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Wildlife: Foiling backyard ha~~~'- attacks ~~~ r~~t chi ... post-gazette how Wildlife: Foiling backyard hawk attacks Sunday, February 22, 2004 By Scott Shalaway The evidence is usually obvious. A pile of brown feathers indicates a mourning dove. Red feathers means a cardinal. Yellow suggests a goldfinch. Whenever I find a bunch of feathers in the yard, Iknow asharp-shinned or Coopers's hawk has come calling. And if I happen to be nearby when the kill occurs, the sky can rain soft, downy feathers immediately after an aerial attack. It's no wonder backyard birds spook so easily. But given the realities of beak and talon, I understand. A fleeting shadow crosses the yard and, in unison, all the birds freeze or flee. If I detect the panic, I scan the nearby trees for the hunter. Bird-eating hawks can wreak havoc at backyard feeding stations. That's what these hawks do -- they eat birds. There's nothing you can do to get rid of the hawks, but you can make sure your feeding area is relatively safe. Hang feeders within 10 feet of trees or shrubs, which provide escape cover for smaller birds. Try to appreciate the drama of predator and prey. I tell myself I'm lucky when a hawk visits my backyard. It's not often I get a close look at such a normally secretive bird. And it's rarer still to witness the matching of predator and prey. So I sit back and savor the drama. After all, the hawk doesn't always win. In fact, it usually loses. Typically, fewer than half of a hawk's strikes are successful. I feel fortunate to have observed several successful attacks. Once, a group of cub scouts came to my house for a bird banding demonstration. I had trapped a few goldfinches in advance and after banding them, I let the boys take turns holding and releasing the birds. All but the last flew uneventfully into the hedge that surrounded the yard. The last goldfinch flew straight up ... a fatal mistake. As the finch flapped skyward, asharp-shinned hawk that had been quietly perched in a neighbor's pine tree launched itself toward the goldfinch. Without missing a wing beat, the hawk grabbed the finch and flew to a favorite perch. There the hawk plucked its prey, then ate it. After witnessing the brutality of nature, the boys eagerly listened as I explained that sharp- shinned and Cooper's hawks specialize in killing other birds. As much as 97 percent of their diet is typically avian prey. That doesn't make bird-eating hawks bad. That's just what they do. And if you feed birds, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04053/276065. stm Page 1 of 2 i ~i~i~nm