The BEST hawk deterrent for pigeon fanciers? BIOLOGY for the WIN!! 

Possibly so. But I have no doubt that many very good birds are taken as well, sometimes due to poor judgment of the fancier (me 😢)

That is awesome! I’ll have to get a crow call. My neighbor feeds them so that helps 🙂

Thank you, and good luck!!

I’m so glad! Thank you 🙏🏼

Thanks for the encouragement and I’m glad you didn’t give up!! That’s inspiring

Be even more believable if you got the Halloween ones that actually move. They'll probably be on sale in a few weeks.

Great point!

Agreed!!

Ha! Never thought of trying that one!! 😆

@@Unipuna love it!!! 😆

Yes, give it a try! And thanks for the kind words; it took me longer to build than I care to admit. 🙂🐑🙂

Really appreciate that!

Thanks my friend!!

I do feed the crows a bit here and there and the lady behind me does too. Here’s hoping!

Oh man!! Sorry to hear about that! Super frustrating! I appreciate you sharing your experience as it helps others following the channel too. Best wishes.

Thank you!! ☺️

🙏🏼🍀

Welcome 😊

🙏🏼

You're welcome!

Great idea to feed the crows! Check out the video I posted today with an update on this 🙂

Absolutely agree. For this reason for the past few months I’ve been setting out eggs for them that I was just going to toss.

Oh that is fascinating! I’m not surprised to hear that. Thanks for sharing

Hi Joseph! Long time it seems! We are doing well, thanks. And you?

Yep. Time to shut the birds down for a few months maybe

Oh that is very interesting!!

@@RFRP One of the OLRs is currently experimenting with it. I can't remember which one.

Thank you! 😊

True enough!

That is fascinating to hear about your father’s experience! Thank you for sharing. I leave eggs out for the crows too and the lady in the house behind mine feeds them. Thanks again!

thanks for your kind reply! Appreciate it I was thinking about not sharing that because my father is a very competitive guy and wants to get ahead with racing pidgeons, but on the other hand...that could seriously save some lives and from all I know the community can make good use of making the sport more popular by getting rid of some of the pains in it My dad went to jan theelen often and has a strong relationship with him, learns a lot of stuff from him. I will not out all his secrets here, but the crow stuff made me consider feeding them in my freetime as well and made me really appreciate those animals. They are very intelligent. And they defend without killing which is quite a good move for every single one affected in this situation. From the crows who get a good food source from you to you being able to defend your pidgeons to the pidgeons hopefully living in less fear and having more time to actually become strong and capable before the races as well as the falcons who live for another day because who knows what some pidgeon racers would do to them otherwise@@RFRP

Befriending a falconer is a good idea and they are licensed to trap. One of the barriers involved is that their licenses don't necessarily apply to all birds of prey. Most of them are only licensed to trap young birds, which leaves the mature birds of prey completely off limits.

That’s an interesting thought indeed! I could safely trap it and release it far away from my area but more would take its place. Too many trees in this neighborhood including a small forested patch.

🤞🏻

What about an owl hootin sounds, maybe??

Also: the more trees the better for the hawk to ambush. You have the same problem as me. If you can get rid of trees, make as much room as possible around the loft so the pigeons have visibility and the hawk's ambush doesn't work.

I have been putting it to the test and will have a video out soon with an update 🙂

Yes, I wish my loft was situated in a wide open area. Not much I can do about that unfortunately

It actually has helped! I’ll be posting an update on it soon. Got feedback from other fanciers that it has helped 🤞🏻

I had the exact same thought. Just need to find some online…

Thanks for commiserating

The idea is the audio recordings should ward off hawks since they try to avoid crows and ravens at all costs. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 What is your father’s experience with this?

😳 How old were your birds?

That is awesome to hear! Thanks for sharing, my friend!!

Aww that’s so kind of you to think about us! 🥰 Actually, since posting this update on hawk attacks I haven’t been flying my birds. Hawks do eat pigeons indeed. That’s nice that Henry is feeling comfortable taking longer flights. But, yes, it’s always a risk when your birds are out that a Cooper’s hawk or something might attack. Do you think Henry might fly off for good one day?

I can tell you what the last avian vet told me four or five months ago before his physical therapy that recovered his wing we did she said he would be unsafe in nature due to his attachment to me and my canine. That was a while ago and I since learned Henry was real young when we found him injured likely from a hawk! But I believe he’s now strong and athletic, and also looking to bond with a female and I can’t blame him. But he has no avian flock, and despite being attacked, he doesn’t know the risks out there in the big skies, I worry he will get lost or attacked again (like any mother would). He’s happy all the time, in the house, out there, he’s always smiling and exuberant! I will always be concerned about him…I know he wants to breed so I’m torn on my thoughts. Today he wasn’t let outside loose, we are playing w expensive pigeon pants and he’s humping my dogs stuffed animals lol

@@LizAlexy Yeah, I expect he’ll keep to you for the rest of his life. Oh dang! Buffy must have some cute plush toys!

Right?!

Thanks Gino!

Appreciate that Liz!

NICE!!! 😁

Well done!!

That is a cool idea! Raise a pet crow or two along with your pigeons 👍🏼 Best wishes my friend!

A few viewers have reported back that it has made a difference for them. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

😢😢 Sad to hear that. Where are you located?

🙏🏼

😢

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THANK YOU for offering this advice! I have always been interested in falconry and wish I could do it. As a kid I read every book I could find on falconry. I may have to try those whistles... I've seen some fanciers spray paint the underside of their birds' wings with fluorescent colored livestock paint in an attempt to deter birds of prey. Do you think this would actually deter a hawk or falcon? Really appreciate you taking the time to offer expert advice.

@@RFRP I don’t think the paint will will make a difference. But then I didn’t think the whistles would either and have seen that they really do work. if I let my pigeons stay out all day that’s when I risk even my best birds. The hawks will wait until the perfect moment to catch your birds off guard. letting the birds out a few times even seems to be ok. each time I let them out I add a little feed in so they want to go back and pick out their favorites grains and are then trapped. The most dangerous time to fly for me has been late morning and evening. Seems to be leak hunting times for my local hawks. I’ll upload a new video I took the other day of the pigeons flying with their whistle on. The cheap plastic ones from china are really good. Two tone, and the ball shaped one. In the video I’ll post about 5 birds have whistles.

@@Ashley.falcon Awesome!! Can’t wait to see the video! And thanks for weighing in on the colored paint

I have heard hawks and falcons are particularly bad in the UK. Best wishes!!

Hello. I read an English book on Hawking. It may have had something to do with France, but I am hoping u can find it by you. In that book , there’s a remedy for dropping all the feathers from the BOPs . And if u do find that info, please share it. I went back to the book, but the pages were missing. 🙏