you are anywhere near where there may be wildlife chances are your cats will not return. I have worked in the animal industry for more than 19 years and we caution anyone with domestic cats to never let your cats outdoors. They are number one prey to coyotes in suburban areas and you will typically not find remains. Once a coyote finds prey in that area they will return for an easy meal and domestic cats to them are easy prey. Coyotes can be so bold to even take cats of their front porch and I have seen this myself in large Cities that back to open green space. Try not to think about if their death was swift. Just keep your other kitty indoors. Fox will also prey on cats as well in addition to raptors. Again I am sorry.

Very sorry for the loss of your animals. An eagle can take cats easily but a redtail would struggle with 8 lbs and would have to resort to eating it on the ground. I've read accounts of owls taking cats too. Coyotes, foxes and wolves are definite possibilities too. You will need to enclose any small animals for them to be outside.

If you are going to allow your animals outdoors you should accompany them and teach them the boundaries of your property. No coyote or hawk will attack your pet with a human presence about. I taught my Boston terrir the boundaries of our yard, then I taught my domestic shorthair cat the boundaries. It is more challenging with a cat but it can be done. Now we have a Yorkie-Shi Tzu mix remaining. One of us is with him when he is in the yard and our presence is open to the sky so hawks can see us. We formerly had a bird feeder that was preyed on by hawks, who would leave behind a few featers only. We saw hawks with their prey in our yard in winter. Nothing has ever happened to any of our pets we've accompanied. It is the only safe way a pet can go outdoors with hawks and coyotes nearby. We also put up a small fence for our dog but, as others have testified, a fence is useless against hawks and coyotes. A cat can escape a fence of any dimension, also.

Red-tailed hawks when in colder seasons are particularly hungry, would certainly attack a prey even in close presence of humans. I've seen them diving on busy NYC side walks . I don't know about coyotes. They haven't arrived in the city ........yet

Coyotes will snatch a dog or cat with the owner present. they will be so bold as to try and take a small dog when it's still attached to the leash while the owner is walking it. It happens in the Cities all the time in California. People don't believe it until it happens to them.

For anyone who might know: Do red-tailed hawks occasionally hunt at night ? I know they do hunt just before sunrise, or after sunset. But what about in later hours ?