Will do. I think someone is coming tomorrow to try to catch it. :)
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Your hawk is evidently a Cooperâs Hawk, based on your iNat record. They are common in my area, including in suburban settings, and the occasional one will become aggressive towards people especially if it is defending a nest. Iâve had a couple of experiences where I approached a nest tree and had the Coop come flying down and almost hit me in the head. One place of business in my town put up signs warning about the nesting hawk and some workers started wearing hats to protect themselves when they stepped outside. On the other hand, Iâve had Coops nest right behind my house and fly through my yard and never showed sign of aggression.
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Hawk update. We were disappointed that the plans for the hawk fell throughâno one wants to drive here. Northern PA is fairly empty and, interestingly and unfortunately, devoid of wildlife rehabilitation experts, so if anyone ever wants to start a facility, I have a suggestion about a location. :) The hawk seems fine though, so I donât think itâs starving. The game commissioner came by today. He checked the yard for a nest, but there isnât one. (I didnât think there was a nest in the yard, to be honest.) Itâs also a little early for nesting up here apparently, which according the Game Commissioner is generally the end of February. So why the hawk is attacking is still unclear. The GC talked to a biologist who says such attacks happen on occasion. We are allowed to defend ourselves against an attacking hawk, but really we are reluctant to do anything that will harm the hawk. The GC says he can try to net it, but other than that, thereâs little he can do. I have found a raptor sanctuary near us in NY State (weâre right on the border). They are willing to talk to us about the hawk, so I may give them a call. The issue here is that this is farm country. While weâll avoid harming the hawk, I know there are others out there who will have less compunction about it should it go after chickens or people.
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I went through all of the posts above and read each one carefully; then I reviewed the images that were uploaded in regards to the âHawkâ in question. I was curious to the details when I saw Hawk âattackâ directed toward people. Having observed Cooperâs in nesting mode through three years in my area, and being within close proximity taking images of adults nesting, I was intrigued by the behavior, and the âdeductionâ that it was a Cooperâs.
I was not able to deduce it was (or is) a Cooperâs Hawk from the two images posted or the circumstantial evidence that has been discussed. The images appear as silhouette(s) and the tail in the images appear âblockyâ and not long (rectangular) for Accipiters. At best - and provisional - I would have proposed Red-shouldered, but perhaps it is premature to leap to any conclusion to the species (or Genus) without additional images to verify. If you are able to get better images to share, that would help clarify the specific hawk in question, and pin down the behavior attributed to the kind of hawk you have experienced. I look forward to hearing (and/or) seeing more info in regards to this Hawk and behavior.
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if no one can relocate the hawk, i wonder if it would be possible to train it just enough so that it stops attacking people? iâm thinking maybe when you spot it, have a staring contest for a few minutes, and if it doesnât do anything aggressive, then offer a piece of a chicken drumstick in a dish. but if it behaves aggressively, then just go back inside without offering a treat. repeat every once in a while â not enough that it will always expect a reward, but enough so that maybe it will stop being so aggressive. can a bird be taught to love humans before humans learn to hate the bird?
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Itâs pretty much unacceptable to imprint wild raptor bird on humans, that only will lead to bad end for bird and for people, chicken leg wonât work, what is needed is to make it more wild, to make it being afraid of humans, but for that itâs needed to catch and relocate the bird. Feeding it is like feeding urban bears.
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And the ones who believe that there is such a species as a âchicken hawkâ â which looks like any hawk they happen to see.
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