ok, dumb question

[lampinglurcher 36]

heres a very dumb question that i couldnt find an answer to in the FAQ section.

ive never really done any falconry but have always wondered how you get a bird with all its natural instincts to come back to you when its caught something, OR to let you find it and pick it up???

[Rentomski 0]

A bird on a kill isn't going to come back! One has to go and find it; to get it off a kill then it is a case of offering it food as fair exchange is not robbery. Ripping a bird off a kill just leads to the bird becoming aggressive and possessive; my Harris' will step up off a rabbit when offered a chick on the glove as she knows that she will get the bulk of that rabbit when she is back in her aviary. But that is a routine that she knows, if she didn't get that kind of reward then she wouldn't be quite so amenable!

[lampinglurcher 36]

nice one mate, cheers! must be pretty smart birds to remember the reward they will be recieving. (if you see what i mean.)

[Rentomski 0]

Harris' Hawks are seriously intelligent birds and have excellent memories, they soon learn the routine. They might not be as aggressive as say a Redtail could be if it felt it was being robbed, but they have a very clear understanding of what they expect in the way of reward for their hard work. Cheat them once too often and at the very least they'll go on strike and refuse to hunt. When I fly mine I am only looking for one kill for her; in the wild they don't hunt, kill and eat more than one thing at a time. So she is well aware that the rewards, when she catches something, are huge and that makes her very highly motivated as she knows that what she catches is hers.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Rentomski

[lampinglurcher 36]

ah right.. is it the same with all falcons/hawks etc you should only let them hunt for one thing in a session or are there birds that you can spend a few hours hunting multiple things?

matt

[Rentomski 0]

I just look for one kill per outing with my birds, it is a personal choice. Multiple takes are perfectly possible with hawks, although it is not something I'd risk with my falcon. I look for good flights and whether the bird catches something or not is not important to me. If the quarry has the skills to evade the hawk or falcon, then good luck to it as it got the better of the raptor. The flights that stay in the memory are, very often, the ones where the hawk or falcon tried damned hard but lost. The easy young dumb bunnies or crows keep the birds motivated to attempt the difficult flights at quarry that have excellent survival skills; but those easy ones are the least memorable.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Rentomski