Will a Hawk attack a Macaw?

[Birdman666]

hawks can and will attack but not always. Younger hawks, that don't know about what, will sometimes try and take down a larger bird. I fly my u2, most days, and he is a survivor of a red-tail hawk attack. Thank you universe, he came out unscathed. What this taught him was, awareness. He is very in tune with his surroundings and always has an eye to the sky. At the first sign of a hawk he will fly in.
Hawks should be a concern but i don't think you need to live your life in fear of your bird being taken out because of the stories you've heard! If you take your pet bird out, it is your responsibility to watch for hawks.

exactly!

If you see hawks hunting in the area, it's time to come down from the tree, and go inside...

 

[lquan]

Captive birds like our parrots have distinctive flying pattern comparing to wild parrots that hawks see as weakness; hence, easy meal. You may think your pet parrots fly well just because they can stay airborn, but they're not under the hawks' eyes. Wild parrots fly in flocks with strong wing rythm and land hard.

3 weeks after my Lily came home with us, she was startled, flew up, and got chased by a pair of hawks immediately. She was 4 months old at the time. The hawks swooped down on her simultaneously from 2 different trees, and missed her on the first pass. They, then, flew side by side for 2 more simultaneous swoops, but missed. I watched Lily evading the hawks in horor. Lily flew inside the tallest tree in the neighborhood. The hawks flew into the tree but didn't get her. She flew out of the tree trying to come back to me but got swooped by the hawks on the 3rd pass. She flew back and hid in the tree. This time, she got smarter and decided to climb down to me instead of flying out of the tree. It took her 15 mimutes to climb down the tall tree to meet me. She was lucky because the hawks had to slow down before reaching Lily to avoid colision with each other. If there was only 1 hawk, Lily would have been a goner. Lily's wings have never been clipped since birth, that was why could perform a few aerobatic maneuvers to evade the hawks.

I will never forget that day.

These days she get spooked by flying shadows very easily; even while inside the house. She doesn't want to go outside anymore even when the doors are wide open. She gets her sun in the safety of a 60-pound cage.

My friend's parakeet was not so lucky. He took his parakeet to visit a friend house. He put the parakeet and cage on top of his car while unbuckling his children from the car. A hawk swooped down, pickup the light weight cage clear into the air and dropped it 100 ft or so away. The parakeet die from the impact.

 

[Birdbrain91]

How scary that must have been for you to see lily escaping from a pair of hawks. I'm glad she's ok.

Wesley would be a goner because he doesn't fly. He can't/won't expand his right wing.

 

[RavensGryf]

I would always assume a parrot no matter how big would lose to a hawk if the hawk really meant business. That's what they're built for! I don't think a prey animal has a chance against a predator who has the physical attributes as well as the maneuvers specifically for taking other animals down. Also, aren't birds of prey heavier than a parrot of comparable size?

Wow, Owls... I've only seen those in a zoo. I'd love to see one wild. Not if my parrots were out though!

 

[NiRD]

Raptors can take down prey much larger and heavier than they are. It is a danger an owner should consider when taking their birds out.

 

[Sterling1113]

I've never really thought about hawks, but where I am in Texas we don't have too many.. mostly buzzards that eat already dead things like road kill and things coyotes leave behind.
A few red tails, but not often. I remember once I had to let my grandma take care of my cockatiel about 7 years ago because I wouldn't be in town, and when she was taking the cage from her house to her van to bring him back, the bottom of the cage fell out(where he happened to be sitting..) and of course he flew off, terrified. Luckily my Cockatiel was weird about cloths.. small rag or a blanket, he loved it, and would talk to it like crazy. So of course I grabbed his favourite quilt (One I used to sleep with as a kid) and threw it over my shoulders once I got there and just wandered around like a crazy person looking for him.. he had cornered himself on the ground against a tree because blue jays drove him out of the tree/sky Jays are mean.. but lucky it wasn't a raptor! He would have been a goner..

 

[Abigal7]

:54:

Bird of Prey Attacks Cockatoo - YouTube

Wow, this makes me now concerned since I have assumed the sight of me will keep a hawk away. When the weather is nice I like to take Captain Jack out in his harness. I have not seen any hawks around but the breeder I bought Captain Jack from says she has raptors around her house and is vigilant to be sure they can not get any of her birds.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

My friends had their saker falcon attacked by a small male red tailed hawk in their own backyard, FULL of hawks and falcons. That goes to show that wild birds are very brave, and will dive into a lions den if they want to. A talon pierced the back of his skull, and severed a optic nerve blinding him in one eye.

