Yeah Ben, aggressive RT's are a problem. I've flown approximately a half dozen RT's. In my experiences, I found that the eyasses are more aggressive than passage birds. We used to call that "FISTBOUND", something that needs to be addressed immediately. What I did to salve the problem, was when I flew the bird to the fist, sometimes it had a tidbit, sometimes it didn't. If I was calling the bird from 10ft, it wouldn't get a tidbit, but if I call the bird from a hundred yards, it would get one. Sounds simple but I flew all my Red Tails, Goshawks and Harris Hawks that way. Never got footed in the face. Now Cooper's Hawks, that's a different story.
I was the sponsor for an apprentice with a redtail that I didn't want him to take. His second bird was an eyas kept in a cage for its first few weeks. We decided to keep the bird through the molt. She was a big girl and when he started to drop her weight she got aggressive. We knew she could catch voles and released her far away from people in grain fields full of voles.
I had someone mercilessly ridicule and mock me the other day for politely telling them a red tail hawk is a actually a buzzard. He laughed at me like I was the dumbest person ever to walk the earth.when i then told him if he thinks thats bad what they call buzzards are actually vultures he double down on the laughter and ridicule. The feeling of satisfaction when he was proven wrong and what i said was true FROM HIS OWN FRIEND that had the sense to google it can not be measured in words.i didnt even need to say a word in ridicule back. His early ridicule of me just returned on him all by itself. All his buddies were laughing at him for being such a douch bag about it then being wrong. I must admit, it was a good day.
Another great informative video! No one in the UK does videos on the RT. Any chance you could do a video on the first week of owning a RT, Manning, stepping to the glove, feeding etc.
Really enjoy you, videos, grew up in Kansas and always enjoyed hunting upland game birds, mostly the interaction with a well trained bird dog. as a biology major always loved wildlife, raptors in particular. Current living in NW AR, which is evolving from a rural area to a city, currently live in a neighborhood were most residents have 3-5 acres of land, even in the middle of town, across the road is a 100 acres farm with a large pond, and adjacent to my house is another pond and 25 acres, the points is , city wildlife, the last two years a pair on great horned owls lived in a tree, easily observed with binoculars, watched them every evening, raising two broods of owlets, until they left the area, tornado took the tree out. They got on my roof all the time. This summer a pair of red tail nested in a tree close by. this fall as the black bird massed coming into the pond in the evening a kestrel had a field day, for week or two. My dad raises pigeons and the get hammered by cooper and sharp shins, looses 10-15 a year. That being said really got the bug to try my hand a falconry, after watching your excellent videos, I can tell your a man of science, however you lay it out so easily that all can understand. I would love to get a hunting bird, I have the means, location and access to hunting land, just not the time I would need to do it properly in respect to the bird. Not to far from retiring early, once I do hawking is what I want to do. So for now thanks for all the informative videos on a truly fascinating hunting sport and lifestyle.
Another excellent video, I really appreciate all you do. My question I'd love to see you do a video on is how you handle the trade off with a passage red-tail. This is one of those subjects there are so many different ways of doing it but I'd love to see your take on it. Thanks Ben!
i used to live in texas and one morning about 4 years ago i kept hearing a few birds in a big tree making so much noise for 3 or 4 days and i kept looking up and it was a red tailed hawk sitting on the best nest made out of fur i ever saw
This discussion about feeding from the fist too often really prompted me, again, to think about a fellow who has a channel, flying a Harris's hawk, and he seems to *always* put food out on *every* return, which might come back to "bit him" some time.... As always, good perspectives and advice. BTW, is there a reason that they will attack your face, instead of another body part; just that it's close? Must hurt like crazy! Maybe one would end up with "dueling scars" :-(
Not for sure. But based off the body behavior it seems like an instinct takes over where they are thinking the hand and entire glove and arm are the kill to be mantling over, and from that angle your head becomes the looming predator above them, potentially looking to steal the meal, and therefore be attacked. I think if you leaned your head way back and just loomed your other arm above them, the other arm would be attacked instead. But also, most predatory mammals do not use their claws for anything other than running, with cats being a notable exception. The face is what is going to come in and try to bite them or steal their meal. So it is probable that in that moment of primitive reaction, they also see your face as what is likely to try to attack them.
