redtailed hawks becoming much more scarce here

Im thankful as we use to see at least one every mile on powerlines. Now not so many. Im seeing lots of young rabbits now. We have alot,,,many many eagles here. 12 nest within 12 miles... im wondering if they are thinning the redtails. Whatever the cause I"m happy.

Apparently they all headed South, lol. We have plenty if you want some or you can send the eagles our way. They can’t be as destructive as the hawks on small game.

Agreed

I notice this in W Pa also. We now have what I call Sparrow hawks and another little fighter jet unidentified by me, eagles too. I'm no biologist, just outside a lot.
Lots buzzards now too.
And way less English sparrows.

Heard we are urged to remove bird feeders.

Could be the eagles are raiding the hawk nests,,We have a few nesting pairs of eagles now and the nestling ospreys are taking a hit.

one on every other light pole here.

Red tail hawks are dirt common here still. This time of year, with all the young of the year available to easily cattch, red tail hawks hunt less, so are seen less

Keith

Been that way for 5 months here

I see the eagles dining on roadkills here ALOT.

Lots of redtails and eagles here. Eagles tend to eat fish and roadkill while the redtails eat all kinds of critters especially snakes
We also have lots of kestrals they eat lots of small birds around our feeders

I haven't been seeing as many this year as in years past. Still one on a high line pole every once in awhile, but not one on every fence post, like it used to be. See more eagles every year.....the new red tail! I ain't got no love for those puking buzzards either, had too many fox ate up back in the day.....and cats! Wouldn't miss them if both got scarce again!

Im with you on that Lee!!!

Wait till them black headed buzzards show up Lee. They are having trouble with them eating windshield whipers and weather stripping off cars at the lake of the ozarks parking lots . Last year was the first time I saw them their . Its amazing how much damage they can do to a new truck when ten of them pick one to lounge on all day . I've been hearing about them bothering cows and sheep giving birth . They seem real aggressive.

I feel like there's been a substantial decline in red tails here. Uptick in bald eagles.

Just what we need, a new invasive species! Where did those come from? Seems like they have some kinda buzzard like that in Tx. The turkey vultures are all we have had here, but their numbers have increased these last five years that I noticed. Of course, they go south over winter.

We never had buzzards here on Long Island, then a few years ago a few turkey vultures showed up, now there is a decent amount of them, and some stay year round.

Seen the redtail hawks come and go here a few times over the years.I believe they have a fairly long cycle.
Low right now and for the last few years.
Eagles near rivers that have fish.They like to hang around the rapids,falls and power dams.Very few remain over winter,and only in a mild winter.A couple stayed last winter on my line.
Hawks and eagles are attracted to a jackpot bait.They always land on the main trail(open) and hop in on your walking trail to the bait.If you set a snare on your trail you will catch them.So I dont set on my walk in trail.
Never had them bother a catch back away from the bait.They(eagles and hawks) work a big bait along with the ravens.

While cutting hay today, I hit a turtle, and didnt see it until the next pass around. Within ten minutes, 5 buzzards were on it. Suddenly, a redtail dived into the scene, fought a bit with the buzzards, and left with half of a shell in his talons. When i went to the next field, I saw a blacksnake I had hit, and same thing, the buzzards were on it quick. What a sense of smell those things have.

We have more than our share here. They are everywhere here. The turkey vultures are so bad here. They are chasing baby calfs around. The cattlemen here can apply for a special permit to kill 3 by rifle or shotgun. So many u couldn't tell 3 was missing.

Wrr, I know the last few years I trapped killdeer, if I didn't have the Rats and mink deep enough under water there wouldn't be enough left to skin. Hope they've thinned out a bit.

Yep

we have a lot to many up here

The number one killer of small game and birds is the cat.

I worked my whole life in fish and game programs and the animal damage control field and I dont believe that. I believe thats purely a sales pitch that we have been programmed to believe to take the pressure off of the bird of prey introductions. I have experienced in service trainings that tried their best to manipulate what people think, and to try to indoctrinate employees to give that sales pitch.
Number one,you didnt name specific cats....although I know housecats kill some small game,I believe there are more to the story than that.
Besides that you sort of veered off topic. The topic is the decline of the redtailed hawks in my area.
Sorry i have been awake since early and my mind isnt real alert yet.

I wish the dang Caracara would become scarce down here. They are sure hard on a new calf if they find one without the cow standing over it

A week ago I was outback dipping some traps and heard every bird giving their alarm sounds,so I went out around
the house to see what all the commotion was about and a giant red tail flew out of the wooded lot above me-
followed by a large grey squirrel dropping 3' from me-dead of course. He must have not been able to takeoff with
such a load,so I put the intact squirrel in my fisher bait freezer and watched him circle as all the other birds took turns
trying to get him to leave. Plenty of red tails here

West River Rogue:
You may be right, but it is your own colleagues that puts the data out there. So you believe the agencies you work for are not worth a grain of salt. Have you ever question on any of the report or data put out to the public. If you are right wildlife management is worthless. JMO. P.S. I see less and less cat now that the coyotes are around.

seeing more bald eagles a few less hawks maybe , instead of one every mile one every other mile

no shortage of turkey vultures which we didn't have at all when I was a kid



that was only half of what was in that one power tower

Feral cats kill like crazy down here. Before I knew any better I stopped my son from “removing” one from his yard on the plantation. As I scared it off it dropped something and I went to find a full grown quail. Two days later I was working in his yard and saw the cat again with another quail. That ended up being the last quail he ever killed. Now if one cat is killing 2 quail every 3 days…what’s the rest of the population of feral cats killing. Down here owners and managers count feral cats the same as taking coons or any other nest predator. And I don’t want to even get started on red tails!!

I thought they made the .17 just for hawks.

Haha! I was told by a “DNR person” that “everything” needs managed.

Call my point of view extreme if you like but I also think everything needs to be managed including the knot heads that make up goofy laws and regs like the ones that still list any species as endangered long after it is not

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen as many red tails lately. Then again, we've had a bumper crop lately maybe they've hurt themselves.

Thats a good thing in my opinion.

Those are black vultures that you’re referring to, not turkey vultures. They are an invasive from Mexico.

Its a typical thing in wildlife mgm,better safe than sorry and job security. I wouldnt say wildlife mgm is worthless,they brought back many species.....BUT,they also need to allow controls on others not only the ones putting money in funds per say.

There's also the mysterious bird disease going on too.

That could be a good thing!

Just wait until a cold cloudy day in November and look along interstate and 4 lane highways . They hunt the right of ways in droves . I know a young man that has fighting chickens that spends his days off driving the toll roads and highways counting cou on them . But the stick he uses has optics and is about .204 in diameter.

I wish the chicken killin SOBs were extinct in my neck of the woods.

Around here an awful lot of hawks and cats succumb to lead poisoning I’ve noticed.

I have observed similar happenings in the better parts of our great state. Let me say we do need lead for the good of the majority and if a few over populated species succumb , so be it.