Do doves scare away other birds?

crash325 · Apr 8, 2013

sixdogs said:
When I used to mow hay in Northern New England, some sort of hawk (marsh hawk?) used to grab mice that I kicked up. He would swoop in like silent death and scare the living snot out of me because he was only a few feet away and came up from behind. Huge wingspan and I never got used to it. It seemed like the same bird returned the next year .

Hawks & falcons set up a home territory and I think pretty much stay there. Had a neighbor that raised racing pigeons that he let let out to exercise,. There was a red tail hawk that stayed abut 400 yards away. When the pigeons went out for their exercise he would nail one.

I see the falcon often, but not often it is close by. Sits at various places.

Today my air force is mostly grounded. 40 / 50 mph winds and 60 mph gusts. Hummer did come in and feed and a dove or 2 came in. The doves mostly just hunkered down, didn't seem much interested in feeding.

Flag pole is swinging back & forth over a foot. Heard some branches breaking. Barn end is puckering out about 6 inches when the big puffs hit.

Bird · Apr 8, 2013

sixdogs said:
When I used to mow hay in Northern New England, some sort of hawk (marsh hawk?) used to grab mice that I kicked up. He would swoop in like silent death and scare the living snot out of me because he was only a few feet away and came up from behind. Huge wingspan and I never got used to it. It seemed like the same bird returned the next year .

I had the same thing in Texas, about 60 miles south of Dallas, except I think mine was usually a Red-tailed Hawk, and not necessarily the same hawk each time, but it was common to see a hawk sitting in a tree at the edge of the hay field watching and waiting, and he usually didn't have to wait too long.

dmccarty · Apr 8, 2013

Disney World used to release doves as part of a daily show at Magic Kingdom. Supposedly they stopped releasing the doves because local hawks figured out the dove release schedule.

I don't know if Disney stopped the dove release because they were loosing too many birds and/or guests were seeing the hawks killing the doves and got upset.

Later,
Dan

M E Race · Apr 9, 2013

If you are having trouble with big bird scareing away the smaller birds I can rent you one of my attack humming bids. The male ruby throuts will sit in the fig tree and drive off any other male that tries to get close to the feeder. They won't bother the females, but a male even think about getting close and the fight is on. If a big bird comes too close they convert to cruse missle mode.

crash325 · Apr 12, 2013

The Road Runners are back. They hunt as a pair. One of them got something just outside the fence yesterday. Don't know what, they eat small birds, rodents, snakes & lizards.

Nothing scatters the birds faster than they do. Since they will hang around for a while, birds don't come back real soon.

crash325 · Apr 20, 2013

The White Wing Doves have arrived in numbers. Go out front or back and 15 too 30 of them scatter. White wings never stop eating, until all the food is gone. Been putting out about 4 pounds a day. That is in addition to the blocks.

They are very aggressive eaters but could care less about the little birds. Quail are pretty much non stop, coming & going all day.

Too many other types of birds to name or keep track of. Just fun to sit & watch them, eating & playing.

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crash325 · May 17, 2013

One of the road runners struck today. Ran past the front window at high speed. I quickly went to the back door. By the time I got there it had made its kill and was moving on. Had a fairly large lizard in its beak. Hopped on top of the gate, stayed for about 1 second & was gone.

The King snake is still here saw him for the third time a day or so ago.

I think that I now have a "Mole". Never seen one in this part of the world before. No way to really get a good look at it, just a quick glance out the corner of my eye. Does not go very far, just a few feet & very, very quickly.

At least on pair of quail has had babies, seen them 3 times. Between the outside dogs, road runners & the snake, they may not come in very often. Maybe after the get larger.

30 to 50 doves descend on this place within 5 minuets of putting out seed. Then the small black birds join them. Quail are quite a bit more cautious, too much going on.

Western · May 17, 2013

Jim, being a dove hunter on occasion, I like to see White wings. I have never harvested one since they get here after our dove season. We started seeing more every winter over the past 10 years. Of course we have a "gazillion" mourning dove.

My favorite for watching are the Inca dove, they seem to also enjoy us. I can make their whistle sound and they will respond 99% of the time, sometimes flying into the tree over the deck and we have a real "ho-down":laughing: When the "jam" is over, we will get the more aggressive call they make and they fly around the house to the feeder.

The Whitewing seems to be the heaviest feeder when they are here, but overall, all my birds get along fine and usually have several species of dove on the ground eating along side Finches, Cardinals and any other birds we have here.

The odd ball is the Painted Buntings, only eat on a raised feeder and come and go frequently. Incidentally, we have never had a female bunting at the feeder, but they do enjoy the bird bath and are almost as "purdy" as the male, but in a nice Green color.

crash325 · May 18, 2013

Western said:
Jim, being a dove hunter on occasion, I like to see White wings. I have never harvested one since they get here after our dove season. We started seeing more every winter over the past 10 years. Of course we have a "gazillion" mourning dove.

My favorite for watching are the Inca dove, they seem to also enjoy us. I can make their whistle sound and they will respond 99% of the time, sometimes flying into the tree over the deck and we have a real "ho-down":laughing: When the "jam" is over, we will get the more aggressive call they make and they fly around the house to the feeder.

The Whitewing seems to be the heaviest feeder when they are here, but overall, all my birds get along fine and usually have several species of dove on the ground eating along side Finches, Cardinals and any other birds we have here.

The odd ball is the Painted Buntings, only eat on a raised feeder and come and go frequently. Incidentally, we have never had a female bunting at the feeder, but they do enjoy the bird bath and are almost as "purdy" as the male, but in a nice Green color.

Have all the different birds that you mentioned, except the bunting. Sort of a feeding frenzy when I put their food out. White wings always the first to arrive. Morning doves year around and I had Inca's all winter, but left shortly after the white wings arrived. Also have lots of turtle doves. None native & considered invasive. Lots of small doves, this years baby doves.