Falconry, Information Discussion

Your welcome just glad you liked it Red Feather.

Hey everyone thought I'd post this short clip on the Red Tailed Hawk shows just how amazing they are. You might of seen this before. Feel free to share your stories or videos with all of us on these beautiful birds of prey.

Red Tailed Hawk

Slainte

I found a beautiful bird that I would like to have. I think it's beautiful. I wrote what kind of bird it was now can't find it. Has anyone hunted with these birds or may be just kept them as a pet? Anyhow I love the way they look.



Slainte

It definitely appears to be some type of falcon. (the wing length is the giveaway.) Our falcons around here are not brightly colored. Were I to guess I would say it preys on small do medium birds. I do not really know though.

Slàinte,    

Patch    

Hmm... looks a little like a perigren (probably spelled wrong) falcon, but they're usually not that brightly colored

The birds that use my feeders as a "lunch counter" are Perigean falcons. There are two that nest on one of the buildings down town. These do not have the bright colors. They are lt. brown with black markings and a nearly white underbelly. I have watched then from my kitchen window when they kill a bird in my back yard (about 25 feet) Actually they knock it out of the air, then land on it and cover it with their wings till they are sure nothing is going to steal lunch.

Slàinte,    

Patch    

This picture appears to be of a Kestrel, which is in the falcon family.
The American Kestrel is the only New World species termed "kestrel". Actually, the molecular data of Groombridge et al. (2002), as well as morphological peculiarities (like grey wings in males and a black ear-spot) and biogeography, strongly support the view that this species, among the Falco falcons, is not a kestrel at all in the phylogenetic sense but perhaps closer to the hobbies.

Malar-striped clade or Common Kestrel group

Madagascar Kestrel, Falco newtoni
Seychelles Kestrel, Falco araea
Mauritius Kestrel, Falco punctatus
Réunion Kestrel, Falco duboisi - extinct (c.1700)
Spotted Kestrel, Falco moluccensis, found in Indonesia
Nankeen Kestrel or Australian Kestrel, Falco cenchroides, found in Australia and New Guinea
Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus, found in Europe, Asia, and Africa
Rock Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus rupicolus, found in South Africa
Basal lineage(s) of true kestrels

Greater Kestrel, Falco rupicoloides, found in Eastern to South Africa
Fox Kestrel, Falco alopex, found in Equatorial Africa
Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni, found in southern Europe, India, and most of Africa except for the Sahara and equatorial forest areas
African gray kestrels (a more distant group)

Grey Kestrel, Falco ardosiaceus, found in Central to Southern Africa
Dickinson's Kestrel, Falco dickinsoni, found in Eastern to Southern Africa
Banded Kestrel, Falco zoniventris, found on Madagascar
American Kestrel

American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, found in North America and South America

Patch, That is so neat you have falcons that nest by you. I found a dead bird in my yard by the feeders. He was pretty mangled. May be that's what happened to him was the bigger birds got him. Or I got to thinking may be it was young and my dog got it.

Red Feather-that's it! I wonder if anyone hunts with this species. I just thought it was cool looking. Thank you for taking the time to post this information. Have you been out with your bird at all this spring?

Slainte

All I find are feathers after the falcon is gone if I do not see it kill the bird. I think they carry them off. At first I thought cats were doing it but the birds killed were not "ground feeders." I have seen the falcons covering a kill 7 times and actual kills 3 times, all in my back lawn. I enjoy watching birds though the bad thing is feeding probably helps spread "West Nile".

Slàinte,    

Patch    

I have only witnessed one falcon strike in mid air. We happen to, be looking up at this falcon when all of a sudden it folded its wings and dove down. In mid air it exploded into a mourning dove, all you saw was an explosion of feathers! It continued pretty fast downwards behind the tree line so we lost sight of it, but what a sight it was.

Another bird of prey was a Bald Eagle, it landed very high up on a dead tree on this ridgeline, about 75 yards away from me. As I saw it land on the branch, the branch broke and started to fall with the eagle still holding on, flapping his wings wildly. I thought for sure he was going to crash to the ground, but at about 20 feet off the ground he let go and flapped away, that was pretty exciting.

And one last story was a hawk attacking a squirrel way up in a tree , the hawk must have lunged at this squirrel about 4 times as they both went crashing further down the tree, each time the squirrel making a last secong dash to safety. The hawk finally flew off without the squirrel.

Patch, I have really slowed down on feeding the birds due to the West Nile. I hate to do that but I have to be able to do my garden. It's bad enough.

USN, what great stories!

I thought this video was interesting.

Falcon vs Starlings

Slainte

It is too bad but West Nile Disease seems to affect mostly the "song birds" though it does get a lot of Crows. The Sparrows, Starlings and Doves seem to avoid it, although with Sparrows and Starlings there are so many, it would be hard to tell if some died.

My 6 tomato plants require nothing yet but soon the "sucker" leaves will have to be picked off.

Slàinte,    

Patch

P.S. my daughter has to come down to capture the stills of my sword collection and get them on my computer. I can not do it.   

Rindy, that was a great video, like the bait balls in the ocean.

I keep feeding the birds, but the squirrel has finally figured out how to defeat the best squirrel proof feeder. It is so funny to watch, he slids down to the top off the feeder, grabs ahold of the bar it is hanging from and then shakes the dickens out of it, it is so funny when its full because his whole body has to shake!! Then when he knocks enough seed out of the holes on to the ground , he casual jumps down and eats of the ground!. The mourning doves and other squirrels sit underneath waiting for him to shake and they feed real quick till he jumps down and chases them all away, too funny.

USN

USN.

Yesterday at the Vancouver Zoo a Lioness killed and ate a Golden Eagle. Seem the eagle was perched on a pole in the Lion inclosure being harrassed by crows for invading their territory. Guess it distracted the eagle and one of the Lioness climbed the pole startling the Eagle which flew directly into the path of another Lioness waiting for the opportunity. Shocked awhole bunch of people but this is what happens in Nature. Can't blame the Lioness for having a snack.


Camac.

Nature at its rawest. Too bad for a beautiful eagle, stimulation and a snack for the lions, an eyeful and a story for the zoo spectators.

USN

USN glad you liked the video- that sums up the day at the zoo..lol...It would of been a site to see for the zoo goers.
I can just see this squirrel shaking the feeder. I think they are the funnest animals to watch. They are so smart, I just love them.

Patch It would be nice to see your sword collection if your daughter gets the chance to do this for you. Hope your plants are surviving the birds.

Camac I agree you can't blame the lioness at all for doing what she's suppose to do. Natures way.


I have been meaning to ask if anyone knows of any good books on falconry hunting stories or films or more stories to share?

Slainte