Interview with a Falconer Part II

Welcome to Part II of my interview with, Falconer, Jonathan Clarkson.


KMS
Jonathan, I'm not sure if I want to know, but I have to ask, you mentioned previously about giving your falcon a bagged animal. Please explain what a bagged animal is?

J
Something you capture, like a Starling or Pigeon that you tie a drag weight on, with a line, so they can’t fly or run to far. The Falconer hangs on to the line to keep the game in a certain range where the young bird can see it. When the bagged animal tries to fly or run it entices the young bird to hunt it.


KMS
I never knew this was part of training raptors and to be honest, it sounds mean. I have a better understanding why you said its, ‘kind of a bloody sport'. As I said before, I’ve known you since you were a child and know your love of animals, so how can you willingly put a live animal out there to be killed by your bird in training or kill an animal to train your bird. How does this make you feel?


J
It’s hard. It’s a hard part of being a Falconer, but I realize in the wild their parents do the same thing, it’s part of the life cycle.

KMS
So what this means then, if you decide to catch a young Rapture you become its parent and the responsibilities that go along with it.

J
Yes…If you are serious about being a Falconer, teaching others about Raptures and making your bird a good hunter, you have to replicate how it would learn to hunt as close to nature as possible. As your bird improves its hunting skills, you can’t keep handing them bagged or dead animals or they will not learn to hunt. They will soon learn not go after game that is physically fit, because the bagged or dead animal is easier. You have to push your bird to the limit. They must be physically fit and in the best health to be able to hunt like they should, and the way to achieve this is you must duplicate how they learn in the wild. You have to feed them well with what they would eat in the wild too. They have to be an athlete, or in the wild, it would mean certain death. The responsibility of a Falconer, because we want to learn and then teach others about these great birds is to do what’s best for the bird. As I said, it’s our responsibility, they did not asked to be captured.

KMS
I don’t think most people think about a ‘bird’ being physically fit or an athlete. I know I never did.

J
They have to be to survive in the wild. That’s why when they are young, their parents make them work for their food. It teaches them to use their instinctive skills. They MUST learn how to hunt for themselves and their families. In the wild, the ones that are not the athletes cannot survive.
KMS How long does it take to train a bird and at what age are they best to capture?

J
About a month as a rule of thumb for training. Some are fast learners some are slower. The Prairie Falcon I have, as soon as she was flying she was pretty much trained. I captured her from the nest. She was all full of down, a little fluff ball. She became tame very quick.
To answer the second part of your question…at what age is best for them to be captured? The decision to catch a wild one or chose to take a baby from the nest, depends on what someone wants. If they want a really good hunting bird, they would want to capture a passage bird, because it’s already been living on its own for a couple months catching game. Many times though it will take them a little longer to become tame, called ‘manning’, (getting them use to humans).

KMS
What happens to these birds once you turn them back in the wild?

J.
Imprints…birds captured from the nest, typically are not returned to the wild. They don’t think of themselves as a bird. So it is harder to return them. It can be done, but it is unusual. That’s why an apprentice can only capture a Kestrel or Red Tail from the wild (a passage bird), in case they loose it. It can return to the wild very quickly and it doesn’t take them very long to revert back. Imprints are use to man, use to dogs, which normally would be predators to them, so it would not be very fair to them to release them back in to the wild. They don’t have the natural fear to keep them safe. That’s why I stress the importance, that being a Falconer is a serious endeavor. You can’t take a bird from the wild, imprint it, get tired of doing it and just put it back.

KMS
Which raptor is your favorite and why. Is one breed smarter or bolder than another?

J
Yep, they are different, even raptors from the same families. For instance the Prairie Falcon I have, Amelia, my friend has her sister and they are two different personalities. Amelia, is quiet and friendly. My friends falcon squawks and bites his glove. A more aggressive one might make a better hunter, but I’ve also seen the quiet more docile ones have the most game kills. Sometimes the docile ones are just taking things in slower, thinking about them more. As far as my favorite bird, it depends on what you want to hunt. If you want to hunt up-game quarry, like Pheasants, or Grouse, Falcons are the best. I haven’t had one yet but probably my favorite is going to be the Goshawk. It belongs to a group called the accipiter, with short rounded wings and long tails. Their habitat is in thick woods. They catch birds, squirrels, rabbits, all kinds of rodents. They are very fast. In Europe, they were called Pot Hawks, because you could come back with all kinds of game for the dinner pot, geese, birds and game . I’ve always liked them so I would say they are my favorite, and I hope someday I will be able to fly one.

KMS
Amelia is smaller then some of the other raptors you have mentioned. How with her smaller size does she hunt successfully and how are her hunting skills different than let’s say the Red Tail Hawk. Why did you choose her.


J
I was impressed with the great hunting skills they (the falcons) have for a small rapture. Their successful kill rate is better than a Red Tail. If they go after game, they are 30-40% more likely to capture it on the first try. The Prairie Falcon is built different than the Red Tail. They are more streamlined and what’s considered a Long Wing. But her body is stocky and built rugged for hunting. She kills her prey with speed—hitting it at speeds of 200 MPH. If the impact does not kill her prey, then she severs its spine with a notch she has on her beak. Even though she is smaller, her wings are longer than the Red Tail and when she is full-grown she will probably weigh more. The Red Tail hunts with its talons. It could not hunt with impact like the falcon, because their bones are hollow. They look bigger because their feathers are fluffy.

KMS
I noticed yesterday when I was up close to Amelia, her beak and legs are a bluish color. Is that a falcons coloring?

J
Yes and no. The blue is normal for an immature falcon, and will stay that color until she is about a year old. When she matures her coloring will change.



KMS
Oh and yesterday, you cued Amelia to fly between the two of us. As she flew by she was so fast, I couldn't catch her in my camera lens, and I could feel the rush of air as she swooped by. She was going 200 MPH?

J.
No…she was probably only doing about 100, just cruising.




NEXT in Part III
The Last installment of my Interview with a Falconer

Is there any breed bolder than others?
Do you form a bond with your bird and she with you?
How long do they live?
What would you tell anyone wanting to become a Falconer.