Tips on
acquiring and training captive-bred Harris’s hawks
Contact:
Toby Bradshaw <baywingdb@comcast.net>
Introduction
As a Harris’s hawk breeder, I get a lot
of calls and emails regarding the training of captive-bred Harris’s hawks.
Many of these inquiries come from falconers obtaining their first
Harris’s hawk. It is primarily for these falconers that this article is
written, although I do hope that even experienced Harris’s hawkers will find
some valuable tidbits of information or alternative points of view to stimulate
them.
I am a scientist by profession, so
naturally I try to draw my conclusions on Harris’s hawk training using the
scientific method whenever that is possible.
Inevitably, because of the modest number of Harris’s hawks I have flown,
a good deal of intuition creeps into the equation, too.
Consider what is written below to be one person’s (informed) opinion.
Let me say from the outset that there is
more than one "right" way to train a Harris’s hawk and end up with a highly
desirable finished product. I am
still learning new tricks every year and incorporating them into my
"standard" training routine. I
have seen exceptions to nearly every "rule," including my own training
rules. I’d love to hear from you
about your own views and experiences training Harris’s hawks.
The methods described in this article
have worked well for me and many of my hawking buddies around the world, hunting
in a wide variety of terrain for many different quarries.
My comments are based on my 28 years of hawking with 31 captive-bred
Harris’s hawks (with more than 3500 head of quarry taken), plus careful observation of dozens of other falconers and
hundreds of Harris’s hawks. I have made more than my share of mistakes along the way, and
been witness to the mistakes of many other falconers, but hopefully I can help
you avoid learning everything the hard way.
Acquiring a
captive-bred Harris's hawk
Purchasing a Harris’s hawk is
potentially a long-term commitment. With
luck, it will be your hunting
partner for 10, 15, or even 20 years. It
makes absolutely no sense to skimp on the cost of the young hawk from the
breeder, or to obtain a hand-me-down Harris’s with known behavioral problems.
A few hundred dollars here or there is insignificant in the long run, given
the thousands of hours and hundreds of gallons of gas that will be spent hawking.
If the hawk is really good, you may even have to invest in an extra
freezer to hold all the game!
Do yourself a favor and research the
bloodlines of the Harris’s hawks you are considering for purchase.
Do not assume that any young Harris’s hawk is as good as any other,
because this is not true. Ask a few
questions of the breeder. Why were
the breeding birds chosen as parents? What
are the performance goals of the breeder? Does
the breeder fly his/her own stock? Can
you watch the parents or, better yet, siblings of your bird fly? What pedigree information does the breeder have on the
parents and their offspring? Can
the breeding stock be traced back to wild-caught birds?
Breeding Harris’s hawks is easy, but breeding exceptional
Harris’s hawks is not. Harris’s
hawks are unique because of their highly developed social system. Find a breeder that really understands and flies Harris’s
hawks.
Although it is highly desirable to
choose your young Harris’s hawk from good bloodlines, it is even more important
that the breeder rears the young bird in a manner that will produce a
well-socialized bird, properly imprinted on its natural parents, and yet
unafraid of people, dogs, automobiles, and other things to which it will be
exposed while hunting later in life. Proper
rearing extends well beyond the hard-penned stage of eyas development, which
occurs at approximately 8 weeks after hatching.
Far too many Harris’s hawks are sold just as they become hard-penned.
This is partly because other captive-bred raptors traditionally are sold at this
stage of development,
partly because many breeders prefer to sell their stock as soon as possible to
reduce feeding costs (roughly $1.50/day if Coturnix quail are the food source), and partly because young hawks kept in solid-walled
breeding chambers start to become nervous and jumpy about the time they are
hard-penned.
Harris’s hawks are far more social than
the other raptors flown in falconry, and have a much longer dependency period in
the wild. It takes time for a young
Harris’s hawk to learn all the nuances of social behavior, and to fully imprint
on its natural parents. Harris’s
hawks can be taken from their parents as early as 8 weeks if they are trained
quickly, flown hard to develop independence from the falconer, and flown in a cast with an adult Harris’s hawk which will continue to teach the
young hawk the necessary social graces. A Harris’s hawk taken as young as 8 weeks will almost
invariably become a constant screamer at home, though most are silent in the
field. Surprisingly, a Harris's hawk
taken from its parents at 8 weeks and
housed and flown without another Harris’s hawk is still capable of becoming mis-imprinted on the falconer. Like
any mis-imprinted Harris’s hawk, when it becomes sexually mature it may even attempt to copulate with the
falconer and become territorial around other humans (and, sometimes, dogs) to
the point of attacking them. This
is flirting with disaster.
