Growing up on a struggling farm the sight of predator birds meant the chickens were in danger.
I’ve lost a puppy and several cats to predator birds.
Maybe those big wind things have redeeming factors.
To be sure, we’ve lost a few of my daughter’s flock of free range (most of the time) chickens, and 2 chicks, to hawks and big owls over the years. But, interestingly, so far, not when we’ve had a large rooster with hawk-like coloring. And, none to any predator when we’ve had a medium size dog. Sans dog, other neighborhood dogs and raccoons have been the most problematic predators. (The raccoons are REALLY smart.) Opossums have gotten a couple too, but “dog proof traps” have whittled down the raccoons and opossums considerably. I’ve yet to see an eagle near our property - they mostly stay near the rivers and lakes.
That all said, sans dog we try to make sure one of us is within earshot if the chickens are to be left out. (They have nice big houses - one is a converted shed.) If there is going to be more than a half hour (at most) trip to the bank or Post Office, etc., the chickens don’t get let out. But, “something” ripped a very nasty head wound in a friendly stray tomcat that hangs around here sometimes. Whether it was predator or prey, we don’t know.
On the good side, the usual hawks and owls kill a LOT of rodents.
My dear departed aunt, who was as mild-mannered as anyone you’ve ever met and never willed harm to a living soul, once beat a Red-Tailed Hawk to death with a shovel when she caught it eating on of her chickens.
Every spring she bought a bunch of chicks, peeping like mad in their big box full of holes, raised them in the “brooder house”, and every Labor Day weekend we got a family crew of about 20 people together and butchered, assembly-line style.
Everyone took home a few fresh chickens for the table. Those were the days. That hasn’t happened since about 1983 but I remember it like yesterday.