Sparrow Hawk Attacks

[ILUVBIRDS]

At First I was absolutly fascinated with seeing a Sparrow Hawk visit my garden! Never seen one before and never thought they would visit my garden. BUT...there has to be a but, it is a regular visitor and has scared off many of my birds!:confused: As well as killing many others. Anyone got any ideas on how to stop it visiting my garden, and will it attack my cat?

[BFS/BHD]

Well there isnt really a way of getting rid off it. I always think, well they have to eat to. But you can move your feeders closer to cover so the birds can make a quick escape. And highly unlikely it will take a cat.

[Whitezombie]

the sparrowhawk is making the most of a good food supply just as the blue tits are.

The cat kills far more birds than the hawk maybe it would not be a bad thing if it did take a few cats, after all cudly little tiddles is a mass murderer that will kill anything he can get his little fluffy paws on, and before you all start, i am actualy a cat lover and have always had cats..

[Ben]

:mad: the sparrowhawk is making the most of a good food supply just as the blue tits are.

The cat kills far more birds than the hawk maybe it would not be a bad thing if it did take a few cats, after all cudly little tiddles is a mass murderer that will kill anything he can get his little fluffy paws on, and before you all start, i am actualy a cat lover and have always had cats..

I agree about the killer cats,being plaqued by them,only seldom see a sparrow hawk near my feeders.

[Rita 70]

I too have mixed feelings about my sparrowhawk and discopurage it if i see it.
I move my feeder pole about every few days and always keep it near dense cover, but of course not everyone has big bushes for cover. My first ever sighting caught it wrstling with a thrush on the ground a foot from my french window and my instinct was to bang on the widow at once. Both birds flew off.

[Jenny]

ILUVBIRDS,

Sorry - missed this earlier. I have big sparrowhawk problem and move my ground feeder close to cover. I never spread food in the middle of the patch of green that should be a lawn but is a carpet of moss. I have a CatWatch that I move regularly to upset neighbourhood cats to try and deter them from hiding in the bushes. There is something a bit brutal I triedwhen I lived in town and that was not to feed during the summer - this four week gap meant birds sought food elsewhere but the effect was that the sparrowhawk got fed up and stayed away for a good eight months! Know they have to eat and feed young but a kill virtually every day was getting a bit much.

[Kerry L]

We have a pair of sparrowhawks that have been around for some time - I agree it is a bit of a shock when it happens right in front of you, but then (for me) it turns to awe! I feel sad for the birdie lunch, but it's just life - brutal though it may be. I would much rather watch them in action than some seal hunter - that is horrid:mad: . I was told that the females are larger than the males (hawks that is, can't speak for horrible hunters ) and that they are more inclined to go for the wood pigeons. The males tend to go for the small fry. The females are welcome in my garden any time because the pigeon population has gone crazy - there must be at least 20 nearby, I counted over ten in the front garden alone and didn't count the ones in the trees and on the rooves! All the neighbours are complaining about them - and getting ammo for their destruction (water pistol, brooms and catapults were mentioned!) - I say bring out the hawks!:)

[Emma]

Our Sprawk musn't be a very good one ;) ... sixteen known visits and not one kill. I know it's only a matter of time, though.

His usual route into the garden is from the south and he has to manoeuvre around a tree to get to the hanging feeders - this seems to give the birds chance to make their escape.

[Kerry L]

Just like the children, animals like to prove you wrong! We had a sparrowhawk on the pergola yesterday - my husband yelled for us all to look from our bedroom window, as it was perched in the climbing rose. By the time I had run upstairs and my son ambled in from his own bedroom (daughter on Berlin exchange - we have had a meat fest in her absence!), the blasted thing had flown away. I am happy to report no kill, but there were a few grey feathers on the ground this morning - not enough for a dinner kill, more likely a lucky escape. Drat and double drat - the pigeon got away!:mad:

[dorte]

In the 6 years I have lived in surbubia I have only seen one hawk in my garden patiently perched waiting for lunch to arrive. Whether he succeeded or not I don't know. What I do know is that a new neighbour has a very skilled murderer for a pet. I have lost min 6 of my doves (only collared wild ones, but I happen to like tham and most of them are raised in my garden) since the cat moved in less that 6 months ago. So I am thinking of investing in one of those things that emits a noise that the cats don't like, but they are around £40. Have any of you tried them and do they work? Short of the long is that I much prefer the occasional hawk to the more or less constant cat(s)! The cats are fed at home and don't eat what they kill anyway, whereas the hawk has babes to feed apart from himself and they are much smaller in numbers in the wild than the cats!!