An 8-week-old Harris’s hawk is a
very poor
choice for the falconer who has never before flown a Harris’s hawk, or who does
not have another Harris’s hawk to fly in a cast with the youngster.
In general, I like to take a youngster from its parents at 12-20 weeks of
age. By this time the young hawk
has learned its place in the dominance hierarchy, and will be much less prone to
screaming and crabbing when trained. Males do develop more quickly than
females, and are much less likely to show aggression problems as they get older,
probably because males are never the dominant bird in a family group setting.
For these reasons, I will sometimes take a male as early as 10-11 weeks and have
never had any major problems, and with appropriate discipline and a good cast
partner I routinely take females at 11-12 weeks. But for the
inexperienced Harris's hawker, I think it pays to leave females with
their parents for the full 16-20 weeks, especially if the hawk will not be flown
in a cast as soon as it is trained.
In order to keep the young hawk with the
parents for 4-5 months without having it become nervous and skittish
from lack of exposure to human activity, I consider it critical to rear the
young in an open-sided breeding chamber from which they can see people, dogs,
cars, and other distractions they will be expected to tolerate for the remainder
of their lives. Accordingly, I use
chain link breeding chambers erected in plain sight of a busy street.
In these chambers, the young hawks are fed by their natural parents and
so become properly imprinted, while at the same time they become unafraid of
people, dogs, traffic, and the other trappings of civilization. The parents themselves are proven falconry birds who remain
calm around human activity.
This calmness reassures the young hawks.
Yes, it is a lot of trouble to breed and
rear young Harris’s hawks the way that I prefer, but the end product is worth
the effort.
Qualities of an
excellent Harris's hawk
Harris’s hawks are the most versatile
and adaptable raptors used for falconry. They are probably the easiest hawk to train successfully,
even for a complete novice to the sport, yet at the same time are capable of the
most complex and varied flight styles imaginable when handled by a real expert.
I am forever amazed by the depth and breadth of their abilities in the
field. A well-bred,
properly-reared, correctly-trained Harris’s hawk is a lifetime hunting partner.
Given sufficient opportunity and encouragement, the hawk’s repertoire
of skills will grow over the years and provide constant enjoyment to the most
discriminating falconer.
Many people seem to think that all
Harris’s hawks are cut from the same cloth. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There is tremendous variation among individual Harris’s hawks and among
different bloodlines within the species. This
variation can be exploited for maximum advantage by thoughtful falconers.
My expectations for a "finished" Harris’s hawk have risen
dramatically over the past 25 years. I am sure that they will be higher still 25 years from now.
Here are the characteristics I think are important in a trained Harris’s
hawk, roughly in descending order of importance.
Tameness.
Tameness simplifies every aspect of Harris’s hawk management. Although captive-bred Harris’s hawks have a well-deserved
reputation for tameness, this is by no means a universal trait.
Some are as twitchy as as the spookiest goshawk.
Most Harris’s hawks can be tamed to
a remarkable degree, especially when at flying weight.
I like a Harris’s hawk that is totally tame at any weight, under
any circumstances. I molt and breed
Harris’s hawks in chain link enclosures with natural turf on the ground.
The
openness of chain link provides year-round visual stimulation to the hawks,
gives them plenty of light and fresh air, and prevents the accumulation of food
scraps and hawk slices. At the
same time, chain link is portable, extremely durable, and impervious to predators.
Even at temperatures somewhat below freezing, a little protection from the
wind and a heated perch are all that is necessary to keep a fat Harris’s
hawk healthy in a chain link chamber.
It is crucial that my hawks be comfortable in such exposed quarters and
not thrash about breaking feathers and scraping ceres, even when garbage trucks
rumble by or lawnmowers blare at full throttle.
I really dislike keeping Harris’s hawks in solid-walled mews, especially
if the hawk is alone or has a limited view of the outside world.
