Raptors present means one thing, a healthy balanced ecology, it is perfectly natural and keeps the smaller bird populations strong and disease free. It is the householder that gets upset about "their" birds being attacked but the sad truth is many a well meaning householder kills birds through a combination of kindness and ignorance.
ALL bird feeders and water supplies need regular cleaning/disinfecting otherwise viruses spread rapidly through contact at feeders etc. Peanuts, often a source of major problems, cheap supplies are often toxic,only give quality tested nuts, never use whole peanuts as a loose feed in the spring/summer as inexperienced parent birds feed them to their young resulting in the chick choking to death ( this has been recorded as one of the biggest killers of young birds).
If you do have raptors around and want to avoid them getting at birds on a table you can place tall canes in the ground on the flight path to the bird table .