@@benwoodrufffalconry it’s instinctive to grab for the head as Cooper’s hawks will come off the ground and hit the face and go back down to the ground for the kill or lure. Don’t ask me how I know….. mainly with imprint coops
I’ve learned so much from your videos! I’d love your thoughts on education/program birds. Birds that hunt but also fly to others during programs. I’ve had to tackle problems such as this with too much feeding on the glove, excessive vocalizing etc.
i had been watching a bluejay nest hatch its eggs but a bad rain came but it was such a great learning experience for me. those bluejays in austin are friendly now not mean.
Ben I have a question unrelated to Redtails. I practiced Falconry for many years in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Flew mainly Black-sparrow hawks. My question has this hawk been flown in the state or Canada and if so how well have they performed?
None of the falconers I know have ever flown one. Nice looking bird though, they appear to fill the role of the Northern Goshawk in the southern hemisphere.
@@ditty96 To a lesser extent ! They were not as powerful as the Gos but very Tenacious and in thick ground cover were amazing! Our scrub Hare was a bit more then they could handle even for a large female! Spur fowl/Francolin and Guinea fowl were the general prey. A very fit Spar was maybe as fast as the Northern Gos - but in my day were flown too “low” by most ! My last Spar a female which I flew for 10 years did not go any where near a scale during the last two years- a veritable shotgun - pick her up and hunt!
I overcalled my first season with a red tail. She then started to treat my glove like the lure and would foot my glove and sometimes my arm. To resolve this I would call her and toss the tidbit to the ground. Once the bird is following well I stop calling the bird to me anymore because I feel it takes away from hunting. Another factor the i feel contributes to aggression is not slowly bringing the birds weight back up when the bird is hunting.
I have a Harris and he started getting a bit grabby to the glove for a few days. I did the same thing by throwing it down to the ground and within a week he was acting normal again.
When i was new, i took an imprint RT from an aquaintance. Huge mistake. got footed in the face. No fear of people. My passage RT was beyond tame and trustworthy.
Great video as always. How to you get your bird out of the mew to feed him during the moult when he’s skiddish around you because he’s fat? Mine will just jump and fly away from me if I don’t have a tidbit on the glove.
those small birds were telling on the red tailed hawk and it flew away with the pelt. i don't know what animal the pelt is. i am afraid it might have been a cat but was probably a squirrel
Ben, I'm enjoying all the videos your putting out. Very good information. I'm a local falconer and would like to talk to you about taking a peregrine falcon and get your opinion on some questions I have. The questions I have are time sensitive so hopefully you'll see this quickly and be open to talking with me. I'm not on Facebook however my son Isaiah is and sent you a friend request a few days ago. If your open to talking with me will you please accept the friend request and then I can DM my contact information.
for letting my pet bird out of the house. dad had trained whitey and if whitey got outside its cage dad would squeak greta's mouse and whitey learned to land on my head. it was fun. having a trained pet parakeet that was white.
Yeah Ben, aggressive RT's are a problem. I've flown approximately a half dozen RT's. In my experiences, I found that the eyasses are more aggressive than passage birds. We used to call that "FISTBOUND", something that needs to be addressed immediately. What I did to salve the problem, was when I flew the bird to the fist, sometimes it had a tidbit, sometimes it didn't. If I was calling the bird from 10ft, it wouldn't get a tidbit, but if I call the bird from a hundred yards, it would get one. Sounds simple but I flew all my Red Tails, Goshawks and Harris Hawks that way. Never got footed in the face. Now Cooper's Hawks, that's a different story.
I was the sponsor for an apprentice with a redtail that I didn't want him to take.
