[obol] Aggressive Swainson's Hawk

[Don Baccus]

On Jun 18, 2008, at 9:04 AM, mike denny wrote:

> Have any of you ever witnessed Swainson's Hawks attacking humans? We  
> have a
> family west of College Place with a Swainson's Hawk nest

I think that last word says it all...

A few years ago, I knew of a harrier nest down in SE Oregon.

When I first went to inspect it (carefully) the chicks were young, and  
downy.

Mom hung out but didn't bother me.

A month or so later, I came back, and the oldest chick was near fledging

Mom dived bombed me as I went to the nest (thinking "WTF?") and as I  
left (after like maybe 15 seconds at the nest - all four of the  
original chicks had survived, and the youngest was showing flight  
feathers).


> approx. 300 ft.
> from their home - and one of the hawks has attacked them several  
> times -
> actually drawing blood yesterday evening when it attacked their 11  
> yr. old
> son. It also flies right between the folks with the wings touching  
> both.
> Swainson's Hawks nest right here in College Place and I have never  
> heard of
> them attacking anyone.

Maybe this pair really WANTS to be successful parents?  This kind of  
variable response to humans shouldn't really be too surprising.
>
> I advised them to carry a stick above their heads for a few days to  
> avoid
> any more bloodshed (or wear a helmet) - and hopefully when the young  
> hawks
> grow the adults will stop attacking.
> Thanks for any advice.

Probably a good bet.  A few weeks after fledging, the parents will  
want the kids to leave, which I've heard some humans also do when kids  
hit the age of 18 or so.

Nearly all human-breeding bird conflicts can be solved with patience  
(on the part of humans) since the usual bird breeding pattern is ...  
breed in spring, migrate in fall.  That kinda puts a limit in the  
amount of suffering poor ole' abused humans gotta put up with :)
----
Don Baccus
http://donb.photo.net
http://birdnotes.net
http://openacs.org