If you enjoy watching wildlife in your yard, for some of you, one animal you don’t want to see is a bird of prey. Read on to find out how to discourage hawks and owls from visiting your garden.
Before attempting to remove a bird of prey that visits your yard, find out its legal status. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects all hawks and owls in the United States and makes it illegal to trap or kill them without a special permit. Permits are only issued after you have tried other methods to convince the bird to move on. Additionally, it is illegal to scare or harass endangered species. Check with the Fish and Wildlife Service to find out the status of your bird of prey.
Birds of prey in my garden
Hawks and owls visit gardens that offer an abundant source of food, such as bird feeders or wildlife plants and ponds. Deterrents to birds of prey include habitat modification, scaring birds, and, as a last resort, trapping and relocating. Trapping is best left to experts who know how to catch and handle birds without harming them.
Most gardeners can do some type of habitat modification to deter birds of prey. Before going in for the kill, they survey the area from a perch that allows a good view of the surroundings. Removing the perches may be all that is needed to convince the bird to move on. If you cannot remove the perch, try to control birds of prey by changing the situation on the ground. Brush piles and dense shrub plantings offer wildlife a place to hide.
How to Keep Birds of Prey Away from Bird Feeders
While birds of prey in gardens are often helpful in keeping unwanted rodent populations down, they can sometimes chase other birds in the garden. If birds of prey are killing birds that visit your bird feeder, try knocking them down for a couple of weeks. If birds of prey return when you replace the bird feeders, put them away until next season.
Scare tactics are not very practical or convenient in an urban environment. The most effective frightening devices are pyrotechnic devices fired from a pistol or shotgun that create explosions or other loud noises and flashes of light. These devices only scare the bird for a short time, so they are not effective in keeping birds of prey out of gardens in the long term.