25th Hawk loss today

Earlier today, I lost two more kit birds to Hawks. These mark the 24th and 25th confirmed lost kit birds since July and we're not even at the height of the BOP season yet.

The losses included a young Blue Baldhead Blackburn that was still squeaking and a mature Black Baldhead Oddside that I have had high hopes for awhile. These came from two different kits. One would think after suffering a loss in one kit, the next kit out would be home free, but it's not so.

In the meantime, following the second kill, another Cooper's Hawk appeared in a tree out back to eyeball the birds in the lofts.

The Black Bald was mostly James Turner blood and had previously been hit by a Peregrine hen and was lucky enough (at the time, at least) to have been simply drilled into the ground opposed to being snatched or cut up by talons. The bird had since grown pretty hawkwise and had avoided several other attacks by promptly flying to ground or flying into thickly leaved trees to avoid attack.

Ultimately, if something is not done about the Bird of Prey problem, it will probably eventually mean the extinction of the true Birmingham Roller pigeon, as well as other types of performing tumbler pigeons,  due to the fact that Birds of Prey  always tend to seek out the best birds in a kit. As a consequence, many successful roller breeders have chosen to simply give up instead of being defenseless as these over-protected winged demons proceed to cut their kits to pieces. Some of them have even got out of pigeons entirely after it became apparent that even their penned up stock birds were not entirely safe.

Birds of Prey Still Continue To Attack Roller Pigeons

As I have discussed in the past, Birds of Prey are a major stumbling block for any roller flier. In my almost forty years flying rollers, I will go as far as to say, that currently, populations of hawks and falcons, particularly the Cooper's Hawk and the Peregrine Falcon, seem to be at their highest levels ever.

Hawks Targeting Pigeons in England. For reference, the large cluster at
lower center is at Birmingham. Image from Hawk Watch

While some groups of pigeon fanciers, such as those who breed Fancy Pigeons, will rarely, if ever, experience an issue with Birds of Prey, to the pigeon flier who MUST fly their birds just to continue their proper cultivation, these winged demons are a total menace. This problem has reached such a proportion that in the United Kingdom, British racing pigeon fanciers even went as far as launching what is so far, a failed legislative campaign to try to get the British government to address the problem. Despite the failure, which was largely handed to them by radical conservation groups, the Royal Pigeon Racing Association is continuing their efforts through the formation of what they call the "Raptor Alliance" which is not only lobbying on behalf of the 60,000 pigeon fanciers living in the UK, but also actively recording bird of prey attacks on domestic pigeons in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. As bad as the map looks, the problem is undoubtedly worse than it looks on the screen.

Fanciers from other countries, including a few from the United States, are also reporting their losses through the interactive map. Fanciers can easily input their hawk and falcon incidents on the site. They have a reference guide for reporting attacks here.  Even if you do not live in Europe, I would still very much encourage you to also submit your reports to their system by visiting Hawk Watch. Perhaps if enough fanciers start using the site, we can start to illustrate how bad this problem really is.

Much closer to home, here on the West Coast, the Birds of Prey issue has reached such a proportion for the Roller sport, that a number of years ago, the federal government actually launched several major investigations into the situation with the intention of actually targeting several very high profile roller fliers whom they believed were actively fighting back against hawk and falcon depredations through any means considered necessary. The investigation, called "Operation High Roller" included the use of undercover federal agents who inserted themselves into the roller community in at least three states, posing as interested novices. The agents not only entrapped fanciers into admitting that they were protecting their rollers through means of force, but also went as far as rifling through their trash in the middle of the night and using deceptive trickery to try to find incriminating evidence against them. The end result was the arrest of over a half dozen very well known roller fanciers who were specifically targeted because of their reputations in the roller world in the hope that it would scare roller fanciers everywhere. Media reports on the investigation will leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who believes in protecting their personal property. As someone with some legal training, there are also concerns about the way that the agents conducted their operation as some of their activity appears to have been blatantly unlawful and undoubtedly violated the rights of the accused. As the federal agency involved has indicated that they are still watching pigeon fanciers, it would be wise for fanciers to become more familiar with their legal rights, while national organizations would probably find it worthwhile to become proactive on this issue. It may become necessary to start holding the self appointed protectors of Birds of Prey legally and financially accountable.

In the meantime, the Bird of Prey problem is such that despite the immense popularity of the Birmingham Roller around the world, the future of the breed actually seems very much at stake in light of the fact that it is becoming more and more difficult to manage a successful breeding program.

In light of this, as time goes on, we will start to explore some perfectly legal tactics in combatting predation by Birds of Prey in the hope that we can start to save the most valuable birds for breeding again. These will be gathered from around the net in the hope that they can be presented here for the benefit of all.

Hawks Aren't Just A Seasonal Problem

I had written earlier about flying its at or near sunset to avoid losses from birds of prey.

While my #1 kit that is being flown on this schedule has still not suffered any losses, my #2 kit, which has been flying before that kit has taken quite a pounding over the last week and a half.

At the moment, I have a big bitch Cooper's Hawk inflicting damage on my #2 kit. Over the last week she has taken three key birds from this kit, including a Black Self cock, a Red Badge hen and a younger Red Beard (both LaRue-Scouzafava line). It also just so happens that these three were proving to be the most promising three birds in the kit. The Black Self was just starting to show some short, sharp rolls, was very active (3 to 4 TPM) and displaying all the signs of developing into a good fast spinner that would be an asset in any kit. The Red Badge hen was also showing some good rolling and was always there on the same turn as the Black Self, while the Red Beard (a full niece or nephew to the Red Badge), was showing signs of developing into a good deep one. 

This particular Cooper hen is a real stone cold killer. While most Cooper's typically hunt from an ambush, this particular hen has literally been appearing from almost out of nowhere when the kit is at a medium height and has apparently made all her kills on a single pass. The Red Beard was the first to "get it" and was taken on almost horizontal attack after it had rolled about 40 feet out of the kit. When the Black Self cock was hit, I had just happened to have looked away from the kit for a few seconds, only to look back and see that the kit had exploded into 5 or 6 different directions. By time I spotted the Cooper, she was headed off to the southwest with the Black Self dangling from her talons. She got the Red Badge hen today and even though the kit had reacted to the threat, the Cooper's horizontal attack on the Badge was so effortless that I doubt if she even knew what had hit her. As with the other two kills, the Cooper flew off a very long way to the SW with her kill and vanished off in the distance. Most Cooper's Hawks, especially the males, are usually incapable of hauling a pigeon or similar sized prey away much of a distance. This is why in most cases, if a fancier can follow the hawk, their bird can  sometimes be saved before the hawk actually kills and consumes it.

Somebody hand me a box of Kleenex, please.

The only good news out of this is that last week she was chasing a very promising crested Blue Splash Blackburn hen around and missed her several days in a row despite the ease that the big bitch Cooper hen has been killing her kitmates off with. This Blackburn hen is a very strong flier and a deep roller, but not very active. As a result, she is also incredibly stable despite the fact the fact that she is a pretty a deep roller. As I had mentioned before in my article on the Blackburns, there seems to be a tendency for them to have retained some of the flying characteristics of the old Central Asiatic Sharpshooters that some early breeders had been crossing into their Birminghams in the late 19th century. This Blackburn hen can literally turn and accelerate on a dime into a short downward hooking dive. She's no Donek, but she has been able to outmaneuver this Cooper hen every time to the extent that she seems to no longer want any part of her. At this point, I think she's probably earned the right to move up into the #1 kit, just in case the big bitch Cooper happens to get in a lucky strike.

Some pigeon fanciers (all of them non pigeon fliers, by the way), will tell you that Birds of Prey are just a seasonal problem and that they are always at their worst in the Fall when they are migrating. Don't believe it.

Speaking of birds that can fly circles around Birds of Prey, check out Robert Lockwood's Vieshians while they chase the local birds of prey around. Pity the Vieshians aren't Rollers.