Gus Fargus just posted a question regarding whether or not kestrels or other hawks would control rats that might frequent bird feeding stations. (I hope this isn't a prohibited topic. If so, my apologies once again. But it is a matter of understanding the ecological roles and capabilities of raptors.) After researching and flying over a dozen kestrels, I can affirm that these little falcons will not and cannot take an adult rat. They can take a newly-emerged rat pup, but these tend to stay safely in the rat dens and seldom venture into the daylight. Kestrels, therefore, are not a rat control mechanism. They are too small to kill an adult rat. Even a Cooper's Hawk, which is big enough to take a rat, will very seldom do this, even if given the opportunity (which is rare, because rats are primarily nocturnal). The Coop's will concentrate on the birds at the feeder. A perched Red-tailed Hawk would capture and savor a rat of any size that ventured out into the daylight. But Red-tails don't spend much time perched near feeders. If they do, it's merely incidental to their visual hunting out over larger, open adjacent areas. Red-tails won't control feeder rats, either. Great-horned owls might take a few, but few feeding stations have a resident GHO perched nearby. Those with more experience with artificial feeding stations will have to comment on the potential rat problem (if, of course, that's not an off-topic subject). As natural as they might be, neither diurnal or nocturnal avian predators will be much of a solution. --John A. Blakeman ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]