We've definitely got a pair of nesting bald eagles. They're sitting in a tree on the edge of my property, eyeing the lambs right now. They haven't taken one, but I'm concerned. In this area bald eagles are mainly scavengers; eating the spawned out salmon in the fall, and whatever dies in the other parts of the year, but they will steal kills from smaller hawks. The smaller hawks, like the redtail that I see pretty often, HATE the eagles and drive them off whenever they see them, but the redtails have been absent for a few days.
The chickens aren't really big thinkers. They'll go on high alert when they see the eagles pass overhead, but then they'll settle down. It's pretty clear that chickens cannot count. Seeing one eagle fly away means that they're safe -- and the 2nd eagle is a complete surprise. Also true that after the eagles have landed in a tree or brushline and sit still for a few minutes the chickens completely forget about them. Birdbrains.
The guinea fowl are another matter. I know when the eagles are around because they'll hang out in places where I think they believe that the eagle couldn't get them. Here they're roosting on the corral loading chute. Definitely more IQ points than chickens.
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"The chickens aren't really big thinkers."
Ha! That made me laugh out loud. When we had chickens my friends were all concerned that I would love them so much I could never eat chicken again. I had to explain to them that it is near impossible to bond with a chicken. As it is one of the Welsummers looked like a very tasty roast walking around my back yard.
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