[Jenny]

Dorte - sorry to hear about your neighbour's cat. The catwatch things aren't cheap but are definitely worth it. Don't bother though if neighbour's cat is deaf, it won't make a difference. Cats react to the things differently - some will turn and run; some go right up to it and then go off but they definitely don't like them. Moving your catwatch around every few days totally unnerves them! They work better with the mains adaptor, but it's worth a try on battery first. BTW, you can't use rechargeable batteries in Catwatches - I asked! Jenny

[dorte]

Thanks Jenny. I will just hope that cat is not deaf :rolleyes: I will soon find out I expect.

I would like to try one and then hook it up to a solar panel rather than mains supply. Unfortunately my skills in that direction are somewhat lacking, so if anybody out there know where to buy solar panels and how to hook them up with all sorts of things, please get in touch.

Next thing is 'water canons', but they seem more complicated to install due to water feed, etc.

[Jenny]

Dorte,
You'd need to contact manufacturer about the solar panel idea - suspect it's not a goer at this point in time. Jenny

[dorte]

Hi Jenny,

I'm pretty sure that I can find some eletrical genius:rolleyes: who could work out what to do or maybe I should just get my lazy a@*e to the diy store and ask.

Theorytically it should not be that difficult providing that the voltage is same for panel & appliance. (or use transformer).

Theory however is easy:o

If I solve the problem I'll post the solution

[Jenny]

That would be great. Just one question, what defence have you when (like today) the sun's not out!!;)

[dorte]

solar panels today do not actually need direct sun light to work - silly as it sounds - it's abit like you can get a tan by working outside without being in direct sunlight - so they will work when it is cloudy.

However, I was thinking, that I would hook up appliance, solar panel and a battery to store energy. You ever watched 'not easy being green'? They seemed to things like this all the time with all sorts, a couple of them were engineers, but that shouldn'y stop us;)

[julpepe]

I have 2 cat deterants connected to mains but I still get the odd cat in garden to be honest I really dont think there is a deterrant for cats unfortunatly.

[Emma]

I have 2 cat deterants connected to mains but I still get the odd cat in garden to be honest I really dont think there is a deterrant for cats unfortunatly.

How about a gun? ;)

[georgie]

Ooooh Emma

You're venturing onto dangerous ground saying that! Beware the pro cat lobby (who are many in number and particularly vociferous)... they don't all have a great sense of humour either!

Yeah a gun sounds a great idea in theory but I imagine I'd be a poor shot and then being pretty much a pacifist I can't imagine me using it....plus wouldn't you end up with a corpse to dispose of!!!!? (might smell on the compost heap :( ... but I digress)

I must admit though when I saw a cat stolling along the pavement with the waving legs of a nestling hanging out of its mouth, I nearly kicked the thing (the cat I mean not the nestling). And if I ever find out that a cat has killed a bird in my garden I feel guilty for ages.

What we need to deter the cats is a combination of measures by the bird feeding folks (all these measures have been extensively discussed on these pages) AND an onus on cat owners to deter their own pets from killing - how about fitting out kitty with a collar and bell?....and keeping the pesky animals in at dawn and dusk?.....

Cheers

Georgie

[Emma]

OK, If a gun is no good - how about some petrol and a match? There'd be no corpse to dispose of :D ;) Could make an unsightly mess on your lawn, of course.

[georgie]

Well maybe it's time to start stockpiling some fuel!

(Sadly, I see Dr Jreed has disappeared from our screens. I'd better quit posting trivia or maybe the same will happen to me......).

Back to birdwatching, all seems fairly quiet in our garden. (due to the continuing mild weather?) Just the usual regular goldfinches and sparrows and the blue tits and blackbirds have only just returned.

I'd almost welcome a sparrowhawk sighting!

Georgie

[Margaret]

Hi everyone, I've just joined this forum and have enjoyed reading the posts.

The other day I noticed a 'hawk' with a small bird in its tallons flitting around our small garden, I presume looking for somewhere to eat its kill, eventually it flew off, then I saw it again a few days later perched on a roof top. We always used to get one during very cold weather, I think hunting around bird tables was easier than hunting in the fields, this is the first time I have noticed one at this time of the year.

