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From: dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: On covering a bird's head...
Message-ID: <20726@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 20 Mar 90 22:25:57 GMT
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 23

Many of you have suggested covering the head of the bloodfeather-prone
falcon whom I mentioned in order to calm her.  Yes, I know that this is
standard procedure, but I would like to take this opportunity to alert
bird-handlers that there is a small percentage of birds, perhaps one in
fifty, who can't STAND having their heads covered and will thrash about
in panic when such a thing occurs.  Such is the temperament of our
peregrine.

Such is also the temperament of our resident bald eagle, the meanest
toughest rip-roarin'est avian that every bonked about with one wing.
She is quite a handful, even for an experienced eagle-wrestler, and
we've found that covering her head leads to.....well, have you ever
seen the cartoon with the Tasmanian devil?  Something like that.
She also can't be reasoned with.  She is partially imprinted, and thus
her favorite sport is intimidation, which she practices with great
skill.


--
Sam Conway                             * If you are not listed on the
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu           * National Registry of Bone Marrow
Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * Donors...you should be.
Vermont Raptor Center (VINS)           * Contact your local Red Cross.