Harris’s hawks are social animals, and isolation is not good for
them. Isolation can produce problems
such as thigh-plucking, aggression towards people and dogs, and mis-imprinting
or overdependence on the falconer. Tameness
is essential to my style of Harris’s hawk husbandry.
Tame hawks also fly at higher weights
and with greater zest, are not easily lost, molt fast and cleanly, and breed
easily when and if that is desired. Tame
hawks are more forgiving of training errors. They are more tolerant of
novel hunting environments, the presence of strangers in the field, and
unexpected distractions.
There is no such thing as a Harris’s hawk that is "too tame."
The best of them are as friendly as any dog, and will actively seek out
the company of the falconer. Their
total lack of fear and inhibition allows them to focus all of their energy on
hunting, and makes them extremely effective in the field, as well as a pleasure
at home.
Tameness is a product of good genes,
proper rearing by the parents in an open-sided chamber where the young are
exposed to human activity, and training/hunting for several months in their
first year to form a strong "pack bond" with the falconer. In the best Harris’s hawk bloodlines, no formal manning is required.
but traditional manning can be done if the falconer so desires. Hawks from the White
Wing line, founded by Tom and Jennifer Coulson, are the tamest Harris’s hawks I
have ever seen. I would certainly
be interested in locating unrelated but equally tame Harris’s hawks for my
breeding project.
Eagerness for quarry.
Since the point of falconry is to hunt wild game, it is obvious that an
excellent Harris’s hawk must have a strong innate desire to chase quarry of all
kinds. You might think that natural
selection would long ago have eliminated any tendency to be "slack-mettled,"
but I have seen and (unfortunately) owned Harris’s hawks that were essentially
useless in the field because of their lack of hunting drive.
These were not hawks exhibiting the "near miss syndrome" due to
improper hunting weight (see below for details), but simply were not very
interested in pursuing quarry under most circumstances typical of falconry.
Probably someone more patient than I could make something of such hawks,
but I prefer to direct my limited talents towards Harris’s hawks with more
inherent gameness. Nearly every one of the Harris’s hawks I
have trained caught a rabbit on its first day in the field,
and many other Harris’s hawkers have had similar success.
In my experience, gameness is a matter
of good genes and plenty of exposure to suitable quarry, especially early in
life. Most Harris’s hawks are not
easily discouraged by failure, but certainly there is nothing like immediate and
frequent success in the field to give a Harris’s hawk the confidence it needs
to undertake the most demanding flights.
Not
every Harris’s hawk shows an instant interest in feathered quarry.
If hunting game birds is a high priority for you, make sure to select a
young Harris’s hawk from parents with a proven penchant for chasing quail and
pheasants.
Similarly, there is
quite a bit of variation in the persistence of individual Harris’s hawks when
pursuing quarry. Many Harris’s
hawks are decidedly opportunistic, and will refuse a difficult slip in hopes of
finding more vulnerable quarry later. When
these opportunists do sense an advantage over the quarry they will explode into
action and try very hard to catch it. When
they choose to attack their success rate can be high indeed.
To some extent this opportunism is a learned behavior, and it is rare for
an older, experienced Harris’s hawk to show the same reckless abandon commonly
seen in the first season. Nevertheless,
I prefer a Harris’s hawk that will consistently take a long, challenging slip, such as an
upwind flight on a jackrabbit flushing wild.
Even the most reserved, calculating, veteran Harris’s hawk will take a
tough slip if its weight is right, game is scarce, and the sun has set.
The best Harris’s hawks will try hard all the time, and never give up
the pursuit as long as they are gaining ground.
These are real gems.
Social skills.
A good Harris’s hawk needs proper manners around people, dogs, and,
particularly, other Harris’s hawks. It
must never be aggressive towards people or dogs (even small dogs like Jack
Russell terriers or mini-dachshunds), and should not demonstrate aggression or
territorial behavior towards other Harris’s hawks in the field. The very best Harris’s hawks will actually turn their back
and walk or fly away from a fight even when challenged by another Harris’s hawk. Good social skills come from
good genes, by allowing the parents to rear the young for at least 10-12 weeks
in open-sided chambers where people and dogs are constantly visible, and by
flying and molting with other properly socialized Harris's hawks.