 

[Betrisher]

Raptors will take down prey as large or even larger than themselves. Falcons are particularly good at this and even our Australian Hobby (a tiny example of falconness) will go for pigeons and seagulls. I've heard (don't know if I believe it, though) of an Australian Goshawk (large bird) taking a small cat from a gazebo roof. I, myself, personally rescued a Peachface from the claws of a Goshawk and it lived with me for years afterward (the Peachie, not the Goshawk). I've seen a Wedge-tailed Eagle take a rabbit and a White-breasted Sea Eagle take a huge carp. They're strong birds and if they're hungry, they'll go to extraordinary lengths to feed themselves.

When I was at Uni, I came home one night and found a poor little bat flopping around in the lighted car-park. When my friend and I took him back up to the lab to anaesthetise him and set his broken wing, we found no humerus bone there at all! The only explanation we could imagine was that an owl had bitten it right out of him! We just overdosed the poor little bloke with chloroform and put him to sleep forever.

Our Australian Powerful Owl is a large eagle owl, although not as large as some northern hemisphere owls. It's the one I use as my avatar as it's my favourite bird. Anyway, these owls typically prey on possums like Tab's Sméagol and on Greater Gliders, which would be about twice as heavy as a domestic cat. One of the ways you find Powerful Owls is to search for a tall tree with a selection of big tails at its foot. They're stunningly beautiful birds and their talons are huge - every bit as heavy as an eagle's. When I was a young adult and passionate bird watcher, I used to converse with a pair of Powerful Owls that lived in the environs of Newcastle Uni. Every night, they'd call in the night and it would carry the couple of miles to our house. I'd stand on the back steps and 'Wook-wook' back at them. It was a bonding experience, but our neighbours thought I was on drugs.

 

[Birdbrain91]

That's amazing and one gutsy Red Tail. Sounds like he had something to prove.

I volunteered a couple times at the Birds of Pray Foundation and they had a female Red Tail come in, she was huge. They don't look as big when they are flying.

The by my house was a Juvenal I've seen him/her since the past summer.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

That's amazing and one gutsy Red Tail. Sounds like he had something to prove.

I volunteered a couple times at the Birds of Pray Foundation and they had a female Red Tail come in, she was huge. They don't look as big when they are flying.

The by my house was a Juvenal I've seen him/her since the past summer.

he probably did, his mate was soaring nearby lol I've never seen a massive female redtail up close, I would LOVE to one day. My friends have a truly huge female augur buzzard. The African red tailed hawk. And her mate is absolutely tiny! I'll have to get a photo of a person with her sometime, although it won't be for a while since she recently laid eggs. The reason why she is super puffed up in the photo.

We didn't realize she had eggs, we wouldn't have entered the mew if we had known. I held my phone up high to check for eggs so we didn't have to get as close.

 

[goalerjones]

Raptors are wicked smart too.

[ame=http://youtu.be/Yz7FFlFy8eM]Golden Eagle dragging mountains goats off cliffs. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Birdbrain91]

Great photos! Is that the dad in the picture? He's so small he looks like he just hit puberty. Lol

What does your friend do that she has all these raptors?

 

[MikeyTN]

If there's any other doubt here's a hawk at the zoo actually went for a Macaw! It didn't show the whole footage but it show them yanking them apart.

[ame=http://youtu.be/hb_RhKM1IpQ]Hawk Tries to Kill Parrot at Utah's Hogle Zoo - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Birdman666]

Hawks will attack ANY bird that appears to be prey. (i.e. anything that is not another raptor.)

Hawks will also go after ANY small animal rabbit, squirrel, small breed dogs, cats, groundhogs, etc...

And if your pond is too shallow, they will even come in and take your koi... (though at my place that was usually the heron! And to have that bird hanging out in my yard, it was almost worth losing a few fish. HE WAS A TRIP!)

 

[Birdman666]

Oh, and leave the cage outside unattended with hawks around?!

That's like giving the hawks a puzzle toy...

With your bird as the food reward!!! Don't kid yourself...

 

[Anansi]

Raptors are wicked smart too.

Golden Eagle dragging mountains goats off cliffs. - YouTube

I knew eagles and hawks could carry off rabbits and very small dogs, but MOUNTAIN GOATS?!? Wow! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jayyj]

Here's another amazing one, golden eagles being used to hunt wolves in Mongolia...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ZtiaYm1YY]Golden eagle vs wolves, golden eagle killing more grey wolves. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Anansi]

Here's another amazing one, golden eagles being used to hunt wolves in Mongolia...

Golden eagle vs wolves, golden eagle killing more grey wolves. - YouTube

Seriously?!?!? Wolves?!?!? You guys are blowing my mind, today! That was a strong, healthy wolf? Not injured or anything beforehand? (Wish I could understand what the narrator was saying!)

 

[Birdman666]

So, like, the indian name for that bird is "Dances with wolves, to the death?"

:32:

"Death from above would be fitting."