178 ENEMIES AND DISEASES OF POULTRY 



BIRDS DESTRUCTIVE TO POULTRY 



It is difficult to determine just which birds are de- 

 structive to poultry, because many birds that live on 

 rodents, such as field mice, rats, etc., will attack poultry 

 when short of other food. As a general rule, however, 

 birds are not very destructive to poultry, because even 

 the birds that attack domestic fowls the most frequently 

 come far from being the worst enemies of poultry. One 

 rat, for instance, will often destroy more chicks in 

 a single night than a pair of hawks will carry off in a 

 month, and the insect enemies of poultry do more dam- 

 age than all other agencies combined. 



Falcons, hawks, and owls are the principal birds of 

 prey that attack poultry and may be separated into 

 four classes, grading from the least destructive to the 

 most destructive as follows: 



The hawks and owls least destructive to poultry are: 



1. The large rough-legged hawk, the squirrel hawk, 

 and the white-tailed, Mississippi, swallow-tailed, and 

 English kites. These birds will not disturb or hunt for 

 poultry so long as they can find a satisfactory supply 

 of other food to supply their wants. They are generally 

 considered as being entirely beneficial to mankind. 



2. According to Dr. A. K. Fisher the majority of hawks 

 and owls are usually beneficial to mankind, but will often 

 kill poultry when the occasion offers. He names the fol- 

 lowing as belonging to this class: Marsh hawk, Harris's 

 hawk, red-tailed hawk, short-tailed hawk, white-tailed 

 hawk, red-shouldered hawk. Swainson's hawk, short- 

 winged hawk, broad-winged hawk, Mexican black hawk, 

 Mexican goshawk, sparrow hawk, barn owl, long-eared 

 and short-eared owls, great gray owl, western owl, Rich- 

 ardson's owl, screech owl, snowy owl, hawk owl, and 

 other smaller species. 



3. Fisher also classes the following birds as doing 

 about as much good by destroying other creatures as they 

 do harm by destroying poultry: Golden eagle, bald 

 eagle, pigeon hawk, Richardson's hawk, falcons, and the 

 great horned owl. 