Harris's hawks can lose their social skills if not housed and flown regularly
with other Harris's hawks. I like to perch my hunting birds close together
(but not able to reach one another) in the weathering yard during the hunting
season to keep them familiar with each other, and they are housed together in a
chain link aviary during the molt. Long-term isolation is not good for a
Harris's hawk -- I consider it cruel. If you aren't able to join in regular hunts with another
falconer and his/her Harris's hawk, consider flying a cast of Harris's hawks
yourself so that the birds can keep each other company.
Situational awareness.
A good Harris’s hawk adopts different flight styles in varying terrain
and weather conditions. It will
ride on the glove or T-perch for hours without bating in open country, take excellent high
perches in enclosed country, and soar when conditions permit. Some Harris’s hawks have an uncanny ability to spot game.
"Good eyes" put a lot of rabbits in the bag.
Some falconers like having a hawk that is "well-trained' and under control at
all times. In some hunting situations, such as confined areas where a hawk
might have to be recalled quickly, this is necessary, I avoid hunting such
confined areas, and I
prefer to give my Harris's hawks complete freedom in the field. I usually fly them
without jesses, and always allow them to select their own perches from which to
hunt. If given this freedom a good Harris's hawk quickly learns to position
itself to give it the maximum advantage over quarry flushed by the falconer and
dogs. Part of the enjoyment of falconry is watching the hawk develop and
implement
effective hunting tactics on its own.
Athletic ability.
Speed, agility, and good footing are important traits for hunting hawks.
There is a remarkable amount of variability in this area.
These traits are difficult to compare unless you are flying a lot of
Harris’s hawks at once.
For some reason there is a preoccupation
with the size of Harris’s hawks, with large birds seemingly preferred by many
falconers. Since even a 620g (22oz)
male can catch 3kg (6+ pound) jackrabbits regularly, the fascination with
large size escapes me. Bigger is
not better! Just as with dogs,
it’s the size of the fight in the hawk, and not the size of the hawk in the
fight, that really counts. If
having a large hawk is important to you, just tell everyone that you fly a 1200g
female Harris’s, even if you are really hunting her at 940g.
I’ve seen too many falconers fly their Harris’s hawk fat to brag on
its large size, then look foolish when the other guy’s 850g female is
catching all the game.
Screaming is very common among
captive-bred Harris’s hawks, and few if any Harris’s hawks are completely
silent, especially at home when hungry. They
are social birds and vocal communication is normal for them, even as adults.
Luckily, the adult voice is much less grating on the ears than the
immature scream. Despite the fact
that vocalization is normal for Harris's hawks, there is a world of difference between a Harris’s hawk that squawks once or
twice when it sees the falconer and one that screams with every breath from dawn
to dark. The latter can drive you (or your neighbors) crazy.
In the most extreme cases, the hawk will even scream in the field.
A bad screamer can also teach other Harris’s hawks to scream, and that
is reason enough to avoid them.
Screaming is the result of a complex
mixture of genes and environment. Some
pairs of Harris’s hawks tend to produce young that are less prone to scream
than usual. Unfortunately,
sometimes this is because the young are not as naturally tame as I think a
Harris’s hawk should be. However,
if silence is more important to you than absolute tameness, one of these
"wilder" Harris’s hawks might be for you.
The main cause of screaming is well
known to falconers. Once the hawk
understands that the falconer is a food source, the food-begging scream begins.
Taking the Harris’s hawk from its parents at too early an age is a major
culprit. The best solution to food-begging is to eliminate the association between food and the falconer.
The hawk should come to see the falconer not as a direct source of food,
but as a source of opportunities to hunt for its own food.
Male or female?
There is more difference among different bloodlines and individuals than there
is between the sexes, but there are some rules of thumb for choosing the sex of
a Harris's hawk for falconry.
For quarry up to the size of cottontails and pheasant, I prefer the male
Harris's hawk. Males are quicker in acceleration and turning, much more agile, and more aerial than
females. They have a flashy flight style, and rarely give problems with
aggression towards people, dogs, or other Harris's hawks. It is easier to
practice "catch-and-release" falconry with males, which don't do as much
damage to the quarry as most females will.
