Pushy and persistent - those are the words for the hawk that haunts Terry Devlin's feeders near Middletown, Delaware. Day after day, the big brown predator perches patiently on a fence rail in the yard, waiting for some little bird to make a mistake so she can grab it for dinner. Often it's a plump mourning dove that the hawk snatches, doves not being known for great alertness and intelligence. Devlin (mother of Mara Testa of New Garden Township) has moved the feeders closer to the house, but the hawk is undeterred. Some authorities suggest removing feeders altogether until the hawk goes elsewhere, but that's impractical since Devlin's neighbors also have feeders - the hawk patrols all the yards in the neighborhood. The best that can be done about hawks at feeders is what Devlin has already done: provide shelter near the feeders so the little birds have a place to dive for cover. Having done that, the birder just relaxes and enjoys the hawk.
(Enjoying the sight of a hawk may be easier said than done. A friend of mine spotted an early robin in his yard one January and was just showing it to his tiny daughter when the robin exploded in a bloody puff of feathers, murdered before their eyes by a marauding hawk. The child was hysterical; my friend was not amused.)
In Devlin's case, the yard has been thickly landscaped with bird-friendly trees and shrubs, including thick evergreens that provide good shelter. If your yard is new and not yet full of plantings that can protect your birds, build a brushpile to shelter feeder birds for the rest of the winter.
Discarded Christmas trees are ideal for this - a stack of three small trees or one large tree, laid on its side a few feet from the feeder, provide a haven for songbirds. I've watched scores of sparrows and juncos emerge from a single Christmas tree on a winter morning.
If you want something more permanent while you're waiting for your shrubbery to grow, try a roosting box - a bird house that's designed for a lot of birds to sleep in. You may be able to buy one from a bird specialty store or you can make your own - a birdhouse that is elongated either horizontally or vertically with plenty of perching space. I've seen vertical designs with several perches, offset so that birds don't defecate on their neighbors below; more practical, it seems to me, are the horizontal designs with a single perch running the width of the box. An entrance hole that is 1.5 inches in diameter will accommodate chickadees, titmice, Carolina wrens and bluebirds, the species most likely to roost in the box.
In nature, birds roost on tree limbs shoulder to shoulder, helping keep each other warm, or they pack into a tree cavity where they're not only warm, but also safe and dry. Keep an eye on your nesting boxes - bluebirds especially may spend the winter sleeping in the same box where they nested in summer (another reason to use roomy bluebird boxes instead of those infernal narrow boxes I so often see in our area). If you notice birds going into your nest boxes at dusk, stop up some of the ventilation holes for the duration of the winter to help keep them warm at night.
As for Devlin's hawk - she isn't sure of the species, but suspects it's a female marsh hawk. This isn't impossible, since her house adjoins the wide open spaces of Back Creek Golf Course and harriers (marsh hawks) are common in Delaware's coastal plain. However, many other kinds of hawks are known to hunt at feeders - most common are the bird-eating accipiters such as the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks and, occasionally, a goshawk; also often seen are red-tailed, red-shouldered, and sparrow hawks (kestrels). Any bird of prey is quick to see the opportunity in feeders that lure crowds of little birds.
If you've found an effective method for discouraging hawks (shooting doesn't count - it's dirty pool, and illegal besides), please pass it on by sending an e-mail or letter to me (addresses below) - I'll pass the word on to Devlin.
Calendar
The events below are public, and free unless otherwise noted. Where trip leaders are named, please contact them to confirm arrangements and let them know you're planning to attend.
n Jan. 10:Get a head start on your 2004 annual list with a full-day trip to Delaware birding sites, sponsored by Delmarva Ornithological Society. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at Boyds Corner Park and Ride, U.S. 13 and 301. Leader, Frank Rohrbacher, 302-475-5771 or ROHRBAF@aol.com.
n Jan. 11:Winter feeding station tour, sponsored by Delmarva Ornithological Society; for meeting place and time, call the leader, Karen Zeitler, 302-478-9173.
n Last Saturday of every month: Beginner bird walks sponsored by Delmarva Ornithological Society and the Brandywine Creek State Park Nature Center, 8 a.m. starting at the nature center, at the end of the park entrance road (off Adams Dam Road near the intersection of Routes 100 and 92 in northern New Castle County, Delaware). For more information, call Barbara Woodford during work hours at 302-577-3534.
n Every Wednesday: Bird walk, 8:15-10:15 a.m., at Tyler Arboretum, 515 Painter Road, Media, 610-566-9134. Leaders, Tom Reeves and Ted Swann; bird walk is free with arboretum admission ($5 for adults, $3 for youngsters 3-15). No pre-registration required; take binoculars and a bird book.

Frances Hamilton has written about birds in Chester County since 1968.
Write to her at P.O. Box 426, Dept. AGS, Landenberg, PA 19350, or e-mail birdlady@birdlady.com.