The hawk and the little bird

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
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Recently, a cute little bird made a nest on top of one of the potted plants in my garden.

After two days of hard work, the little bird finished making her nest and probably laid two eggs. She dutifully started hatching them.

My entire family was quite thrilled by that simple act of procreation by nature.

Yesterday, to our horror, a large bird (looked like a hawk) swooped down on the nest, stood there for about 10 eggs and promptly gobbled both eggs before taking flight.

The little bird returned soon after to an empty nest. She has since flew away and has not returned.

How does one prevent a predator bird like that from eating eggs from a nest in our garden?

My children are little upset by the whole incident. I told them that's the law of nature/jungle. Only the fittest survives and the strong always bullies the weak.

Now about the counter measures, how does one prevent such an incident from recurring?
 
a few year ago when my apple tree was being pruned the fellow left overhead cover in one spot, he said he did this to hide a nest of baby birds from hawks. i guess you could introduce some overhead cover so the hawks dont see the nest and birds when flying over .

alex
 
Hi Golok,

The first choice that comes to mind is a bird house. Bird houses provide three kinds of protection:
  • physical protection from the weather so eggs won't get blown out of the nest by the wind
  • visual protection from the prying eyes of predators
  • physically blocks larger predators from getting at the eggs, if the entry hole to the bird house is too small for them to get into or reach through

Since you are in a tropical area that could have snakes as a predator species, you would have to figure out a way to keep them from reaching the nesting box. I believe there is some info on this on the linked pages below.

You can get some ideas for bird house sizes from the house plans linked from this page:
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/ndblinds/ndblinds.htm
While I'm sure the birds in your area are different ones than in North Dakota USA (which is where the site focuses on), you can use the plans as a launching point. Here's some more pages on bird houses plans:
http://ucs.orst.edu/~holubs/bird/birdhome.htm
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/birdhous/specs.htm
http://pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca/~davids/nestbox.html

Another point to remember about bird houses is that they don't need to be fancy painted ones with lots of detail. Birds are used to nesting in rustic surroundings. Making their house out of old weathered wood boards or covering the outside of the house with tree bark looks more natural to them. The fancy painted bird houses attract buyers, not necessarily birds. ;)

More critical elements are to match the location & size of the house (in tree, on pole, near ground, how high, etc) and the size of the entry hole to the species of bird you want to use the house. Be sure to make a drain hole in the floor (or leave tiny gaps in the flooring) so water can get out if the house happens to leak rain.

HTH,
- Greg -

(edited to add) Local libraries are a good source of information (bird books, woodworking books, local flora/fauna references) that would be specific to your locale. A library would be a good first stop when seeking info on bird houses for your local species. Government agencies (wildlife, park services, or conservation) may also have available info about birds in your area and plans for bird houses.
 
I had a problem 2 nights ago,when owls tried to snatch up my baby pygmy goats.I heard them screaming so when I ran outside he had droped the little goat.But not after he clawed the sh*t out of both of there necks.Every time I hear those owls screaching I run out with my 12 gauge hopeing to catch one in flight.
 
Originally posted by FEATHERSTONE
Every time I hear those owls screaching I run out with my 12 gauge hopeing to catch one in flight.
Click to expand...
Dude, don't shoot the owls-- they're just hunting to survive and can't tell the difference between livestock and wild prey. Years ago when I still lived with my parents, there was a large owl that came every night for about a week and killed a few ducklings. One night I heard it, grabbed my .410 and ran outside. The moon was full, and I could see the owl in a large black oak. I shot it, and it fell like a stone. I looked for close to an hour and couldn't find the body. I was out walking fences the next day when I found the wounded owl about 200 yards from where I had shot it. It was still alive and stuck in the fence, proud, defiant, and quite broken. I quickly put it out of its misery, but I've never forgotten it, and if I had it to do over again, I would have let the owl do its thing even if it meant losing a few more ducklings.
--Josh
 
Josh there is know way im going to let owls eat my animals sure they dont know,but would you let a pack of wolves eat your horse cause they didnt know it wasnt prey.You might except that I sure as hell dont.Ive had to shoot coyote because they were going after my horses,I will be damned if I just sit and watch my animals get eatin.

Sorry if I came off a little hard but im not going to just let some owl try and eat my goats.

You have to protect what is yours.
 
Featherstone-- I totally understand where you are coming from. I suppose I might have felt differently if I hadn't looked the owl in the eye. That was probably close to 15 years ago, and at the time, I didn't really think about it too much--it took a fair number of years for me to see it differently. To be honest, I thought about deleting my original post because I didn't want seem like I was bagging on you for protecting your livestock. I guess I decided to leave it because it's something I still feel badly about, and I haven't mentioned it to anyone in a long time. Felt kinda good to get it off my chest I guess.
--Josh
 
Hey Josh im glad you understand.By the way I remember you talking about getting a blade from Mineral Mountain Hatchet works did that ever happen and if so which one did you get and how does it perform.

P.S Once again im sorry if I came of a little harsh.
Yours in blades,RYAN
 
Featherstone-- still haven't purchased a Mineral Mountain blade. My wife and I just got our first home last year, so I have had pretty much no money for knives. I'll be ordering a survival bowie later this month or early next month, probably the 12" blade. I'm heading over to the coast for an extended camping trip in the early part of July, so hopefully I'll have it before then. I'll be sure to post a review after I get a chance to play with it for a while.
--Josh
 
Josh, I understand fully what you said about the wounded owl. Many, many moons ago, when I was still a young kid, I used to shoot at anything that moves, flies or creeps with my trusty catapult.

It so happened one day, I saw this bird flew onto a tree. By then my catapult skills were honed to a fine degree. Without a thought, I let out a shot from my catapult, the bird fell like a stone.

I quickly ran over to have a look at my first "kill". When I saw the pebble which I had used, lodged in the bird's throat, I was overcome with sorrow. I didn't realise until then the horror of killing an animal, a bird in this case.

Since then, I have given up shooting creatures. I still have my catapults though. Call it a young boy's education but I too have not forgotten the look in the bird's eyes.
 
FEATHERSTONE, Every state has a Wildlife Services unit (they used to be called Federal Trappers), usually attached to the state dept of Agriculture. They do all kinds of nuisance wildlife control. Contact them and tell them your problem. They have the means to live trap the owl and move it to an area where it will not get into trouble. No cost to you directly, your tax dollars at work!:D

GD
 
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