Hawk looking in my chicken coop

[thistlebloom]

One day I was driving down the road and I saw what was either a hawk or an owl, wings spread out and hanging upside-down from the top of a telephone pole. I wish I'd stopped and gotten a picture of it. Can't imagine what on earth could have happened to it, except maybe electrocution, but I always thought birds couldn't get electrocuted because they aren't grounded. Otherwise it looks like a cartoon hawk maybe flew into the pole, but he would have had very poor vision maybe? And upside down? Still scratching my head about that one...

They can get electrocuted if they touch a body part, say a tail feather or something, to something that is grounded. I don't know how power poles are set up, but I used to find songbirds dead and hanging on the hot wire around my neighbors pasture. Evidently they landed on the wire close to a post and somehow touched the post while sitting on the wire.

 

[desertlady]

hawks will be back no matter what ! Hope you got netting up.

 

[journey11]

One day I was driving down the road and I saw what was either a hawk or an owl, wings spread out and hanging upside-down from the top of a telephone pole. I wish I'd stopped and gotten a picture of it. Can't imagine what on earth could have happened to it, except maybe electrocution, but I always thought birds couldn't get electrocuted because they aren't grounded. Otherwise it looks like a cartoon hawk maybe flew into the pole, but he would have had very poor vision maybe? And upside down? Still scratching my head about that one...

They can get electrocuted if they touch a body part, say a tail feather or something, to something that is grounded. I don't know how power poles are set up, but I used to find songbirds dead and hanging on the hot wire around my neighbors pasture. Evidently they landed on the wire close to a post and somehow touched the post while sitting on the wire.

Wow, I bet that's what happened then! It was at the top of the pole, so the feet must have been stuck.

I've not had any trouble yet with hawks on my chickens. I see tons of them around though. I guess the neighbors' 11 acres fenced for rabbit beagles has contained enough bunnies for them to eat. I'll not bet the farm on it though!

 

[Naughty]

I believe it is illegal to shoot hawks here also.... however I am older and my eyesight is not that good. I don't see hawks often but I do see some large crows eyeing my chickens that I will be happy to shoot. It sux when your eyes are going bad and you can't tell the diff between a hawk and a crow.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Just this past Tuesday evening I was talking to a neighbor who brought me a load of manure. We were standing in the doorway of my wood shed and he quickly looked up and there were two gigantic black silhouettes of some kind of birds. My chickens had just gone into the coop for the evening and it was dark out. These birds were enormous! I'm guessing a 4 to 5 ft. wingspan. They were only 10 or 15 ft. off the ground and moving fast so we didn't get but a two or three second glimpse. We were thinking that they must have been owls but within a few minutes of them flying over our heads we heard what sounded like a Herron squawking back by the dam. I'm pretty sure they were not Herrons. Spooky

 

[Nyboy]

Where I am we have redtail hawks. They are huge I can see them taking out a kitten or puppy with no problem.

 

[catjac1975]

A young pteranodon?
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/PterodactylsHauntSkies30mar05.shtml
Crazy but in a way I wish it were true.

Just this past Tuesday evening I was talking to a neighbor who brought me a load of manure. We were standing in the doorway of my wood shed and he quickly looked up and there were two gigantic black silhouettes of some kind of birds. My chickens had just gone into the coop for the evening and it was dark out. These birds were enormous! I'm guessing a 4 to 5 ft. wingspan. They were only 10 or 15 ft. off the ground and moving fast so we didn't get but a two or three second glimpse. We were thinking that they must have been owls but within a few minutes of them flying over our heads we heard what sounded like a Herron squawking back by the dam. I'm pretty sure they were not Herrons. Spooky

 

[thistlebloom]

Just this past Tuesday evening I was talking to a neighbor who brought me a load of manure. We were standing in the doorway of my wood shed and he quickly looked up and there were two gigantic black silhouettes of some kind of birds. My chickens had just gone into the coop for the evening and it was dark out. These birds were enormous! I'm guessing a 4 to 5 ft. wingspan. They were only 10 or 15 ft. off the ground and moving fast so we didn't get but a two or three second glimpse. We were thinking that they must have been owls but within a few minutes of them flying over our heads we heard what sounded like a Herron squawking back by the dam. I'm pretty sure they were not Herrons. Spooky

Black Vultures have a 5' wingspan and Turkey Vultures have a 6' wingspan. It would not be extremely unusual to see them at dusk.
Both of those birds range in your area year round. ( According to Stokes Field guide ).

 

[Smiles Jr.]

A young pteranodon?
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/PterodactylsHauntSkies30mar05.shtml
Crazy but in a way I wish it were true.

I was going to say something like that but I didn't know how to spell Pterodactyl.

Black Vultures have a 5' wingspan and Turkey Vultures have a 6' wingspan. It would not be extremely unusual to see them at dusk. Both of those birds range in your area year round. ( According to Stokes Field guide ).

Oh yeah we have lots of Black and Turkey Vultures around here and it could have been a pair but their flight didn't look like vultures.

 

[Smart Red]

A young pteranodon? I was going to say something like that but I didn't know how to spell Pterodactyl.

I came home from work one day to hear that DH had seen a flock of pterodactyls at the waterfall. He had checked out our birding book and couldn't find anything closer to identify the new comers.

With a bit more research we decided it had been a flock of cedar waxwings rather than pterodactyls, that stopped for a bit of drink and rest. Still, it was fun to try to identify the birds from DH's description.

Love, Smart Red