Interesting Experience

[spiritbird]

As some of you know I live on an estate of 35 beautiful acres of woodland. In one of the rental homes a massage therapist lives and is a licensed falconer. She showed me her 2 birds today. One is a rare falcon and the other one is a large hawk, also rare. No I do not remember the species names. I was just floored to see these birds. The falcon loves pink toys and cuddles with them. The huge Hawk gets stuffed animals to play with and tears them apart. He is the real deal of a killer bird! The falcon, on the other hand, actually is bonded to humans as mates and cuddles with her owner too. She is planning to inseminate her at some point because she will submit to this and wants to be a mother. The hawk absolutely understood what was being said. I said you tail feathers are so pretty and he shook his tail. I also asked him if he wanted to be spritzed and he answered back with a loud growl.

They have separate aviaries of course. The Falcon likes to sit on a shelf in a corner and the Hawk loves to perch.
They both actually throw up hairballs from eating live prey. She feeds them organic meat when they are not hunting with her. Totally amazing to me. I would love to see them hunt but she is moving away to a small farm she has purchased.

[Carefree Birdee]

You are so fortunate to have the experience of being so close to these awesome Hawks Dianne. They are such beautiful and majestic birds. We enjoy watching hawks fly around our fields as they hunt. The Turkey Vultures we see have such huge wings and they love to find the thermals and soar up higher and higher. Makes me wish I was right there with them!

[spiritbird]

I know what you mean. The only reason these birds are in captivity is because they were injured at one time and cannot go back to the wild. Fortunately, they do have the best of both worlds living with this person who takes them hunting in a safe way and keeps good care of them. She gets inspected frequently to maintain her license. If I had a camera and was allowed I would have taken pics. Do not think the bird would have liked that though.

[Honesty]

What a great experience that must have been Dianne. Its a pity you cannot get some pics of them.

[spiritbird]

I am going to try to at least get name of the species and ask her about photos.

[Honesty]

I am going to try to at least get name of the species and ask her about photos.That would be great:)

[Blancaej]

Yes, I would love to see photos. Very cool experience!

[Animalman2046]

Yes I also live on a old farm in Maryland and I regularly see hawks and a few old buzzards flying high every once in awhile. It is awesome to watch them.

[Turquoise]

That is truly awesome that your friend can have such beauties that most of us only see high up in the air on occasion. Photos would be so great, but just reading the story you told about them is super!! :th_hug8: Too bad she is moving & you won't get to see them as much.

I'm sure if I were to bring a hawk or falcon into my home, my parrots would all fall dead of heart failure, since they are natural enemies.:th_LOL: I know that was meant to be a joke, not a serious comment.:th_hehe:

[ShellyBorg]

I have been looking into get my Falconers Permit. I had the honor of working with a rehad group and got to help train a injured Gold eagle to jests and to be handled. Macaw beaks look nice and safe after working close up to a eagle!

[spiritbird]

My e mail to this person has gone unanswered so I am guessing she is in the process of moving. Sorry I am not able to get photos of these birds.

[Honesty]

Thats a shame:(

[Mare]

I think hawks are amazing creatures, they were made to be a force in the predatory world. Scary thoughts for me with a free flying bird. We will continue to continue, none the less. Amigo's life, thus far, is better than if he was living the way he was, IMO. I do admire hawks, though!

[JLcribber]

It's so ironic that one needs to get a license and be inspected in order to be guardians over these majestic birds (which I think is great) and yet "anyone" with a few bucks in his pocket can walk into a pet store on a whim and walk out with a parrot.

They are the same majestic creatures. I wish parrot owners had to pass a test, get a license and be inspected.

[Mare]

It's so ironic that one needs to get a license and be inspected in order to be guardians over these majestic birds (which I think is great) and yet "anyone" with a few bucks in his pocket can walk into a pet store on a whim and walk out with a parrot.

They are the same majestic creatures. I wish parrot owners had to pass a test, get a license and be inspected.

Yep! I totally agree!

[tiffnmango]

I was in the bookstore the other day and found a new bird book...YAy :th_yah:

Anyways...it's called The Gift of the Crow and it came to mind when reading these posts. The book is all about intelligence in non-parrot species...especially corvids (aka crows) you should check it out. It's truly fascinating!

[spiritbird]

John your are so right on that. I bet there are lots of people who would volunteer to do home inspections on anyone having a bird in their home. After all, they are all wild creatures.

[Rescued]

I volunteer for Phoenix Landing and have done home inspections for potential adopters. It is really hard, but something that the rescue is passionate about. I have had to be the one to say no to a potential adoption due to a lack of education, space, living situations, and so on. Being a nice person, or loving birds, does not mean you have the proper situation for these lovely creatures. I only wish there were less in captivity and more in the wild.

[spiritbird]

I was foster mom for a while with Phoenix Landing and was one of the inspected ones and passed. This is an excellent policy.

[Rescued]

Spiritbird, I couldn't agree more. I love fostering for them and feel like people really should educate themselves before bringing a parrot into their lives. The policy of mandatory classes that Phoenix landing has is also a good policy. I wonder if local bird stores would be willing to have a class taught there for new parrot owners.

[ShellyBorg]

On the other hand, may be the house is not the biggest. Maybe they don't make a lot of money. I know of a gal who lives in a 25" older travel trailer, she does not make a lot of money and really wanted to adopt a parrot from a shelter. They turned her down at 3 different centers. She ended up saving and buying a young bird from a breeder. Her amazon is one of the healthiest and happiest birds I have ever seen. She had to remove a closet to fit the cage in her trailer and as she can not afford new toys she makes toys every chance she has. This bird is her life. She cooks dinner around what the bird needs and feeds a mix of different pellets. At the birds bed time she retreats to the back area and uses head phones to walk her shows of listens to music. ANY bird would have been lucky to have her. It makes me mad that the centers did not sit down and really talk to her. They looked at her home and check book and wrote her off.
I think if the person has a passion and is willing to learn and do what is needed, house and money should not be a issue. I would be far happier knowing rescue birds where in the hands of poor passionate people, who would do anything for there pet, then some one who can afford the best, but the bird was just a novelty that wears off.