TAMPA - In the past few months, as dozens of Ybor City's iconic roaming chickens have vanished, the population has plunged from an estimated 89 to just 29 today.
Hawks are the likely culprit, the Tampa City Council heard during a meeting where a throng of people urged the city to maintain measures that protect the fowl.
But hawk advocates are crying foul, saying chickens are too big a load for the birds of prey to haul away.
And now a man who fingered the hawks in the decline of Ybor City's chickens said another predator may be at work: Humans.
From killing to kidnapping, it's a growing concern, said Dylan Breese, advocate for fowl and founder of the Ybor Chicken Society.
Last week, Colonel, a popular white rooster often seen in Centennial Park, was found dead, the "murder weapon still on the scene," Breese said.
"Our buddy was killed, and based on how he was found, it was deliberate and certainly by human hands," Breese said. He would not provide details.
"This is the first time I've seen something so obviously purposeful," he said. "I believe it's a random, one-off tragedy."
And then there are the chicken thieves.
Days after the July 19 City Council meeting, Breese saw an Instagram video that appeared to show a man attempting to wrangle a chicken with a fishing net in Ybor City.
When he posted images from the video to the Ybor Chicken Society Facebook page, the comments came pouring in.
"We'd always suspected that people were taking chickens," Breese said. "Now we have proof."
So far, no one has reported Ybor City chicken thefts to the Tampa Police Department, said Stephen Hegarty, police spokesman.
Breese admits that humans on their own can't account for such a steep drop in the chicken population.
"The disappearance is a mystery," Breese said. e_SClBBut he has some ideas.
"Other predators, like cats, raccoons and possums may bear some responsibility," he said. "And I'm sure some have lived out their natural lives."
And then there are the hawks.
Many of the chickens included in the original count were baby chicks, Breese said, and he's seen hawks wipe out clutches of them all year round. Less than 5 percent of new clutches that hatched in the past few years have made it to adulthood, he said.
With their long talons and meaty diets, hawks are the scourge of backyard chickens everywhere. These birds of prey, especially Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks and others that have adapted well to urban environments, enjoy poultry for breakfast now and then.
But in Ybor City, where many cherish the chickens as local color, few people reported actually seeing a hawk take out one out.
So Nancy Murrah of the Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue organization is calling foul.
"If a hawk took out a rooster, you'd know," Murrah said.
That's because chickens - roosters or hens - can weigh up to seven pounds, too heavy for a hawk to carry. Carcasses strewn across Ybor City would mark their predation.
"They'll enjoy a quick bite and a peck on the sidewalk, and leave behind what they don't want," Murrah said.
Besides, she said, not many hawks live around Ybor City - not enough, certainly, to take out 60 chickens in a few months. Besides, she said, there are plenty of rats and mice in nearby restaurant dumpsters to keep the hawks satisfied.
Breese disagrees. He's seen them perched atop light poles in Ybor City and soaring above Centennial Park. He calls them the No. 1 threat to smaller, young chicks.
"Whatever the cause, the sharp decline - especially if it continues - is certainly worrisome," Breese said. "And it needs to stop."
The issue that drew such a crowd to the City Council meeting was a proposal to relax city bird-protection measures so people who consider the chickens a nuisance could have some of them removed. News about the plunge in population moved the council to delay action on that proposal, appeasing supporters of the fowl.
Murrah, with Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue, now questions whether the chickens are just wandering away.
Several days after she spoke with the Tampa Bay Times, she called back to say she had been summoned to rescue a rooster that looked "just like the ones in Ybor" near the Palma Ceia Golf Course - about five miles from Centennial Park. The park is popular among the roaming chickens.
"I find it interesting that roosters are disappearing from Ybor City," Murrah said, "and now we have a rooster that's clearly clucking in a place he doesn't belong."
MORE YBOR CHICKEN CLICKS
BIRDS OF PREY While City Hall prepared, hawks acted to reduce Ybor chicken flock
CHICKEN SOCIETY Meet the fixer for Ybor City's prized chickens
Chicken dumpers throw off balance of Ybor City's roaming fowl
Ybor City's free-roaming chickens may have a Jamaican grandpa
Ybor chickens are more than local color, they're subjects of scientific research
Contact Tim Fanning at tfanning@tampabay.com. Follow at @TimothyJFanning.