My kind of hunter

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BTR

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Redtail.jpg


I guess I just wanted to show off this beautiful redtail hawk...he's a human malimprint that lives at the raptor center where I volunteer. No, he didn't bag the quail he's eating himself. Are there any falconers here? (I am not).

[This message has been edited by BTR (edited October 11, 2000).]
 
Pretty bird.Hawks are sure neat bird,aren't they?There are alot of them around my place and we really enjoy watching them and having them around, although occasionally one of my cats will disappear and then I wonder if he didn't fall prey to the hawks.
 
Last weekend I had a red tailed hawk and a barred owl land in the tree in front of me while i was hunting. Less that 20 yds away. Simply awesomed.
 
A human malimprint is a bird that is exposed to people too much when it is a chick. Instead of recognizing other birds as its own species, it confuses humans with its own species. As a result, it probably won't be afraid of humans, and won't relate very well to its own species.

At the raptor center, we take it birds of prey that are injured or orphaned, and fix and release them if possible. We also do presentations for educational purposes, so we keep representatives of many of the species, those that are healthy, but non-releasable.

This one, Jake, is quite a character. He acts more intelligent than most of the birds, and is very alert and curious. When entering his cage, you've got to show him your hands, so he sees that you don't have food- sometimes you even have to poke him away with your foot. He's been trained to fly on a line to the glove, and I've had the privledge to do that several times, and it's a neat experience.
 
What a beautiful creature.

I have considered falconry a number of times, but I never can justify the time, space and money it would take to do it properly.

Many years ago a friend of mine was a falconer and he brought his red-tail to a Boy Scout meeting for us. We were in the gymnasium and as soon as he let the bird go it flew across the gym and landed on the backboard of the basketball goal on the opposite end of the room. Then my friend raised a piece of beef heart (perfect training food for them, very low in fat) on his glove and the bird launched off of the backboard, flapped its wings once or twice, and soared over our heads to land gently on the glove and get his treat. It was breathtaking!

My friend had to wear old, long-sleeve shirts with that bird because it would walk up his arm to stand on his shoulder, leaving holes in his shirt sleeve from its sharp talons!

He told me of a Great Horned Owl that he had once, given to him by the Dept. of Wildlife for rehabilitation. He also raises pigeons to feed his birds with. He would occasionally place a pigeon in the cage with the owl to see if it wanted it. For the longest time the pigeons were ignored. Then, one day, he put a pigeon in the cage and, of course, the pigeon went nuts ("OWL! OWL! Fly away! Quickly!") but the owl stared at it for a while. Then, as the pigeon passed the owl, it disappeared in a puff of feathers! It as then that my friend knew that the owl was ready to go back home!

I love birds and have the greatest awe for birds of prey. Thanks for a great photo.
 
I have some pigeons, I raise them just for fun, it's neat to have birds around. Most pigeoners say that the hawk is their sworn enemy, hehe, I'd pay to see one bust one of my birds out of mid-air :D I guess that's just the predator in me :D
 
The power lines of Georgia Power run right by my house. In the spring you can stand out under the towers and look up and down the right of way and see one Redtail after another as far as you can see. It looks like they claim an area and establish a boundary between them by mutual agreement and hunt that one segment of a miles-long cleared right of way under the power lines.

The local population around here is really on the rise.

I've seen them come in low for prey. That sometimes gets them in vehicle traffic. I wish there was a way to prevent that. Beautiful birds.
 
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