Thanks and you are right. Now I don't ever leave the little dogs out alone. After contacting a hawk preservation society, and waiting about 3 weeks, someone replied with the assurance that my dogs were not at risk- but other experiences told me differently. The more nesting area these predators lose, the closer they are living to people. I can't imagine a much worse way to lose a pet than by a huge bird!

I live in an area where we have numerous red tailed hawks...and I run with my dogs everyday in conservstion lands, and just yesterday we were "in the woods" and I also happened to be "baby-sitting" my friends Yorkie (all 9 lbs of him) and he was with us... well, I kept seeing a hawk -VERY high up- but circling just the same...needless to say, (heart in my throat) I ran and grabbed Dalton (the Yorkie) and tucked him in my shirt...and the hawk was gone just a few minutes later...now it may have been a coincidence, but I couldn't be sure of course, and better to be safe than sorry...... also, for someone to tell you small dogs are not in danger may not be true, because a couple in the neighborhood where I am literally had their cat snatched off the ground by one...dropped because of his weight, and, well, I think you may have guessed the ending there...I'm just as concerened about the "birds of prey" as I am about the coyotes where I live... my cat is not an outdoor baby, and even when I let my dogs out at night (56 & 94 pounds)...I go with them...and I live in a "residential" neighborhood...and most of my yard is fenced

I volunteer at a wildlife hospital and we get questions like this a lot.  Of course the smaller the dog you have the larger the number of birds that may cxonsider it prey.  IF it is very large and is not a bald eagle or a vulture it may be a red tailed hawk.  They are common throughour North America and are extremely adaptable when it comes to food.  They will eat what is available.  A very small dog could potentially be in danger from a red tail.  The smaller hawks and falcons are probably not as much of a threat.  Falcons aren't that big and they eat almost entirely other birds.  If what your seeing is a large bird riding the air currents without flappign and with white on the trailing edges of its wings it is probably a turney vulture and will not be a threat.  I would definitely advise not letting your small dogs out on their own at dusk and dawn.  That is the prime tiem for the crepuscular Great Horned Owl....someone else mentioned these, and they are by far the biggest avian threat to a small dog.  They can take prey up to approximately 15 pounds and are VERY good hunters.  They other dangerous critter you will see in alsmot any settign that is out at dusk and dawn is a raccoon, which is more than a match for a small dog.

Michele