Last Updated on October 13, 2022 by Guillermina
Hawks are a category of predatory birds that are members of the raptor family and have eyes as keen as their talons. These birds can quickly grab animals from nowhere because of their powerful talons. You wouldn’t want your kitten taken from you yeah. So I’ll discuss how to keep hawks away from your yard here.
Hawks naturally hunt small animals like rodents, frogs, and snakes, which can be comparable in size to domestic pets like chickens, small dogs, and rabbits. This alone makes individuals who reside near hawk habitats concerned about their pets or farm animals being attacked by these giant birds.
Thankfully, there are certain ways to frighten them off and render your home unsuitable for their hunting preferences. This article goes into great detail about these measures.
Table of Contents
What Attracts Hawks In Your Yard?
So you are probably asking “why are hawks hanging around my house?”. Here’s what to know. Human-populated areas are not the best choice for hawks.
Therefore, if you notice these birds in your backyard, and you’re wondering how to keep hawks away from your yard; there may be a significant pull for them there. What, though, may it be? We have a few concepts. Look at the following:
- Bird feeders: The most significant factor that might cause these raptors to circle your home yard is bird feeders. How does this work? These feeders don’t draw them in because of the seeds, suet, or other food you place inside. The feeders attract various kinds of birds and small animals, which usually are the prey of hawks. Read How to Protect Bird Feeders from Hawks? to learn some more tips.
- Flowers; The shrubs and flowerbeds can also attract numerous little songbirds and other flying insects even without the feeders. Hawks may also visit your yard in an endeavor to capture some of these insects and birds.
- Tall trees: Is there a tree in your yard that towers over the others in the area in terms of height? If so, the hawks could be exploiting it as a perch to look for potential prey. Hawks are also attracted to trees with nuts. As you may already be aware, squirrels, other rodents, and occasionally birds love these trees. The hawks may arrive in your yard if these little animals frequently visit it in search of nuts to catch them for a meal.
- Pets: Do you have a little dog, cat, chicken, or duck as a pet? While none represent typical prey, a hungry or desperate hawk may attack them.
- Water source: Any amphibian can be drawn to a water source in your garden or yard, whether a small pond (natural or artificial), a fountain, or a birdbath. These amphibians may draw the hawk species who prefer preying on them.
What Do Hawks Eat?
Inasmuch as you’re learning how to keep hawks away from your yard, wouldn’t it be nice to learn what they eat?
These raptors mostly hunt rabbits, frogs, snakes, fish, insects, and smaller birds like doves and pigeons. Hawks also love to catch their prey on the ground rather than in the air, which is why ground-feeding birds are their primary prey.
When there is a food shortage, it has been observed that some of the more giant hawk species may take young pets and farm animals with them. This does not, however, happen frequently.
What Scares Hawks Away From Yards?
You must have been asking your friends “how do you scare hawks away but not birds?”
The following steps might assist you if you wish to defend your backyard birds against hawk attacks.
Give the Backyard Birds some Cover
The abundance of lovely songbirds and other species that bird feeders attract to your yard can also attract predators like hawks. Even though you wouldn’t want to put these feeders down, if you put them in the appropriate spot, they may benefit the birds who eat from them.
It would be ideal to situate your feeder closer to or in the center of any thick shrubs, shrubberies, or low-hanging trees in your yard. So, if hawks attack the helpless backyard birds on the feeders, these birds will at least be able to hide behind the shrubs and trees.
Gather a crowd
Creating a crowd may be a highly effective strategy for defending your pet fowl birds from raptors like hawks. If you already have a few hens or ducks, get a few more to gather numbers.
Even though hawks are incredibly lethal, they prefer to pursue lone prey because they don’t want to take the chance of being overpowered. Therefore, the hawks won’t bother your feathered companions as long as they move in a group.
Use Roosters as Bodyguards
Roosters can be very protective creatures. Due to their strong alpha personalities, these male crows will immediately monitor the perimeter for danger and keep a watch on all the chicks.
If you get a rooster specifically, for this reason, make sure they exhibit protective traits right away, so you feel comfortable leaving your hens in the yard.
Scarecrows as Hawk Deterrents
There is no reason why scarecrows, usually employed to scare away smaller birds from fields and are named after crows, cannot also be used to deter potential raptors like hawks.
Since hawks like to stay away from people, they will generally stay away from your property if they detect people around. You need to be aware of a few things if you’re employing scarecrows to frighten away hawks. First, you must maintain relocating it across your yard every few hours.
The hawks can find it strange if it has been standing in the same spot for an extended period. Additionally, you shouldn’t leave them outside all the time; occasionally, you should bring them inside.
Get a Guard Dog
Guard dogs have kept predators away from helpless creatures for many years, and they can do the same for your home pets. However, if you decide to obtain a guard dog, you should adopt it while it is a puppy.
You’ll have plenty of time and chances to teach them to treat your ducks and chicks as companions rather than as food.
Conclusion On How To Keep Hawks Away From Your Yard
Here we are on the final thoughts on how to keep hawks away from your yard. Phew!
Hawks may be terrific predators, but you can control them if appropriate safety measures are taken. It would be best if you also remembered that several countries have stringent laws against hurting animals.
Hence, you must ensure that the measures taken to drive them away from your home are entirely harmless.
If these measures don’t work as you expected them to, you can try contacting your local animal service authorities for some more different ways you can drive the disturbing hawks away, but please let us know in the comment section what you learnt about how to keep hawks away from your yard.