Yuck: Bank staff sick of hawk scarfing pigeons at their door

DEWITT, N.Y. – The feeding habits of a Cooper’s hawk may fascinate birdwatchers, but employees of a New York bank are fed up with the feathery remnants of slaughtered pigeons.

A hawk has been killing and devouring pigeons near the entrance to M & T Bank in suburban Syracuse for several weeks. Property manager Joseph Mathlin tells the Syracuse Post-Standard that bank staff are terrified and disgusted.

Mathlin says the bank tried putting up a fake owl to shoo the hawk away. Jake McGowan of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says the hawk probably won’t care about the owl but its pigeon prey might be scared off.

Colorful crow-sized Cooper’s hawks have become common in cities and suburbs where flocks of pigeons and birdfeeder visitors make easy pickings.