His second bird was an eyas kept in a cage for its first few weeks.
We decided to keep the bird through the molt.
She was a big girl and when he started to drop her weight she got aggressive.
We knew she could catch voles and released her far away from people in grain fields full of voles.
Excellent video, Ben! Couple you do a video on mews design outlines to properly accommodate a raptor.
I would like to get some ideas about mew designs as well.
Yes, please
Today in The Mews😎
Very interesting
I had someone mercilessly ridicule and mock me the other day for politely telling them a red tail hawk is a actually a buzzard. He laughed at me like I was the dumbest person ever to walk the earth.when i then told him if he thinks thats bad what they call buzzards are actually vultures he double down on the laughter and ridicule. The feeling of satisfaction when he was proven wrong and what i said was true FROM HIS OWN FRIEND that had the sense to google it can not be measured in words.i didnt even need to say a word in ridicule back. His early ridicule of me just returned on him all by itself. All his buddies were laughing at him for being such a douch bag about it then being wrong. I must admit, it was a good day.
Ive heard this about Harris hawks never about red tails. Thanks for the info.
so important! thank you!
Great work as always Ben! Thank you for your awesome videos! 🤣🥳🤣🥳🤣👍🦅🦅🦅🦅
Another great informative video! No one in the UK does videos on the RT. Any chance you could do a video on the first week of owning a RT, Manning, stepping to the glove, feeding etc.
Really enjoy you, videos, grew up in Kansas and always enjoyed hunting upland game birds, mostly the interaction with a well trained bird dog. as a biology major always loved wildlife, raptors in particular. Current living in NW AR, which is evolving from a rural area to a city, currently live in a neighborhood were most residents have 3-5 acres of land, even in the middle of town, across the road is a 100 acres farm with a large pond, and adjacent to my house is another pond and 25 acres, the points is , city wildlife, the last two years a pair on great horned owls lived in a tree, easily observed with binoculars, watched them every evening, raising two broods of owlets, until they left the area, tornado took the tree out. They got on my roof all the time. This summer a pair of red tail nested in a tree close by. this fall as the black bird massed coming into the pond in the evening a kestrel had a field day, for week or two. My dad raises pigeons and the get hammered by cooper and sharp shins, looses 10-15 a year. That being said really got the bug to try my hand a falconry, after watching your excellent videos, I can tell your a man of science, however you lay it out so easily that all can understand. I would love to get a hunting bird, I have the means, location and access to hunting land, just not the time I would need to do it properly in respect to the bird. Not to far from retiring early, once I do hawking is what I want to do. So for now thanks for all the informative videos on a truly fascinating hunting sport and lifestyle.
Another brilliant informative video Ben. Thanks and keep them coming.
Ben excellent video never a truer word said 🦅👍
Another excellent video, I really appreciate all you do. My question I'd love to see you do a video on is how you handle the trade off with a passage red-tail. This is one of those subjects there are so many different ways of doing it but I'd love to see your take on it. Thanks Ben!
i used to live in texas and one morning about 4 years ago i kept hearing a few birds in a big tree making so much noise for 3 or 4 days and i kept looking up and it was a red tailed hawk sitting on the best nest made out of fur i ever saw
Can you do a video on what to keep American kestrels in? And how to house them and also if they can live in pairs or 3s
This discussion about feeding from the fist too often really prompted me, again, to think about a fellow who has a channel, flying a Harris's hawk, and he seems to *always* put food out on *every* return, which might come back to "bit him" some time.... As always, good perspectives and advice. BTW, is there a reason that they will attack your face, instead of another body part; just that it's close? Must hurt like crazy! Maybe one would end up with "dueling scars" :-(
Not for sure. But based off the body behavior it seems like an instinct takes over where they are thinking the hand and entire glove and arm are the kill to be mantling over, and from that angle your head becomes the looming predator above them, potentially looking to steal the meal, and therefore be attacked. I think if you leaned your head way back and just loomed your other arm above them, the other arm would be attacked instead. But also, most predatory mammals do not use their claws for anything other than running, with cats being a notable exception. The face is what is going to come in and try to bite them or steal their meal. So it is probable that in that moment of primitive reaction, they also see your face as what is likely to try to attack them.
