What Hawk species is most likely a harm to chickens

@eligug08, thanks for sharing!

Yes, raccoons (and the cold) are the reason our chickens are shut INSIDE the coop at night.

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Ever since you explained how you chose your user name in this forum topic:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-did-you-choose-your-inat-username/54085/36
I’ve been hoping to see a photo of your chickens.

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Oksana herself:

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She’s beautiful!

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I’m willing to bet she got whatever she wanted when she gave you that look.

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Well, all she wanted was a hug and some mealworms, and I was happy to oblige.

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Not a hawk, but a Merlin is vicious for a slightly larger than pigeon bird. Between it and weed spraying only the quiet, reserved sparrows and finches survive.

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I’ve seen what they do to snowshoe hares. :grimacing:

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Cooper’s Hawk and Goshawk are likely to take chickens, if the chickens are available. Red-tails less so, I think, but they’re so abundant that they can still account for lots of dead chickens. Great Horned Owls, if the chickens are kept in a place without a roof or screen at night. (Back when I worked peripherally with rescued raptors, some of the owls had been trapped in chicken coops.)

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Thanks! It is cool to see everyone’s opinions.

This is very accurate. Where I live (NC lower elevation) it is Cooper’s hawks first, then a Red-tail. I work at a public museum (state) and oversee the ornithology research/collections, and I do a lot of outreach. The most frequent report to me, of a hawk preying on a chicken, is of Cooper’s hawk.

If you live where Goshawks also live, then yes, they will happily come after your chickens.

The feet, and strength, of Red-shouldered is too small/low to be able to prey upon a chicken (unless it’s a chick). It’s really not what this hawk does.

Similarly it would be unusual for a Sharp-shinned to try. Definitely not a male but I could see a young female giving it a shot - they never read the books/field guides you know? :joy:

Great Horned owls can, and will, consume just about anything. Nothing is safe from one - including other hawks and smaller owls. Sadly, we receive many road killled GHOW’s and it’s amazing to see what can be in their stomachs.

That said, we’ve had 3 neighbors, and I have one colleague who was halfway across the state - all of whom were attempting to raise/maintain a small flock of chickens. All of them said the biggest challenge was Gray Fox. And if there were any Red Foxes around, then that was the second-biggest menace.

They said the foxes gave them more trouble than any hawk. They each were aware (wildlife cameras etc). They knew some of the problem areas of the coops and made constant adjustments. For one of them, it finally worked out. The others were busy with jobs and kids and finally gave up. (Once the last chicken had been captured and hauled away).

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