If the primary quarry are large rabbits (swamp rabbit, European rabbit) or
jackrabbits (hares), I prefer a female Harris's hawk. Females have the size and
strength necessary to subdue large and powerful game animals. They are
faster than males over the long haul, and better able to fly into a strong wind. They can
eat a larger amount of food without gaining weight, and usually fly well at a
wider range of weights than a male. Many falconers fly female Harris's
hawks simply because females tend to be more relaxed and amiable than males.
A female-male cast of Harris's hawks gives the best of both worlds. It is a
pleasure to watch the two hawks simultaneously compete to get to the quarry
first, then cooperate in catching it. The flying skills of the female and
male are complementary -- the aerobatic male frequently forces the quarry
to leave cover just as the female closes in at maximum speed to deliver the final
powerful stroke. Cast flying gives the falconer a window into the behavior
of wild Harris's hawks, provides suitable companionship for the Harris's hawks,
and is very effective on game, especially in heavy cover.
I find that it takes about 1-3 weeks to
move a young Harris’s hawk from the breeding chamber to the hunting field.
In that first 1-3 weeks only a small amount of time, perhaps 5-30 minutes, is
needed each day, at least for the Harris's hawks I breed and fly. I do no formal manning at all, since I work with an
exceptionally tame line of captive-bred Harris's hawks. If your new
Harris's hawk is not tame enough at the outset to sit on the glove or perch
without bating or fear of your hands, a day or two of traditional manning will
be well spent. When the eyas is
pulled from the chamber by me, or arrives by air freight from Tom and Jenn, it is cast gently in a towel
while the Aylmeri cuffs, jesses, bell, and telemetry tail mount or (preferably) backpack
mount are attached. I
use a single merlin-sized leg bell and a
Marshall TrackPack mount for the telemetry. When released from the towel, the hawk is placed
on the glove. A really tame Harris's hawk will not bate; the best of them
will stand on the glove and preen. The hawk is then weighed and put on a
low bow perch in the back yard, with access to a bath. I generally put a
tidbit on my glove and show it to the hawk while it is standing on the perch.
I have only had two hawks take the tidbit on Day 1; one of them even made its
first jump to the glove within a few hours of being pulled from the breeding
chamber! I wish that every falconer could experience the pleasure of
flying such birds as these, which practically train themselves.
Every time the hawk sees me from this
point forward, it will have a chance to look for food. Occasionally I
will walk by and offer a tidbit on the glove. I will let the hawk pick one
tidbit from the glove, but after that, if the hawk wants to eat it has to jump
to the glove. When it makes its first jump to the glove, I immediately
toss a tidbit to the ground. The hawk learns an important lesson -- the
glove is a good place from which to hunt (for tidbits, in this case). At
this point, many
hawks will return to the bow perch, then jump back to the ungarnished glove. If
this happens, I toss another tidbit to the ground at once. If the hawk won't jump
to the ungarnished glove, I offer another tidbit on the glove, then toss a
tidbit to the ground after the hawk has eaten the one on the glove. Nearly
all Harris's hawks will now jump from the bow perch to the ungarnished glove.
From now on, the hawk will
never receive another tidbit on the glove, but will be expected to come to the
fist and wait to be "served." In the evening, I carefully pick the hawk up
from the perch and back it into the
transport box to spend the night. A tidbit is
placed on the perch in the box to encourage the hawk to step up. The next
morning, the hawk is weighed and put back on the bow perch.
Once
this routine is established, all that is needed is to increase the distance of
the flights just as one typically trains any other hawk or falcon. I like
to use a second person to help at this stage, so the hawk flies back and forth
between us, and a tidbit is thrown to the ground every time the hawk comes to
one person or the other. When the hawk will come 30-50 feet on the creance
promptly, it is shown a whole dead rabbit lure. Every Harris's hawk I've
had slammed into the lure the first time it was brought out. The hawk is
given the rabbit's front leg, and allowed to eat it in peace. I walk away
from the hawk while it eats, so that it doesn't feel compelled to mantle.
When it is finished with the leg, the hawk is called to the ungarnished glove and put in its
transport box. The same pattern will be followed in the field.
