Tips for Scaring Off Returning Hawks at Bird Feeders

The hawk is back and its eating all the birds that you've been feeding for awhile. In two days its swiped three of the four birds that you've grown attached to and it's not letting up. The bad thing is that you can't see the hawk in the trees and so you can't shoo it away from the feeding area when new seed is put out.

A hawk knows when its has a good thing going for it, plenty of water in the birdbath and lots of birds at the feeder to pick off one by one. There are times when the hawk seems to have left the area and birds appear to be safe. There are two reasons for this. The first is that they are waiting for the next batch of birds to come in and become accustomed to watering and eating in the same area.

The second is that hawks are migratory. They head South for winter months and return in the spring by heading North. While this is true for most hawks there is always an exception to the rule where one may choose to stay. In spring hawks nest so returning hawks spell bad news for those feeding and watering birds. They will build where the birds are more abundant and use those birds and their babies to feed their own. The hawk babies will return to their familiar stomping ground upon reaching adulthood followed by their babies that is until the birds run out or become less plentiful.

Once a hawk has found a source of birds at a feeder its going to be extremely difficult to drive it off. Hawks don't scare easily and don't mind flying an arm length or less away from you to get a bird, but they can be startled and surprised. Screaming and running toward a hawk can sometimes cause it to drop a bird before it gets a chance to kill it. Throwing a stick or a rock at a branch beside it can make it fly away. Startling the hawk might cause it to fly off but its not going far. It will fly next door, a tree over or it may fly around the block and circle back.