A different kind of feeder draws a different kind of crowd (CT)

[Donna]

Backyard bird feeders routinely attract hawks. In most instances they're Accipiters, either sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawks, bent on catching birds drawn to the homeowner's offerings of seeds and suet.

Some people would gladly forgo these visits, but others actively court appearances by hawks. I'm not talking about bird-eaters. The simple act of attracting songbirds will catch the Accipiters' attention.

I'm talking about putting out hawk-friendly food. The main target in our area for this kind of largesse is the red-shouldered hawk, a large and very attractive Buteo that will eat suet, carrion and meat scraps.

The accompanying photo, taken by a friend in Old Lyme, shows an adult red-shouldered hawk attracted to a deer carcass he placed on a stone wall near his property.

Coincidentally a reader of my nature blog on the Republican-American Web site posted a detailed and interesting comment about a red-shouldered hawk that's been coming to her yard in Torrington for several years.

The hawk ignores the numerous gray squirrels in favor of an easy meal of meat scraps.

While red-shoulders are especially interested in this kind of offering, other species may also show up. Carol and Gary Lemmon of Branford posted an item on the CTBirds e-mail listserve this week noting that suet placed on tree stumps and a rose arbor at their property has pulled in three black vultures, five turkey vultures, two red-tailed hawks and two common ravens in the wake of Wednesday's snowstorm.

That's quite a diverse collection of meat-eaters. I doubt any owls would show a similar interest, but that doesn't mean they don't patronize feeding stations. All that seed that entices birds by day offers a bounty for small rodents at night.

Owls love small rodents.