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From: miken@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Mike Nickerson)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Falconry, as explained to me by those who practice it.
Message-ID: <2730009@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com>
Date: 30 Jan 91 14:49:07 GMT
References: <1991Jan28.031742.21037@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>
Organization: Hewlett Packard - Boise, ID
Lines: 54

dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) writes about falconry:

In general, I agree with almost everything Sam writes.  However,
I will comment on a couple of points.

> I recall a story
> from a falconer in Michigan whose redtailed hawk flew away one day while
> playing with the lure.  He couldn't find it, no matter how hard he
> searched.  Then, about four days later, he got a call from a man who
> lived nearby:  a hawk had been sitting up in a tree, right at the
> spot where the man had been, for several days.  He drove out with his
> glove; the moment he got out of the car, the hawk flew down and landed
> on his arm, all ready to go home.

My wife's first bird was an immature Swainson's Hawk which had been 
brought in sick just out of the nest.  It was found wandering around
on a road.  This bird was gone several times for up to 4 or 5 days at
a stretch.  It would invariably come back to where she flew it to come
back home.  The birds are not stupid.  If they don't feel they can 
survive in the wild, they will return to where they know they can
survive.  This hawk was very comfortable with captivity.  It was much
easier than trying to survive on her own.  She even laid eggs
eventually.

> 7)  That's because the bird had been domesticated!
> 
> Now, here is where I might get into trouble with some falconers.  I do
> not believe a hawk CAN be domesticated.  It might come to view a man as
> something safe...but it will not develop "affection" for him.  It might
> see him as a great perch and a steady supply of food and protection --
> possibly even as an equal, but it won't "love" him.  The concept isn't
> there.  Hawks are very simple creatures, unburdened by what we call
> emotions.  Now, falconers, don't throw tomatoes at me!  The hawk is
> perfectly content having you around, but it wouldn't give a flying fox
> if you fell in a hole tomorrow and never came back.  It's the way hawks
> are.

In general, I would agree with this.  However, I think this is not 
quite true of imprinted birds.  My wife's Prairie Falcon actually
looks at me as her mate.  Every time I am around, she greets me and 
performs a mating dance.  I'm not sure I would call this "affection"
but she definitely prefers having me around.

> -- 
> Sam Conway                             * What shape do you usually have?
> dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu           * Mickey Mouse shape?  Smarties
> Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape?  Amphibious landing craft
> Vermont Raptor Center (VINS)           * shape?  Poke in the eye shape?
> ----------

Mike Nickerson
miken@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com
Hewlett-Packard
Boise, ID