We are in dire need of photos, dear readers. If you have good wildlife snaps, please send them in. Thanks! Today we have a contribution on falconry (or rather, “hawkery”) from ecologist Susan Harrison of UC Davis. Her notes and captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Hunting with the Sky Wolves
One sunny October morning, I accompanied two expert falconers and their Harris’s Hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) on a jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) hunt. I’d met Don and Pete when they displayed their hawks at at a native seed farm open house last spring. As leaders of the California Hawking Club they work to educate the public about falconry. It’s a demanding and highly regulated sport, practiced by only about 4,000 licensed falconers in the US. Here is poignant advice from the CHC’s website: “Will you, can you, commit part of your waking hours to a creature who at the very best of times will merely tolerate your presence, is as affectionate as a stone, and at the worst of times will cause you heartache and puncture wounds?”
Harris’s Hawks are favored for falconry because they are unusually social raptors. Uniquely, they hunt in groups and have thus been nicknamed “wolves of the sky.” Our expedition involved a trio of different-aged siblings, although Harris’s Hawks need not be kin to hunt together.
Released from their travel crates, Jenny, Zeva, and Shooter quickly flew to a power line and began scouting the fields:
Jenny wears orange jesses (leg straps). Note that she also sports a GPS transmitter, as do the other hawks, enabling the falconers to follow them on foot guided by a smartphone app. Unlike true falcons, Harris’s Hawks do not typically fly many miles in the course of a hunt.
Jenny:
Cooperative hunting by the ‘wolves of the sky’ is thrilling to watch. The hawk who first spots the prey chirps to alert the other hawks and initiates the chase. (If the falconers happen to see the animal first, they helpfully call ‘hoo-hoo-hoo’ to the hawks.) The other hawks then see the speeding prey and fly ahead, coordinating their paths to intercept it. Female Harris’s Hawks are larger than males and will often make the killing pounce.
The first rabbit was killed so quickly that we didn’t see it happen. Don and Pete bagged the rabbit so the hunt could continue. Note the hawks resting in the shade at lower left:
The falconers then raised a T-perch and two hawks hopped aboard, allowing them to sit and look for prey as the group moved around. As we traversed orchards and fields, the hawks frequently came and went from the perch, as well as pausing in trees:
A second rabbit soon rocketed out of the orchard, which was a fatal decision on its part. Moving far faster than me or my camera, the hawk trio took it to the ground a few hundred yards away:
After handing the hawks meat treats from a bag, Don took the rabbit to the car to serve up lunch:
Spritzing their meal with water helps the hawks stay hydrated:
The hawk on the left, Abby, is a young trainee on a lightweight tether called a creance. She didn’t get to hunt this time, but did get to join in the feast:
Their hunt and meal finished, the hawks permitted themselves to be returned to their travel crates:
The rewards of being a falconer, again from the CHC website:
“Are you ready to be one of that elite band of hunters in the most awesome sport on the face of the earth? Are you ready to have people see you with awe, amazement and sometimes anger? Are you ready to be the absolute center of attention whenever you carry your hawk on your fist? Are you ready for that incredible rush when that wild creature first returns to you, on its own and able to fly free but decides to come to you instead?”
Some falconers and their birds are not sport hunters but pest-control professionals, whose job is to keep away nuisance birds such as starlings. The most famous of these is Rufus the Hawk, who for 16 years has kept pigeons off the Wimbledon tennis courts.
Rufus the Hawk (from The Telegraph; photo credit: Getty):
What the … this is remarkable!… wow!
What a great post! I didn’t know anything about this sport nor did I know about Rufus at Wimbledon.
Thank you for the information!
Holy Cannoli! That is one of the most awesome RWP posts ever!
I was wondering about their use for some invasive species, though admittedly it would have to be pretty specific.
Thanks! Yes, falconry can be used to chase away (more than to kill) not only invasive species, but even natives such as shorebirds or geese that are hazardous around airport runways. The world of pest control falconry is somewhat separated from the sport practitioners, is my impression.
In Ecuador, trained hawks associated with a particular “owner” help keep birds off the Quito runway. She may even have used Harris’s Hawks, which are resident in the temperate Andes of Ecuador.
Fascinating! Don and Pete sound like real characters. How did they get their Harris’s Hawks in the first place? And where do they keep them when they’re not hunting? And how often do they go hunting? And do they also hunt with other raptor species? So many questions!
All great questions. These hawks came from a licensed breeder. They are kept in flight cages called mews. During the molting season they are not taken hunting and so have to be exercised daily. How often they hunt during hunting season – I am not sure, but several times a week. Overall care is a multiple-hours-a-day, 365 days a year proposition. It takes 2 years to get an apprentice license and 7 years to become a master falconer. Other birds used are Kestrels and Merlins (which can be quite good for keeping small songbirds off berry crops), Red-Tailed Hawks, and Peregrine Falcons.
I’m going to go watch Pete train his Peregrine, so wait for that post… 🙂
Thanks so much for the additional information. I’ll look forward to your upcoming post on Peregrines!
Amazing. Hawks have such serious looks in their faces. I suppose it’s because they’re engaged in the serious business or killing and eating.
Great photos and commentary – thanks!
Years ago a Harris’s hawk landed on my head during a falconry display at the beautiful Leeds Castle since I was the tallest person watching (I’m 6′ 4″). It landed incredibly gently, but I could feel the steely talons through my scalp – unforgettable!
Confusingly, Leeds Castle is in Kent in south east England and nowhere near the northern city of Leeds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_Castle
I visited Leeds Castle about 40 years ago with my soon-to-be wife. An unforgettable experience.
Yes, a beautiful place. My wife used to attend the annual outdoor classical music concerts with her parents there before I met her. (She was born in Kent and we both grew up there.)
This was such a tonic for an otherwise weary week. Thank you. Harris’s hawk was named by J. J. Audubon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harris_(ornithologist)
Well that was something, looks like a very interesting day.
If you weren’t watching would they take a out cats or small dogs?
Thank you for the great photos and information about falconry in the U.S. I really learned some things today!
Damn these birds rule.
In the Persian Gulf countries falconing is a big deal. In Doha and Dubai I’ve seen falcon “stores” – under hoods and lined up they wait for buyers and they are treated like kings. The gvts issue passports to them and Qatar Airways allow them in first class on the plane (which is pricey I’m told but they’ve got money).
The Gulf do get some things right even I’ll admit.
D.A.
NYC
I’d think that having to to wear long strap jesses and bulky transmitters would be terribly annoying to the hawks and impede most of their movements. And what do they get out of their interactions with humans anyway?
Great questions, and who knows what’s in a hawk’s mind, but falconry wouldn’t work for the humans if it didn’t somehow also work for the birds….