Controlling birds of prey

[MJE2083]

I was recently wondering about predation on small game species from birds of prey, and I know that raptors are federally protected. I'm just wondering how/why we are permitted to hunt/manage predators such as coyote, fox, bobcat, etc... but what manages raptor populations? Could someone enlighten me more on the issue? Is the fur-trade the only reason for hunting of coyote, fox?

 

[Crumb]

This is a good question, I was wondering the same as I was hunting this weekend it seems I am seeing more hawks, owls and eagles than ever.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

Birds of prey certainly do not have the reproductive output that coyotes do. They also are more sensitive to contaminants in the environment. Starting a public campaign to hunt birds of prey would be a losing battle. I would rather put energy in increasing states with hunting seasons for sandhill cranes and doves.

Also, blaming predators for lack of game is a favored past time of some (especially here in Wisconsin. if one talks about public lands folks eyes glaze over, but folks will come out of the woodwork to piss and moan about wolves). A lot of small game populations are cyclical. Habitat also plays a much bigger factor in small game populations than does birds of prey abundance.

 

[MJE2083]

I was reading something about ruffed grouse and their place in the food chain. The stat that stuck out to me was that roughly only 80 out of 1000 grouse survive their first year, and that owls and hawks are the major predator.

 

[MJE2083]

Blaming coyote is a favorite past time of many folks here in PA. I've often heard a conspiracy theory that coyotes were "stocked" in PA by the game commission, with the backing of the auto insurance industry, to intentionally lower the deer population (therefore reducing car-deer collisions).

 

[Gut Shot]

It wasn't all that long ago that hunting for Great Horned Owls was considered fine sport in this country. An acquaintance has one mounted in his trophy room. Horned owls, at one time, were the chief predator of pheasants.

 

[406LIFE]

I couldn't quote you stats on raptors and their impact on small game, but from my experience and study in the area, it wouldn't be any more than other contributing factors. To say that raptors are the reason X is declining would be hard to empirically prove. Their metabolisms are quite high and they do spend nearly all their time hunting for their next meal. But if you have ever hunted with one, you would understand better their catch rate. Their numbers as pinnacle predators are very low and naturally managed quite well. They migrate and will move on to find food if it becomes low.

And as stated above, raptors are very fragile family. When used in falconry, they are weighed daily and fractions of an ounce are critical. There is great susceptibility inherent in their kind. Think of it as a highly tuned foreign race car and you through sugar in the gas tank...results are disastrous.

Again, as stated above, if you were to propose any type of control on them to reduce populations, the outcry would not only be tremendous, but I think the backlash would be so sever as to endanger our already established hunting traditions.

(I am a falconer myself.)

 

[hank4elk]

I never figured out why someone would shoot one .Yeah they eat some quail & ducks & pheasants.They are not the full reason for the decline of those birds.They do not fly off with calves,fawns & kids daily. I remember the eagles,hawks & owls disappearing from DDT and why they became protected.

Have a buddy recently brag about shooting the hawk that had taken a chicken.Seriously I asked? Guy could easily cover the pen.He also just lets them free range the yard.Fine. Suffer the circumstances.Guys place is just crawling with rodents like most of NM. His plowed fields are usually prairie dog dust bowls.Spends tons of $ shooting & reloading for predators and varmits.lol

I was just admiring the cottontail fur piles that the owls & hawks have been leaving on my place lately. When I moved here I rarely saw any raptors besides the Kestrels & occational eagle. I now have a pair of redtails nesting here & numerous owls.Building some barn owl boxes next week too.

 

[Big Sky]

Frankly some things just don't need to be hunted.

 

[Ben Long]

Someone said "I was reading something about ruffed grouse and their place in the food chain. The stat that stuck out to me was that roughly only 80 out of 1000 grouse survive their first year, and that owls and hawks are the major predator." I think the major predator on grouse chicks is weather. One badly timed cold rain or snow will wipe out an entire brood, and many broods at a time. No doubt some die in talons, but the best way to protect upland birds from predation is providing adequate hiding cover. They've survived owls and hawks for a long long time and don't really need much help at it, IMO.

 

[406LIFE]

Have a buddy recently brag about shooting the hawk that had taken a chicken.

He wouldn't be a buddy for long. And he would have an unpleasant visit from a gamewarden. That's a federal crime.

 

[freerange]

Don't post here a lot but I find this an interesting topic.

A game warden in an area I don't often upland hunt but deer hunt quite regularly said in that area the numbers of quail had been hammered in recent years by ravens who wreak havoc on the birds when nesting and with small young. The issue wasn't ravens wising up to the prey opportunity but a dramatic increase in the number of ravens in the area, probably due to human development and all the good things that come with it like roadkill and trash.

I've seen hawks try and get adult quail while I was hunting but not surprisingly have never seen them be successful. I figure the hawks, like most predators, were hoping to flush the covey and see if there were any wounded stragglers that would present an easy target, which is the valuable role we all can agree predators play in their interaction with game species.

 

[MJE2083]

Thank you all for your responses. I am by no means advocating for the killing/hunting of raptors, just trying to better educate myself on the issues. It just interesting why we hunt some animals for food, some are killed as "pests" or for fur, and yet others are protected and/or revered. Strangely enough yesterday I was driving down the road I witnessed a red tail hawk chasing a flock of smaller birds that flew through a set of utility lines and that hawk sure smacked one of those lines and was almost dazed for a second.

 

[hank4elk]

He wouldn't be a buddy for long. And he would have an unpleasant visit from a gamewarden. That's a federal crime.

Yeah ,well I'm in NM. Catron county too. Federal crime? "What's that?", is a familiar sound here. Found out folks here do not care what LEO's think. Glad I'm no longer one .
I've given up on reporting to NMG&F,USDA-FS,BLM,NMSP,CCSO. Nothing gets done besides me getting looks.Now I have to watch my back....lol Effed up.