There is no need to do any more
training, or fly the hawk free, before hunting. All of my Harris's hawks
make their first free flight in a hunting field, and most of them catch a
rabbit on their first day off the creance.
So far, I haven't
mentioned weight control, manning, or hooding. Weight control is
important, and most captive-bred Harris's hawks will need to be reduced in weight
before being hunted. For
the vast majority of eyas Harris’s hawks being trained for the first time, this
hunting weight is lower than the weight at which the hawk will return
to the falconer.
This means that training needs to proceed quickly so that the young bird
is out hunting before it becomes dependent on the falconer.
Harris’s hawks are notorious liars, and
will act like they are starving at home, but have poor response in the field
because in reality they are too heavy.
Likewise, at their "first free flight weight" many of them will come a mile
to the glove, but somehow never quite catch up to
rabbits that they chase. This
"near-miss syndrome" is a symptom of being over their true hunting weight.
To catch rabbits consistently a Harris’s hawk must fly hard, crash into
brush, and rebound in pursuit after a miss.
If it doesn’t do these things, it is too heavy to hunt well, no matter
how good its fist response might be.
When the captive-bred Harris's hawk is
ready to be flown free, training is over and the fun begins!
In the first three
weeks post-training it is a great advantage if the young bird can be flown hard for an hour or
two every day, seeing plenty of game. Try to arrange your free time to accommodate
this critical developmental stage. I feel
that if I cannot produce a decent slip for every 10 or 15 minutes of walking
that the young hawk is likely to become bored or distracted. I don't hold
the hawk on the glove. If it is out of position for a flush, it will soon
learn the error of its ways. There must be enough game so that success or
failure does not depend upon one flush. Now is the
time for the hawk to learn that the falconer reliably produces game, and that if
the hawk maintains good position on the glove or a suitable perch, uses its eyes
to search for game, and exerts itself when quarry is seen, it will be rewarded
with a satisfying pursuit and a hot meal.
The training process is made easier if
the first three weeks of hunting is in
an open area, where recovery of the minimally-trained hawk is simplified by the
lack of high perches, thick cover, etc. It
is worth driving a considerable distance to hawk in such favorable conditions.
I would gladly drive 1000 miles to get my young Harris's hawk off to a good
start. That first catch will unleash a ferocity in the hawk that it has
never felt before. The quarry is footed over and over, the hawk's talons
convulsing as they tattoo the prey. Savor this moment, for the hawk will
never look at the world the same way again. It is amazing how this first
kill affects the intensity of subsequent hunts. After the first kill, try
very hard for an unbroken string of kills on successive days. Four or five
catches in a row will "make" a Harris's hawk, and the hawk will be on its way.
By far the easiest way to train a new
Harris's hawk is simply to fly it with an experienced adult, which is what I do.
I put no particular pressure on a brand-new young Harris's hawk to make kills
for the first several days (although they usually do anyway), as long as it is
flying and behaving well with its castmate. I would rather have the young
hawk start out a little heavy, but feeling frisky and getting strong from
constant flying, than to be overly hungry. If too low, a young hawk may
not have the energy to expand its flight envelope, and may be too aggressive
around kills made by its castmate. A young Harris's hawk flown daily will
soon enough grow into its role as a hunter and provider for the pack. This
is part of the normal social development of a Harris's hawk.
The importance of early, constant
exposure to game cannot be overemphasized. I am asking this young
hawk, which has never flown more than 50 feet, to simultaneously learn to fly,
learn the escape tactics of game, use its eyes well, foot accurately, and feed
itself on its own kills or the kills made its castmate from its first free flight onward. That is a tall
order. I give my hawk every chance to succeed by finding "honey holes"
loaded with game, preferably young quarry that are as inexperienced as my
Harris's hawk. Preseason scouting for these special hunting spots is well
rewarded.
If necessary, bagged game can be used
(judiciously) to serve the same end. However, I have not found this
to be needed with my Harris's hawks entered to rabbits. And, of course, my
young hawks learn the ropes from a veteran castmate.
After the hawk makes a catch, I dispatch
the quarry and remove part of it (e.g., a rabbit front leg) and trade the
hawk to that. I walk away and leave the hawk alone to eat. When it is finished, it
will come looking for me so that that the hunt can continue. Harris's hawks
are capable of multiple kills from the very beginning, and this is something to
be encouraged. The hawk will always find a tidbit on its perch in the
transport box, so my truck and the box itself become lures.
