Hawks

J

JSMITH

Member
This might be kind of touchy with the recent post on falconry, but I want to get you guys' honest opinion on 2 things:

How much do you think hawks affect the pheasant and quail pop?
Do you feel like there should be a short hawk season to help curb the surplus population?

I will tell you that I really think the falconry stuff is cool, and have nothing against you if you do it. I personally feel like the hawk population is way out of hand and significantly affects bird #s
 
I like raptors. They do kill many pheasant, and this is a fact.They also kill rodents, and this is good.A guy I used to goose hunt with, glee paragrine Falcons , and I used to go with him. It was a great time, awesome birds.
 
I feel we have too many hawks around here.:eek: Some, yeah okay. Too many, are not so good.
 
I have watched the same, and I bet everybody else on this forum has as well. There are so many hawks around it is not even funny. They have no natural predators, and are overrunning the Midwest .do you think there's any legitimate chance of having a short season on them?
 
If you really hate hawks and want to help out your pheasants, make your land more brushy with fewer mature trees. Tall trees give all the advantages to the hawks. Low brush and native grass gives all the advantages to the pheasants.
 
Toad said:
If you really hate hawks and want to help out your pheasants, make your land more brushy with fewer mature trees. Tall trees give all the advantages to the hawks. Low brush and native grass gives all the advantages to the pheasants.
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Well said. If I ever own any ground I will do that.
 
The problem isn't hawks. If it were, game birds would have been extinct centuries ago. Look at Kansas. So much of the land that could be habitat isn't due to poor management. The hundreds of thousands of acres that have been allowed to turn into solid cedars, woodlands, and exotic grasslands, if converted back to habitat, would give us so many birds that we'd all need more dogs, more winter months, and more understanding bosses. Never a simple answer to a complex question. We need to quit distracting ourselves from what the problem really is, habitat.
 
I have spent a fair amount of time and money cutting trees out of 70 acres of pasture, and my main reason is to get the hawk perches out.

We will see if it helps my quail population. But I will tell you that the hawks are hard on my training pigeons. I have lost 4 to hawks since September.
 
99.9% of people will never see these birds the way I have been fortunate enough to. It's a shame, because I think people would have a lot more respect for them.

One thing to also consider is that two of the RTs preferred foods are rats and snakes, which happen to be two of a nesting pheasant's worst enemies.
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The chance of a season some day is precisely zero. They are protected via federal law.

That said, I remember a recent article from Kansas Wildlife and Parks magazine about a study of quail predation. The number one predator for ADULT quail was raptors.
 
matto said:
The chance of a season some day is precisely zero. They are protected via federal law.

That said, I remember a recent article from Kansas Wildlife and Parks magazine about a study of quail predation. The number one predator for ADULT quail was raptors.
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Only 2 species of raptors are regular predators on quail in Kansas. They are the Sharp-shinned hawk and the Coopers Hawk. These are essentially falcons and are not the Buteo species we usually see on telephone poles. They are not all that common and spend much of their time in woodland habitat.
 
You know, it doesn't matter how many times some preach habitat. Many will go on believing it's hawks or disease or this or that. Do these have an impact. Sure. We always want a simple reason.

Listen to Drifter.... he's right on.
 
On the northern side of the pheasant range - owls are much more effective predators of pheasants and huns than your Redtails.

Many of the hawks you see in the prairie / farm country are Redtail Hawks. Most juvenile birds will die of starvation or injury.
 
JSMITH said:
This might be kind of touchy with the recent post on falconry, but I want to get you guys' honest opinion on 2 things:

How much do you think hawks affect the pheasant and quail pop?
Do you feel like there should be a short hawk season to help curb the surplus population?

I will tell you that I really think the falconry stuff is cool, and have nothing against you if you do it. I personally feel like the hawk population is way out of hand and significantly affects bird #s
Click to expand...

Hi JSMITH,

I'll weigh in because I started the thread of falconry in Kansas.
1. I don't think it effects the pheasant population at all. Quail really depends on the population cycle. But if quail go down so does the reproduction rate of raptors that use them as a food source.
2. I love raptors. But if there were a controlled hunting season (based of population densities) I would support it. If its legal I'm all for any form of hunting!

The bigger question I have is was is surplus population? Also as another member mentioned there are alot of species of hawks in the US. Its really only 3 species of accipiter (goshawks, coppers hawks, Sharp Shinned hawks) and 4 species of falcons (gyr, peregrine, prairie, merlin) that occasionally hunt pheasants/quail. A couple species you very rarely have in KS. Gyr's, peregrines, and goshawks are not normal residents with much of a local population. Merlins and SS hawks are way to small to ever bother a pheasant.

Interesting fact *Mortality rate is 70% for 1st year raptors*. That means 7 out of every 10 raptors that hatch will not make it to 1 year old.

Also very rarely will you ever see the above listed species unless you really look for them. Most of what you see is Red tail, ferruginous, rough legged hawks. Prairie falcons, and northern harriers. Of those prairies are the main bird hunter.

Also as said before there will never be a hunting season on raptors. They are all covered under the migratory bird treaty act. Same as any other song bird. Little known fact, if you pickup a blue jay feather (or any other songbird feather) in your back yard and bring it inside you have broken a federal law. Sounds crazy but that's how strict the MBTA is.

You should see the vast amount of permits and paperwork we have to have just to get a live raptor. Even a captive bred bird not from the wild.

At the end of the day its all about habitat. Better habitat means more wildlife. Support local clubs and landowners and you will see more game despite any type of natural predators. :cheers:

Thanks,

Chase
 
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