Watch an older movie called the "Vikings" with Kurt Douglas. He loses an eye to a hawk.
@@benwoodrufffalconry thanks, Ben, seems to make a lot of sense. "You da man!" :-) keep well...
@@benwoodrufffalconry it’s instinctive to grab for the head as Cooper’s hawks will come off the ground and hit the face and go back down to the ground for the kill or lure. Don’t ask me how I know….. mainly with imprint coops
@@barnabas111
That was a REAL attack, not planned. “keep the camera running”…😎
I’ve learned so much from your videos! I’d love your thoughts on education/program birds. Birds that hunt but also fly to others during programs. I’ve had to tackle problems such as this with too much feeding on the glove, excessive vocalizing etc.
i had been watching a bluejay nest hatch its eggs but a bad rain came but it was such a great learning experience for me. those bluejays in austin are friendly now not mean.
Thanks for the great info Ben!
Thanks for preventing blindness and un intended face piercings
What raptor species can be housed together ?
Ben I have a question unrelated to Redtails. I practiced Falconry for many years in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Flew mainly Black-sparrow hawks. My question has this hawk been flown in the state or Canada and if so how well have they performed?
None of the falconers I know have ever flown one. Nice looking bird though, they appear to fill the role of the Northern Goshawk in the southern hemisphere.
@@ditty96 To a lesser extent ! They were not as powerful as the Gos but very Tenacious and in thick ground cover were amazing! Our scrub Hare was a bit more then they could handle even for a large female! Spur fowl/Francolin and Guinea fowl were the general prey. A very fit Spar was maybe as fast as the Northern Gos - but in my day were flown too “low” by most ! My last Spar a female which I flew for 10 years did not go any where near a scale during the last two years- a veritable shotgun - pick her up and hunt!
I overcalled my first season with a red tail. She then started to treat my glove like the lure and would foot my glove and sometimes my arm. To resolve this I would call her and toss the tidbit to the ground. Once the bird is following well I stop calling the bird to me anymore because I feel it takes away from hunting. Another factor the i feel contributes to aggression is not slowly bringing the birds weight back up when the bird is hunting.
I have a Harris and he started getting a bit grabby to the glove for a few days. I did the same thing by throwing it down to the ground and within a week he was acting normal again.
yeah. maybe its curtis, monica and rachel carrying their own hawks now
When i was new, i took an imprint RT from an aquaintance. Huge mistake. got footed in the face. No fear of people. My passage RT was beyond tame and trustworthy.
Great video as always. How to you get your bird out of the mew to feed him during the moult when he’s skiddish around you because he’s fat? Mine will just jump and fly away from me if I don’t have a tidbit on the glove.
What’s the alternative to flying to the fist? Is that not essential?
those small birds were telling on the red tailed hawk and it flew away with the pelt. i don't know what animal the pelt is. i am afraid it might have been a cat but was probably a squirrel
i love birds. and i have never been a hunter who killed birds.
dad had trained my white parakeet i named whitey
Ben, I'm enjoying all the videos your putting out. Very good information. I'm a local falconer and would like to talk to you about taking a peregrine falcon and get your opinion on some questions I have. The questions I have are time sensitive so hopefully you'll see this quickly and be open to talking with me. I'm not on Facebook however my son Isaiah is and sent you a friend request a few days ago. If your open to talking with me will you please accept the friend request and then I can DM my contact information.
unfortunately whitey got out because my family just came back from war zone and felt sorry for whitey being trapped inside a cage. but i forgive him
or their stunt doubles in tulsa now
for letting my pet bird out of the house. dad had trained whitey and if whitey got outside its cage dad would squeak greta's mouse and whitey learned to land on my head. it was fun. having a trained pet parakeet that was white.