If desired (or necessary), the dogs and other Harris's hawks can be
introduced once the young hawk has caught a few rabbits on its own. Use
proper precautions when starting with dogs,
especially if the young Harris's hawk is a female.
After that magic five or six weeks since
the young Harris's hawk was taken from its parents, I have a competent (if not completely
polished) game hawk. By providing
for itself the hawk will not come to depend on the falconer as a source of food,
but rather will consider the falconer (and dogs, and other Harris’s hawks) as
members of its hunting pack. The
falconer’s glove is not seen as a vending machine for tidbits, but as a mobile perch from
which game is sure to be spotted, pursued, and caught.
Multiple kills are the norm, not the exception.
I have set a favorable pattern that will last for the rest of the
bird’s life.
These methods have worked very well for
me, and are the result of a lot of thought and experimentation over the past 20
years.
Let me illustrate my training methods
using comments and excerpts from my logbook entries for ‘Milo,’ a male
I started in 2001.
20 July 2001. 600g.
Milo arrives from Tom and Jennifer Coulson’s breeding project at age
12 weeks. Being
from the naturally-tame White Wing line of Harris’s hawks, he sits on the glove
without bating, even when he is carried outdoors and placed on the bow perch.
He learns to regain the bow perch after the first bate, doing in five minutes
what less-tame Harris's hawks may take several days to learn.
21 July 2001. 590g.
Milo stretched his neck for a tidbit on the glove. I use rabbit hind leg meat for tidbits, wetted with water and sprinkled
with Vitahawk. Rabbit leg is not
very nutritious and aids the weight loss process, while the Vitahawk provides
essential vitamins and minerals, and keeps the foot and cere color a nice
deep yellow.
22 July 2001.
588g. Milo hopped to the garnished
glove for a tidbit, then to the ground for a tossed tidbit.
23 July 2001.
590g. Milo hopped
immediately to the ungarnished glove, then down to the ground for a tossed
tidbit.
24-29 July 2001.
???g. I was out of town at a meeting, but my daughter Bridget
(age 10) worked with Milo daily, having him hop to her ungarnished glove and
wait for increasing lengths of time before the tidbit was served by tossing it to the ground.
30 July 2001.
550g. Bridget had done such a good
job while I was gone that Milo was ready for the creance.
31 July 2001.
540g. Milo was flown to the dead
rabbit lure on the creance, with excellent response. He probably could
have been flown free several days before, were it not for the interruption
caused by my out-of-town travel. No
matter, the falconry rabbit season in Washington doesn't open until tomorrow!
1 August 2001.
550g. After his first ride in the
truck, first time outside the yard, and first time in this hunting field, Milo
makes his first free flight and behaves perfectly. Sometimes he rides on
the glove but mostly he takes low perches, following me nicely. It was
hot, but the young rabbits were out in abundance. Milo chased nearly every
one that flushed, but wasn't too sure about what to do when he caught up to them
as they disappeared into cover. It took more than an hour, and perhaps 10
or 15 slips, but he finally made a nice catch on a cottontail just as it
disappeared under a piece of metal. The rabbit was covered with ticks and
full of tapeworm cysts, but to Milo it was quite a prize! I gave him the
head to eat, planning to hunt him again on 3 August. He has made his first
kill 12 days out of the chamber, even with me being away for six days in the
middle of his training. I guess I'll have to get Bridget to train all my
hawks from now on ...
3 August 2001.
550g. Milo tried hard but couldn't
connect. I was satisfied that he knew what to do, though.
4 August 2001.
548g. Milo was banging to get out
of his box at 1PM, the hottest part of the day. We got a nice
'toenail' slip and he pounded the young cottontail.
5 August 2001.
552g. Milo didn't try all
that hard today, so was fed very little to prevent 'near miss syndrome.'
6 August 2001.
557g. We tried a new hunting
spot (not by choice -- family vacation!), with Milo getting his first experience
in group hawking, joining my
other male 'Neon' and hen 'Killer.' There were very few rabbits,
but Milo got to chase some quail running through the sage. At the end of
the day I gave him a 'dragged' rabbit (killed by Neon earlier in the day) rigged to move
away from me as I pulled the string, just to keep up Milo's interest in rabbits.
