Aerial Duck Attack!

Nymph

This morning something went in for an attack on our ducks and hens. We'd been expecting this, considering we've had a pine martin/mink attack and kill four hens a month or two ago. However, this time my mom saw the whole thing. The noise of the ducks distress attracted her attention from the kitchen. What she saw was a large bird already in the process of trying to lift one of the brown ducks away with it. Luckily she scared it away in time. All the birds are now terrified and won't come out of their coops unless we're around. To add to the story, on her walk with the dog, my mom found an injured wood pigeon just outside our gate and decided to leave it there until she got back. On returning from the walk my mom found the pigeon had gone into our garden. It's in complete shock and very unbalanced on its feet. I'm going to give it a closer look later as we've moved it to our warm polytunnel to recuperate. I also tried to feed it both grain and insects but it has no interest. So, Q1. What bird of prey is local in Clare that's big enough to carry a fully grown duck? Q2. What should we do with the injured wood pigeon?

I actually went to the bird of prey centre last week in the Burren (it was brilliant), but can't think of any bird that was big and brave enough to do this.

stevoman

there were red kites recently released in Kerry. The first time they have been in Ireland in 200 years. Does this guy look familiar by any chance?

stevoman

damn - wthax seems to be unable to link up image, can somewhon else put it up?

Nymph

I showed the picture to my mom and she says she's almost sure that was it! She said that the colouring was exactly like that. I also just checked what kind of prey they'd go for and pigeon was one of them. Thanks! Update on woodpigeon - actually perching on the cardboard box we had it in. Wings and legs lookin ok. just slightly worse for wear.

stevoman

he'l be fine there a good strong bird. your mother is very lucky to have seen a red kite in action!!! glad to be of some help to you!

Alun

I thought Red Kites were primarily opportunist scavengers, and otherwise would only take small mammals, amphibians and birds, not something as big as an adult duck.

stevoman

Alun wrote: »

I thought Red Kites were primarily opportunist scavengers, and otherwise would only take small mammals, amphibians and birds, not something as big as an adult duck.

here's what i can get on them........

Red Kites are neither particularly strong nor aggressive despite being large birds.
Primarily a scavenger and an opportunist; it profits from sheep carrion but is not capable of opening up sheep or lamb carcasses by itself and has to wait until more powerful birds such as ravens or buzzards have made the first inroads before it will attempt to feed.
Red Kites are however predators and take a wide variety of live prey, ranging from earthworms to small mammals, amphibians and birds.

Vegeta

Buzzard maybe. Not exactly sure of the species in Clare, nature and bird watching maybe could give us a hand

Was out target shooting at the weekend and saw some form of raptor (too far for positive id) making some pigeons very nervous.

Alun

stevoman wrote: »

Red Kites are however predators and take a wide variety of live prey, ranging from earthworms to small mammals, amphibians and birds.

Exactly .. I personally wouldn't classify a fully grown duck as "small" tbh. A pigeon maybe though.

Vegeta's suggestion of a buzzard would be more on the money I'd have thought. I'm seeing increasing numbers of them around my neck of the woods these days.

animalcrazy

I live in Clare too, I better keep a close eye on my hens and ducks, one of my hens went missing yesterday too. Could have been a fox though.

Nymph

The bird was back today and i caught a glimpse of it myself this time (as did my dad). Heard the ducks making a fuss so ran straight outside. Whether it was the same bird my mom saw, I can't say, but it definatley wasn't a Red Kite. It was much smaller, so i'm assuming it was a buzzard. Luckily it didn't get a chance to attack any of the hens or ducks, but we'll be keepin an eye out in future for any return visits. The birds were much less traumatised this time, and I think the main reason for this is the fact that they weren't attacked. Sadly, the injured woodpigeon didn't make it through it's first night and I think this may have been due to possible internal injuries. Thanks for all the help!

John Griffin

The Kites were not released in Kerry. They were released in Wicklow. Whitetailed sea eagles are to be released in Kerry. Kites will not take farmyard ducks. It was most likely a female sparrowhawk, or possibly a peregrine. The Juveniles of both species are learning to hunt at this time of year and can sometime be a little over ambitious in regards to the size of prey they take on.
Kites are mainly scavengers and seldom attempt to take anything larger than a blackbird. I hate seeing them blamed in the wrong simply because of their size.

NoNameRanger

This thread should have been posted in Nature and Birdwatching forum.

luckat

Surely not, Ranger - the OP wants advice on protecting her ducks, which are probably as much pets as farm animals.

Nymph, you might try getting some guinea fowl, which will screech "HAAAAAWWWKKK!" and warn everyone if they see a hawk in the air. You'll then see all the fowl running for cover and freezing under bushes and in corners.

If overhead netting is a possibility, it would help too.

Some good ideas here: http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/Chicken_a/fence_poultry/poultry_vermin.php

Like the thought of the mirror.

NoNameRanger

luckat wrote: »

Surely not, Ranger - the OP wants advice on protecting her ducks, which are probably as much pets as farm animals.

I think you'll find that the OP asked two questions.

Q1. What bird of prey is local in Clare that's big enough to carry a fully grown duck?
Q2. What should we do with the injured wood pigeon?

Therefore this is a mostly wildlife related topic and should have been posted in the Nature and Birdwatching forum and not here where the wrong information was given by people here and Red kites were being blamed in the wrong. It would have been dealt with far better by the people in Nature and wildlife forum, many of whom are experts in wildlife issues.

Whispered

When will we be getting an animal forum with subforums? Or has that been decided yet?

NoNameRanger

helena.ryan wrote: »

When will we be getting an animal forum with subforums? Or has that been decided yet?

I asked that same question yesterday on another thread that i started on the topic and Bond007 said he will look into it. It really is badly needed.

Whispered

Oh I was under the impression it was already agreed etc. There goes me jumping to conclusions again

Nymph

I never realised there was a birdwatching forum. I'm new enough to boards so still finding my way around. When the original incident happened I automatically went to 'animals'. Sorry if this has caused inconvience! Also - I'm also not to putting "blame" on any birds, I understand how nature works.I just wanted to know what it was out of pure curiosity. The bird has come back once more and taken one of the smaller birds that feed around the coop but I was still too far to identify him. Thanks to the person who passed on the link. Might try hanging some CDs around (figure they'll work under the same principal of mirrors). Handy way to get rid of those ones that come with the sunday paper!

animalcrazy

Hi Nymph, could you tell me what part of Clare you are in? (PM me if you don't want to post it here) I am in Clare too and keep ducks and chickens so I am on the lookout now too.

luckat

I remember the people on feathersite (a huge fowl website) telling me that stringing something like orange fishing line across from tree to tree about 10 or 15 feet up, over where your fowl are, really freaks out hawks - they don't see it until they drop, then they realise it's a big hazard.

You don't need to have a huge net of cords, just two or three.