How Do You Keep A Hawk From Killing Birds At A Birdfeeder?

20 February 2010 7 Comments

I feed wild birds throughout the winter for the fun of it and don’t want to quit feeding them, but a hawk keeps killing them. I live in a semi-rural area in Southern Ohio and love my birds. The feeder is near my kitchen window (15ft) and the Hawk swoops in from field and scares the birds. Normally birds fly into the window and the hawk picks them up and carries them away. It has killed over 8 birds and it has left 2 birds to die on my deck. Please help me.
-thanks

7 Comments »

birdgirl said:

Sounds like you need to move the feeder away from the window first of all. You can take it down entirely for a week or so until the hawk realizes there is no easy meals there and then replace it (away from the window) once the hawk leaves the area. Or keep it up, but move it to an area where there is some cover for the birds so they might hide if the hawk comes in. You last choice is to remove the feeder completely. I assume this is a Cooper’s Hawk that is eating them..they are smaller hawks and are very maneuverable. Besides that, there is not much you can do to stop nature. Keep in mind you cannot harm, or harass the hawk in any way, they are protected by law.

# 20 February 2010 at 12:56 pm

Buffua said:

Well you can lots of things to stop the hawk (thats such a sad story ) some things you can do is put out a second bird feeder and put some meat in it. Hopefully the hawk will start eating there instead of killing the birds. Another way is taking the bird feeder you had and put it in a well hidden place fom the hawk, but also a place where the other birds can find it. Really hope this helped you and the little birdies .

# 20 February 2010 at 3:14 pm

Danielle said:

I know for domesticated birds in outdoor aviaries, putting some sort of opaque covering over where birds are housed deters hawks, as they can’t see the birds in the aviary from above.
You could try putting some sort of roof over your feeder. But if the hawk already knows your house is a great place to find prey, it could still come back.

# 20 February 2010 at 6:15 pm

colliemo said:

I had almost the same problem last year. I stopped feeding the birds for about a week. The hawk has figured out that your bird feeder is an easy way to get its meals. If there are no birds around, it will go find somewhere else to feed. I also put my bird feeder near bushes and trees so the birds have somewhere to hide when the hawk swoops down. Hope this helps.

# 21 February 2010 at 12:32 am

wacky said:

With great difficulty !!!
I have two Sparrow Hawks that use my garden as a feeding centre and try what may I can not stop them from taking birds whilst they are feeding, they will even chase into bushes to flush them out and pounce on them when they are trying to escape.
Unfortunately I have been unable to prevent this carnage even with caged feeders.

# 21 February 2010 at 4:31 am

MyChemic said:

hmmm… well thats a hard one… perhaps you should move your feeder. You could move it somewhere more private for the birds. Somewhere less open so the birds can hide from the hawk. I would move it to a tree or bush. It’s harder for a hawk to swoop threw tree branches than open air. Hope I helped!

# 21 February 2010 at 7:25 am

Gary said:

Bird Shot and a 12 guage

# 21 February 2010 at 10:08 am