December 9, 2020

 

 

Twice now in the past week I have found a sharp shined hawk trapped inside the chicken coop!

This small, quick, and agile hawk has been chasing house sparrows that slip through the side screens of the coop to feed on spent chicken food and scratch grains. Although the hawk cannot fit through the screening, it can slip through tears in the old, time worn netting that is stretched across the top. At times I have seen the hawk perched on a corner post looking down into the coop, so I think it simply power dives through one of the tears, talons spread, to catch its prey.

Once inside, though, it has not been able able to find its way out.  Both times that I found this hawk in the coop, it was patiently perched on top of the chicken nesting box or on the ground, thinking over its predicament. Nearby were the remains of an unlucky sparrow.

And each time, after I have opened the door to give it an easy way out, I have seen one of our white rock chickens challenge it. Neither time was I expecting this. This same chicken, after each time I had entered the coop to encourage the hawk towards the open door – maybe because it feels more confident when I am there as its protector - has come out from its hiding place in the shed to confront it face to face. Both times the hawk has momentarily stood its ground, then spun away and flown to freedom.

In the twenty-plus years that we have had chickens, I have never seen a hen confront a hawk, so this behavior surprises me. A rooster most certainly would be expected to go on the line to defend its flock, but a hen would not be. I remember reading a while ago that without a rooster, a hen will sometimes assume the alpha position in the flock, yet I have never really seen this until now. It is a bit fascinating, especially because a chicken hen has no spurs to defend itself or to attack with. It can only fluff its feathers and flap its wings in an attempt to intimidate a threat. If the hawk had countered, the hen would not have stood much of a chance, and most likely would have suffered injuries from the hawk’s long, razor sharp talons.

What else surprises me is that the hawk, after being unable to find its way out of the coop the first time, would do it again only a few days later. Maybe hunger overrides its instinct of consequence even though it has so many other easy prey opportunities in the nearby open sided “hay shed” where sparrows roost during the day, and at our two backyard birdfeeders where countless songbirds congregate. It seems that it would not have to take its chances in the coop.

So far, neither the hawk or any chickens have gotten hurt, which is a blessing. The poor little house sparrows though, haven’t been so lucky.