7 August 2001.
566g. Amid a field of four
experienced Harris's hawks, Milo drew first blood by catching a young cottontail in some
heavy sage. This turned out to be the first of many days on
which Milo kept me from going home empty-handed!
8 August 2001.
570g. Milo's weight is
creeping up, along with his skill and confidence. Today was his
first experience flying in a strong wind, and he handled it well. Again
Milo caught the first rabbit of the day while group hawking, after which I put him up to give Killer and Neon a
chance!
9 August 2001.
566g. Flew Milo with Neon and the
dogs, and the two males put on quite a flying demo while the dogs worked the
hot, thick cover below. Neon scored, but Milo was unable to
connect in the heavy brush. By following Neon, Milo is quickly learning
how to take commanding perches and to slope soar. This is one of many
reasons that flying a young Harris's hawk with an older castmate is worthwhile.
11 August 2001.
567g. Again flew the males in
tandem, and Milo turned a rabbit that Neon caught. Both shared
the spoils. Milo behaves perfectly with his castmate and with the dogs.
12 August 2001.
571g. The males continue to work
well together, but Neon uses his experience to beat Milo to the rabbits.
Milo gets to join in on lots of flights, and shares the kills.
14 August 2001.
567g. Many, many flights with all
three birds, but only one kill (by Neon). Milo is seeing lots
of rabbits and chases them hard.
15 August 2001.
567g. Milo saves the day and bags a
bunny after both his elders miss it.
17 August 2001.
565g. Milo takes his first double
on cottontails, flying in a cast with Neon, who also caught one.
23 August 2001.
570g. After a week in California,
Milo is still not interested in chasing jackrabbits. He is in
on many kills with the other hawks, but those jacks just look too big to him!
He does catch a desert cottontail, and then grabs the smallest
jackrabbit I have ever seen -- 300g including the guts!
28 August 2001.
575g. Back in Washington, Milo gets some solo air time and turns a
nifty hat trick -- 3 cottontails in about 20 minutes.
29 August 2001.
562g. Milo and Neon team up, with Milo making the first catch.
31 August 2001.
580g. Milo catches one that is set up by Neon's miss. One month into
the hawking season, Milo has 13 kills and is flying well with other hawks and
dogs. During the entire month he has never had a meal anywhere but on a
kill in the field, though not all the kills were his. He follows me
like a shadow not because he thinks I will feed him, but because his experience
tells him that I and the dogs will flush something for him to chase and eat.
He watches his castmates to learn the tricks of the trade, and takes advantage
of their expertise at spotting and catching rabbits.
Milo is flown until the end of December,
catching 61 cottontails, the micro-jack, and two quail. He has several
'triples' and even a couple of 'quads,' despite that fact that he is almost
always flown in a cast or group with more experienced hawks. His quail
flights show that he may offer a little variety to my usual bag of rabbits and
hares. Milo is totally tame, though he was never 'manned.' He is a
tribute to good bloodlines and 'minimalist' training philosophy. He flies
to anyone, riding on their glove or (preferably) head. His weight goes as
high as 660g, but his response never changes. He loves people and will
hunt effectively even when his is as plump as a partridge. His repertoire
of flying includes slope soaring, and he takes wonderfully high perches when
conditions are suitable. All in all, he is a fine little hawk and a real
pleasure to fly -- the kind of rabbit hawk everyone wants.
Other recommended
reading
Brewer, Gary (2000) Getting the most
from your redtail: Part one, weight management.
Hawk Chalk 39(2): 43-53.
Coulson, Tom and Jennifer (1996) Group
hunting with Harris’s hawks. In:
Desert Hawking with a little help from my friends.
Harry McElroy, ed. pp. 245-269.
Fox, Nick (1995) Understanding the bird
of prey. Hancock House, Surrey,
B.C., Canada.
Froboese, Jay (2000) Flying your first
cast of Harris's. NAFA Journal 39: 66-74.
Back to
Toby Bradshaw's Hawking and Falconry Website.
For more information on the Baywing Database,
contact Toby
Bradshaw.
Last revised: 21-Oct-2018