Unwelcome visitor

[koigarden]

On returning home from the beach I spotted a huge hawk on the flagstone border of my pond near the deck. I think he was deciding on which koi to have for a snack. I ran toward the pond and he reluctantly left. Do hawks eat koi? I hope he doesn't return!

 

[Lupin]

Well, there is a chance they would but normally it's the kingfishers, herons and peregrines that are known to do that.

 

[Somervell]

Why yes, yes, they do. Depends on the size of the koi and the size of the hawk. I agree with Lupe that the other flying predators are a larger threat, but watch your koi.

 

[Muske]

Got a pic.?

 

[DebbyS]

Might be waiting for one to die. We had a grackle come one day and he figured out how to retrieve a floating, dead comet (the fish had lived several years in challenging conditions and was about 4" long, so being recycled was a good thing). The bird did not seem interested in any of the living fish though. I guess the question is, do hawks mind getting wet? The grackle managed not to.

 

[hankn]

Birds are smarter than you think. Here is one using bait to catch a fish:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3202547/smart_bird_uses_bait/

 

[bitbot]

Birds are smarter than you think. Here is one using bait to catch a fish:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3202547/smart_bird_uses_bait/

Wow! - that's smart.
Birds are gonna take over the world for sure.

 

[NYCguppydude]

It very well seems as if the bird used the piece of bread to catch the fish but what I saw was a bird dipping the bread in water to clean an moisten it and when the fish came to eat some of the crumbs that came off of it the bird took advantage and grabbed it. It's still a very cool video though.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

It very well seems as if the bird used the piece of bread to catch the fish but what I saw was a bird dipping the bread in water to clean an moisten it and when the fish came to eat some of the crumbs that came off of it the bird took advantage and grabbed it. It's still a very cool video though.

That's a Green Heron and they don't eat bread. They're strict carnivores and one of the few bird species besides members of the crow family that actually use "tools" to help them collect food. Herons are pretty intelligent birds and they have to be. If they weren't smarter then their prey they'd go hungry and become extinct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Heron

 

[minpincer]

I had a redtailed hawk taking fish out of my pond on the deck. she would sit on chimmney and come down feet first into pond. Soon as I saw this I went and got a net to cover