Witnessing a hawk snatch a songbird off your birdfeeder can be quite a shock. Although most of us understand the food chain, backyard birders would prefer these sharks of the sky get their meals elsewhere.
Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks are the two most common birds of prey that visit birdfeeders in urban Orange County, says Biologist Scott Thomas, who runs raptor research for the local Sea & Sage Audubon Society.
Cooper's Hawks' numbers have grown significantly in California as they adapted to finding prey at birdfeeders and nesting in urban areas.
BRUCE CHAMBERS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
"Sharp-shinned Hawks are migrants and visit our area from October through March or April, while Cooper's Hawks are here year-round," Thomas said.
Both are fast, agile fliers that can maneuver around buildings and trees in a surprise attack. Both species prey chiefly on small birds, while the Cooper's Hawk includes some small mammals in its diet.
"About 25 years ago, Cooper's Hawks were on California's special concern list," he said. "At that time they were not very common in neighborhoods."
But their numbers have grown significantly as they adapted to finding prey at birdfeeders and nesting in urban areas, he said.
"We've tracked them and found the hawks actually fly a circuit every day, going from feeder to feeder," Thomas said. That means once a raptor finds a meal at a feeder, it will likely return.
While you can't always protect your backyard birds from an aerial attack, you can give your songbirds an edge by taking a few precautions.
"Hang your feeders in a tree so the birds have a better chance of escape," Thomas said. "And don't put feeders up against a window where the small birds may become panicked and fly into it."
Add a baffle or an umbrella-type cover over the feeder so the birds will be less visible from aerial predators. And remove dead branches from the trees on your property where hawks may perch for hunting.
If a hawk has become a real menace to your backyard birds, take the feeder down for a few weeks. The hawk will move on, but it may also return when the feeder birds return. Keep in mind that this cycle of life will go on whether you have a backyard feeder or not.
And to help protect the health of all birds in your yard, Thomas recommends cleaning feeders and birdbaths regularly with 10 percent bleach solution. Hawks are susceptible to certain diseases typically transmitted at birdfeeders.
Jennifer J. Meyer is a freelance writer from Mission Viejo. Write to her at firstname.lastname@example.org or visit her blog at jjthebackyardbirder.blogspot.com.