deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 10, 2016 8:44:54 GMT -8
If you read the title and you're still here then that's great, thank you! I just thought I would show you some cool videos and photos I got during the training process of my Harris' hawk. He's had a rest for the last few seasons due to previous injuries and now we are back in action. Well, we were. Now he's moulting so he's resting until he's done haha Again, I have pre-warned! This is a predatory bird that does not eat pellets and veggies. He eats day old cockerels, rats, rabbits, quails etc. I am sorry if it offends anybody but again, you have been warned! This is my passion, my lifestyle and my hobby. Please don't feel the need to tell me that you don't like it Mostly videos, so hover over them and the play option will come up. They're only short clips Day 1. Catching the hawk! http://instagr.am/p/BDSn-76L0SQ Day 2. Feeding on the fist (this normally takes a bit longer but he's used to the drill) http://instagr.am/p/BDS_PHfL0ay Day 3. Didn't take too long to get him eating at all http://instagr.am/p/BDXv3kVL0cp A few days in and lots of manning later, we talk a walk to our flying grounds for a look around http://instagr.am/p/BDae1AGr0eN Oh he is handsome http://instagr.am/p/BDafBEzr0ek I already had him jumping to the fist in the garden a few days in so I did a little bit of fitness work up the fields getting him flying back to his perch http://instagr.am/p/BDwOqWeL0Uf Jack's brother had a go at flying him too http://instagr.am/p/BDwPDtlL0VY Long distances in the wind http://instagr.am/p/BDwPiQlL0WU He was flying to the fist well after this too, I think it gave him a confidence boost http://instagr.am/p/BDwPu2Kr0Wr I will post these in sections and I'll do the other now as a comment, just so the post doesn't get messed up! |
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 10, 2016 8:56:57 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Bluekeet on Aug 10, 2016 8:58:53 GMT -8
Wow! I love the slow motion ones! Such a majestic animal.
|
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 10, 2016 9:11:16 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Haimovfids on Aug 10, 2016 10:02:04 GMT -8
What a beauty! It was a joy watching him. Do you buy his food dead, or alive?
|
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 13, 2016 2:07:53 GMT -8
I don't think anybody feeds their raptors live food, it's unnecessary, they aren't quite as hard as snakes to get eating. Raptors are also opportunistic and will often take carrion in the wild so it's not a problem for them. I buy in bulk. I buy about 200 quail, a few rabbits, he shares the rats with the larger snakes and he gets about 400 chicks on every order. It lasts quite a bit. Oh, and he gets steak haha. He has the steak while he's flying and if he's being a bit slower I tempt him with a chick
|
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 13, 2016 2:17:20 GMT -8
|
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 13, 2016 2:42:52 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Haimovfids on Aug 13, 2016 3:12:57 GMT -8
Excellent photography!
Last question: how do you prevent him from flying off?
|
|
deebee
Fledgling
I have made 453 posts
Right now I'm Offline
I joined January 2015
I've received 54 likes
My gender is Female
Name Daisy
Experience Level Parrot Breeder
|
Post by deebee on Aug 13, 2016 5:02:40 GMT -8
Thank you! I can't find the cable to my external hardrive so I can't put the actual photos and videos up, which is a shame because Instagram just destroys the quality  As for preventing him from flying off, there really is nothing I can do. It took me 2 weeks to get him free flying and it took me 2 weeks the last time when I had him flying for a fair few years. The process is sort of like this (summed up of course) 1 - Get the bird used to sitting on its bow perch and wearing the leg equipment for a few days at least, considerably longer with an un-touched bird. It needs to be comfortable eating there and it won't keep trying to get away from it 2 - Start 'manning' the bird. Manning the bird is having the bird on your fist for decent periods of time until it is happily sitting there without a care in the world. Fresh birds will bate (try to fly off) consistently until they learn that they aren't going anywhere. You build a mutual respect with the bird and it has to learn that you are secure and can be trusted 3 - Get the bird eating on the fist. This can take days but as it is done through weight management the bird has to be hungry. A bird like a Harris' hawk that is medium sized can go a fair few days without food so this can take longer but smaller birds need to eat on that first day, so time is of the essence. This is why you tend to start off with medium sized birds. A lot of people think the smaller the bird the easier but then you have less margin of error. Small birds can die very fast in the wrong hands. The bird has to be anticipating having food off you and eat without hesitation 4 - Once the bird is eating readily on the fist you can start working on small jumps to the fist. Harris' hawks are very co-operative birds and tend to pick this up straight away. If they're hungry and they've been manned well then they will jump to you. During this time these short jumps will still be on the leash tied to the glove. It may only be a hop but it's still something. After this you can tie the birds equipment to a creance (fancy French word for piece of string). Think of this as the Aviator Harness flight line. It allows the bird to fly the desired distance without the risk of them flying away. I tend to thread it through my glove before tying the bird to it. Over time you increase the distance 5 - When the bird is comfortable flying to the fist on the creance with a fast response time, flying in different places without being spooked etc. THEN you can take away the creance, swivel and mews jesses (leather straps) and let them fly free That is the easiest way I can sum up the training process. It can be simple and fast with a good bird or it can be difficult with another. Like parrots, they're all unique and have their own individual personalities. My hawk is quite a nervy bird but once he gets going he's bomb-proof. His only issues are sometimes he likes to push his luck and go to say, an un-desired spot slightly out of sight. He does something called 'following on'. This is where your bird follows you (if you didn't guess). So if I don't see him I normally listen for the bells he wears (most people will also fly their bird with telemetry) and whistle him, walk away and sure enough he'll be racing to find me It's all about weight management and a few ounces can make all the difference. He flies best at 1.6lbs (725g) but will fly well anything up to 1.9lbs (861g). At 1.10-1.13lbs (his fat weight out of the aviary) he becomes un-responsive. At 1.10 he starts to slow down and at 1.13 he's untouchable. He won't bother with anything. Obviously if the bird is slightly over it's comfortably flying weight you won't fly them that day and you will cut the food down It sounds quite mean, but they work differently to a parrot and need to see you as a hunting partner |
|