I have two cats and a dog, I think that our cats are so used to seeing the birds on the feeders that they rarely bother with them now - or maybe they've worked out that I shout at them which scares the birds off and they go and do their hunting in another garden:eek:

[ozzynell]

Ooooh Emma

You're venturing onto dangerous ground saying that! Beware the pro cat lobby (who are many in number and particularly vociferous)... they don't all have a great sense of humour either!

Yeah a gun sounds a great idea in theory but I imagine I'd be a poor shot and then being pretty much a pacifist I can't imagine me using it....plus wouldn't you end up with a corpse to dispose of!!!!? (might smell on the compost heap :( ... but I digress)

I must admit though when I saw a cat stolling along the pavement with the waving legs of a nestling hanging out of its mouth, I nearly kicked the thing (the cat I mean not the nestling). And if I ever find out that a cat has killed a bird in my garden I feel guilty for ages.

What we need to deter the cats is a combination of measures by the bird feeding folks (all these measures have been extensively discussed on these pages) AND an onus on cat owners to deter their own pets from killing - how about fitting out kitty with a collar and bell?....and keeping the pesky animals in at dawn and dusk?.....

Cheers

GeorgieIv'e just read your bit about cat's and iv'e just taken a kitten on funnily enough we've called him Georgie, my daughter found him on the side of the road dumped in an old carrier bag. He weighed under a pound in weight and was quite week. Like good caring people, we have nursed him to good health and he is doing well. We now have the problem of letting him go outside, we have several bird tables and many birds visit our garden including robin's wren's, doves and magpies ect. We also have the worry of the sparrow hawk that we see everyday at the bottom of our garden and whom broke his wing last year and we took him to the vets. Do we worry about the kitten getting preyed upon or him preying upon others. I don't really have much of a say because I quite regulary sit down to roast beef, chicken, pork, salmon turkey, and many other living creatures with out giving it a second thought, the only difference is I hav'nt had to chase and catch it first. I also wear leather shoe's. Really this makes us as bad has the cat, and the sparrow hawk and any other living creature that eats meat and fish. Now I don't belong to the pro cat lobby, and did not really intend on having a cat, but I can try and prevent him catching mice rats and birds, but I can't stop him doing what comes naturally to most living creatures, kill and eat or wear. Please don't shoot the cat, it's not it's fault.

[Solomon]

We used to have a vicious ginger tomcat, and never once did we see it catching birds in the garden*. We also never saw our neighbours cats in the garden catching birds after ours took up residence. Perhaps the best deterrent for cats in the garden is one of your own. :D


*We did see it fighting foxes in the street sometimes, especially in the summer nights. We lived opposite a factory, with a huge park at the end of the road at the time, and got all sorts of wildlife in the garden - lots of birds, but also hedgehogs, foxes and 2 ferrets! We think they escaped from somewhere, but how they got to us we dont now, becaus enone of our neighbours kept them. :confused:

[georgie]

Hi Ozzynell and Solomon

Just to get this into perspective - it was Emma that (jokingly?) suggested the gun not me! Water pistols are about the nearest I've got to using a gun.

My neighbour has two very attractive, friendly cats who I have never seen hunting - that is until a wood mouse took up residence in our garden! It (the mouse) likes to nibble the fat balls which I've hung just above the ground (to attract the ground feeding birds).

Anyway we saw (unusually) one of the cats snooping round in our garden other day, so I can only assume it's the mouse smell that has attracted it in. Now it occurred to me I could smear the top of the wall with repellent (as well as remembering to switch the catwatch on!:rolleyes: ). Solomon, I must say I thought your idea of using citrus oils a good one. I wondered though, do you think I could use vaseline as the base instead of fat? I've used vaseline as a slug repellent around plant pots and it certainly has 'staying power'. Do you think it would be harmful if it got on birds feet (or even cat paws?) .....

Georgie

[Solomon]

The vaseline probably wouldn't do them much harm, but the citrus oils might. I cant say for sure, and Im not a veterinarian, etc etc, but they can affect human skin in large quantities, when undiluted. How resistant to them a birds foot would be, I dont know. I cant see there being a problem with vaseline. its a pretty inert substance. i suppose it depends on how much the creature ate while grooming itself?