Awesome day today (Falconry)

[JestersHK]

This was a trapped bird that was very young.  It amazes me how intelligent she was.  I've always wondered how different bird species can have such drastically different levels of intelligence.  This bird knew his voice, knew basic commands, knew when to go perch when we were flushing... just awesome to see in person.  She was not a foot from me and never showed signs of aggression even when she had her kill.   I've read that you do not want to tame them as he said he usually releases them back into the wild in the spring.  

He had a telemtry unit on the bird and we even used it to track her when she got into the brush pile chasing the quail.  I've researched about it enough to know that I currently would not even come close to the amount of time needed to dedicate to the bird.  I am happy to sit on the side lines though and spectate.  I got a good close up video of her getting her reward, need to get it up on youtube and post it here.  We are going to try and sync up later in the week.  I'll def get the gopro charged up as I really wished I could of got her hitting that rabbit on camera.

[TRRANGER]

THAT WOULD BE A COOL VIDOE FOR SURE.

 

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, JestersHK said:

This was a trapped bird that was very young.  It amazes me how intelligent she was.  I've always wondered how different bird species can have such drastically different levels of intelligence.  This bird knew his voice, knew basic commands, knew when to go perch when we were flushing... just awesome to see in person.  She was not a foot from me and never showed signs of aggression even when she had her kill. 

From the discussions that I had with Sean (the guy up in Maryland), he told me that the hand reared birds tend to be more aggressive to the handler. It seems that if they imprint on humans then they believe the human being to be another bird. Raptors are very aggressive to each other particularly if their is a kill involved. I believe that most falconers often only hold a bird for a few seasons and then release them back into the wild. 

[Mitch f]

Poor bunny rabbs😢

thats really cool actually 

[JestersHK]

4 hours ago, Mitch f said:

Poor bunny rabbs😢

thats really cool actually 

I rabbit hunted a ton growing up...  When the beagles would get ahold of them as a kid not sure there is a worse sound in the woods.  

This bunny didn't make a sound and was dispatched really quickly and humanely.  Well as humanely as a quick twist can be while a raptor has your head in a talon vise.

Def not for the squimish or for those who have never had to dispatch game before.  He did say if I was closer to grab the rabbit and kill it, but I wasn't going anywhere near those talons or beak. This was before I saw how docile she was even with a fresh kill.  

[Al Agnew]

When I was a kid a really wanted to be a falconer.  One time when my dad and I were fishing Wappapello while it was flooded up into the trees, we came upon a just fledged kestrel (sparrow hawk) that had apparently fallen from the nest and into the water.  We rescued it and I talked Dad into letting me keep it.  That was a really cool little bird.  I fed it a diet of grasshoppers that I worked like heck catching, and the occasional sparrow I shot with my BB gun.  It was usually pretty docile, but one time it bit me right on the pad of my index finger.  That hook on the end of its beak sunk in all the way to the bone.  OUCH!  I once shot a sparrow and only broke its wing, so I gave it to my hawk alive.  Apparently the instincts are all there, even though I'm not sure how many critters it had killed before falling out of the nest.  It pounced upon that sparrow, mantled over it, and gave it about three good pecks on the skull, killing it almost instantly.

After about a month, I decided to see if it could fly well enough to let it go.  It could.  That was the last I ever saw of it.

[Mitch f]

4 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

When I was a kid a really wanted to be a falconer.  One time when my dad and I were fishing Wappapello while it was flooded up into the trees, we came upon a just fledged kestrel (sparrow hawk) that had apparently fallen from the nest and into the water.  We rescued it and I talked Dad into letting me keep it.  That was a really cool little bird.  I fed it a diet of grasshoppers that I worked like heck catching, and the occasional sparrow I shot with my BB gun.  It was usually pretty docile, but one time it bit me right on the pad of my index finger.  That hook on the end of its beak sunk in all the way to the bone.  OUCH!  I once shot a sparrow and only broke its wing, so I gave it to my hawk alive.  Apparently the instincts are all there, even though I'm not sure how many critters it had killed before falling out of the nest.  It pounced upon that sparrow, mantled over it, and gave it about three good pecks on the skull, killing it almost instantly.

After about a month, I decided to see if it could fly well enough to let it go.  It could.  That was the last I ever saw of it.

Funny you mention that. I have a story about a Sparrow Hawk too. 

My father was born in 1921. When he was 8-9 years old, a Sparrow Hawk had taken over a Martin house with an oversized hole in it. My dad told me that he plotted on how to catch it for several months. He would start to climb the fence and it would squeak and the hawk would fly away. One time after it had snowed about 6”, he was able to get up on the fence silently and put his hand over the hole. He buried the hawk in his chest and went inside the house. He made a cage for it and wrote a letter to the Memphis Zoo who said they would be happy to take over the care of the hawk. The postman came by to pick it up and several weeks later he got a letter of thanks from the zoo. Who knows if they actually ever got it. But it was a great story to tell us kids.

[Greasy B]

When I was a teenager Kestrels were one of the first birds that caught my eye and imagination. I loved watching them hover over the local railway right of way and diving for prey. It didn’t take long for us to figure out how to fish for them with a small rubber bait tied  straight to monofilament. I can’t imagine doing such a thing now but touch and go bird fishing was kind of a hoot. 

[RSBreth]

I've read enough Stephen Bodio books to be really interested - but I barely have enough time for the outdoor hobbies I already have. Cool post HK -maybe more in the future.