![]() ![]() In the first few months of their lives they must learn how to fly and to hunt. Statistically, as many as 80% of some species of raptors die before they are a year old. What they needed while captive was their natural animal diet. Fine for humans, but not for birds of prey. She told the game protector she fed the two raptors peanut butter sandwiches because of peanut butter's high protein content. The woman felt, and still feels despite the birds' deaths that none of God's creatures should eat any other living thing. They died hours after being seized, not from their injuries, but from starvation. ![]() In addition to the injuries that initially placed the raptors in her hands, both birds were dehydrated and malnourished. ![]() A few years ago, a state game protector seized a red-tailed hawk and a turkey vulture from a Pennsylvania woman who claimed to be a bird rehabilitator, even though she was not licensed by the state or the U.S. They cannot, like we humans, derive their protein from vegetable sources and remain in good health. Birds of prey, on the other hand, can only eat other animals to survive. Actually humans fall into the omnivore category which means we can and do eat other foods in addition to meat. Perhaps you will be able to more fairly view a hawk at your feeder by keeping in mind that raptors, like most humans, are carnivores, that is, meat eaters. The hawk's many misses compared to its few successful strikes will soon make it obvious how difficult sustaining life can be for birds of prey. If you have a hawk at your feeder, instead of labeling it a nasty feathered killer, take the time to watch and learn more about it. It also means, however, that you will be afforded the opportunity of witnessing, first-hand, the relationship between predator and prey, rather than watching it on the Discovery Channel or PBS on TV. The second option, feeding all of the birds, even the raptors, means some of the birds at your feeder will die. If this is the case for you, as it is for many people, then choose the first option to discourage a hawk at your feeder. The killing of a bird at your feeder may be too graphic a view of nature for you, especially if the bird caught by a hawk is as delicate as a mourning dove or goldfinch, with no life-saving defenses at its disposal other than its reflexes and speed. No matter how quickly seed vanishes from feeders - at our house it seems to disappear before we can get back into the house after filling the feeder - the birds being fed are still getting the majority of their food from natural sources, even in the winter. A recent study on the feeding habits of chickadees at bird feeders showed that the seed in feeders supplies only a small portion of their daily food requirement. If you hesitate to stop feeding the birds because you fear they will starve to death without the seed you provide for them, stop worrying. Two weeks to a month of an empty feeder should be enough time to discourage a hawk. When the area around the feeder no longer provides a good hunting spot, the hungry raptor will search for food elsewhere. The first solution, not filling the feeder, will cause the seed eating birds to disperse, in turn, removing the hawk's ready source of food. Shooting or trapping raptors is not an option - both are illegal. There are two alternatives: temporarily stop feeding the seed eating birds, or continue to feed all of the birds. Their fare, however, is not seeds, but the birds that eat them.ĭuring the year, especially in the winter, we receive calls at the raptor center about hawks at feeders and what can be done about them. Hungry hawks, attracted by the large number of songbirds congregated about feeders, satisfy their hunger by eating at the feeder, too. When bird lovers fill their feeders, their intention usually isn't to feed all of the birds, raptors included yet that is often what happens. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |