not welcome in my yard..

[vettepilot_6]

Thanks VR1Ton

[teg33]

Wow, what a beautiful bird!

I would love to have raptors around my house, as long as they don't bother my birds!

Has he bothered anyone yet?

[AMCA26]

Did you get that from Bunnings on your usual weekend shop?

[maz]

You think thats scarey when I was younger I came home one day to find a Wedge tail sitting on my avairy, amazing to see but was expecting to find a heap of dead birds

[BENSONSAN]

There awesome! I love hawks a eagles a falcons. Owls also have had a powerful owl around at night recently. Very very cool. Deb as long as your birds are ok hope you dont have any dramas with them

[jusdeb]

I think its just looking for a camp of its own . Hopefully it keeps moving on .

[Tiaris]

Last Summer I had a pair of Grey Goshawks nest in a mistletoe clump in a Tallowwood tree less than 20 metres from my aviaries & it was a pleasure to have a birds of prey so close to my aviaries without having to wage war on them. My current aviaries are constructed in such a way that predator attacks are impossible (or highly improbable at least) and the birds (finches) know this so aren't at all phased by the regular sight & sounds of predator species such as butcherbirds, hawks, etc. In years gone by I have had to resort to hunting these species which left a very nasty taste in the mouth. Appropriate protective aviary structure is far more pleasant all round & allows appreciation and enjoyment of all native birdlife to take place alongside aviculture. Not at all trying to gloat - just saying that a permanent solution to predatory species as pests can be achieved with thoughtful aviary design.

[Myzomela]

Well said Tiaris

It's usually the juvenile goshawks that hang around aviaries looking for "easy pickings".

It's our job to make the pickings more difficult. We all make mistakes with aviary design. There's always the next aviary complex to improve on our designs- even if these designs spend more time in our heads than becoming reality!!!

Having just treated my second canary in a week that had its entire leg pulled off by a predator through the bars of the cage makes me acutely sensitive to these things. So far both birds have survived and both owners will be less blase about hanging the birds unprotected under the verandah!!

[jusdeb]

I didn't lose any birds to the Goshawk .
Full roofs and small wire hopefully are enough to prevent any casualties .
Of course there are probably other ways to predator proof aviaries.
Perhaps an interesting topic would be on how to do so.
Obviously anyone hanging a bird on a verandah in a ornamental cage with horizontal bars and nowhere for the bird to hide is asking for trouble .

So please share any ideas on how to protect our birds , I'm sure I'm not the only one that would be interested . Ill even start the topic.