That one October week where the finches just vanished completely

Back in 2019 I had a solid week in my yard near Portland where not a single house finch or goldfinch showed up at my thistle feeder, just dead quiet. Turns out a Cooper's hawk had set up shop in the big oak tree down the street and scared everything off for about 10 days. Has anyone else had a predator move in and clear out your whole feeding station for a while?

2 comments

2 Comments

veramartin14d ago

Damn, that Cooper's hawk story is wild. Ngl, I had something similar happen but with a stray cat that moved into our alley for three weeks. It wasn't even a good hunter, just a fat tabby that would loaf under the feeder like a lazy predator. Did you end up seeing the hawk actually take any birds or was it just the threat that cleared everything out? Honestly wondering if the finches are smarter than we give them credit for or if they just panic at any raptor-shaped shadow. Tbh I feel like my local birds would probably come back after a day if the predator was that bad at hunting.

allen.william14d ago

Yeah you nailed it with the lazy predator thing, I actually heard some ornithologist on a podcast talking about how finches can tell the difference between a hawk that's actually hunting versus one just perched there. They said the birds will memorize specific raptor perches and avoid them for a while but eventually test the waters if nothing happens.