Me too. He talks alot about species in general and it’s not always just about falconry. It’s about the species themselves and Ben is very knowledgeable about birds of prey in general
I love how you address the psychology of the bird, and point out that falconry is not just about levelling up in the sport. Really helps me figure out if I want to pursue falconry more.
I have been watching a lot of your videos lately and have really enjoyed your presentations. I took a flegling kestrel from a tree in my uncles yard and tamed him and then released him. He was fed through the winter and periodically the next spring. He was around for years and would respond to the whistle but never came for food after the spring. This was about 1960 and I have had an interest in falconry ever since. I grew up in Socorro, NM and lived in Moab, Grand Junction, Gateway. My dad and uncles were settled in Socorro but came from Texas. I had a couson named Ben Woodruff in Farmington. My name is Warren Woodruff and now live in the USVI. Your connection to these birds is amazing.
Ben, Thank you for all of your dedication and on-going hard work to assist the falconry community [especially the newcomer] and the general public alike. You are very much appreciated!
Thats great news about you’re book needing a reprint Ben! That means people are buying you’re book and are paying attention and appreciating you’re knowledge. Well done, I’m happy for you.
I love this video, Ben & your approach of constantly fine tuning the training, based on behavior!! What a great training methodology, Ben, using an ungarnished lure, and then throwing the food down and not feeding off the fist, on a regular basis. At the place I volunteer, they fly 2 Harris Hawks(1-male, 1-female) and have them come to the glove and eat something, about 4 or 5 times..then a lure, with food, is thrown on the ground, and they eat. The male can be grouchy and I think changing it up, to what you do, might help. Please keep us updated...I wilI buy your reprint and any new book you write, but if you're asking>>> I would prefer something all inclusive. Thank you very much for your knowledge.
Love your videos! I’m always learning something new from them. Any chance you can do a video on how to stop a RTH from baiting constantly on the glove and perch even after manning?
All my apprentices learn to let their hawk eat on the ground once they start hunting. A pickup piece after they settle is okay but the glove is not for a meal once they are going.
Your system would also remove the issue of sticky feet that over feeding on the glove creates. I have dramatically reduced feeding from the glove. 10% of daily intake off the glove, 90% off the lure or served blind (food shoot in freeloft). No food association so far. Which without doubt makes things so much easier. No mantling, and even no aggression towards the bare hand while on or around game. A big vote on a modern book on Accipiters, there has been so much progress in training and managing accipiters in the last couple of decades. It needs condensing into a book.
0:41 Ben, I am convinced you know more about birds of prey than I do. However, with that in mind there is not a bird nor a human being that has ever even come close to living a thousand years.
Excellent Ben, we have heritage falconry here and not advance enough as you are talking all these things. there is no concept of these basic things here. One thing. I can't understand about my shikra that when I throw my bird to chase waterhen or crow it chases for short distance and changes its way to tree and stops chasing as it has no energy to fly far enough and looks like lazy not energetic while it's weight is perfect looks like it has less confidence.as usual your videos enhanced my knowledge thanks Ben.😊
If you are sure that the weight is spot on, the. It is likely a confidence/experience issue. I would find a way to catch a waterhen or crow live and use it as a “bagged game” training experience. Have it crow tied in a line and let the Shikra catch it. Then give the Shikra a HUGE reward, letting it completely crop up on the kill. That way psychologically the Shikra has seen that it is easy to catch one, and there is an enormous payoff for catching one. The Shikra will not know that you restrained the quarry and made it a guarantee. If the weight is where it should be, then if you do this 1-5 times with large bagged quarry and crop up the bird, this should build the confidence much higher and help the Shikra see that there is actual incentive to going after larger more intimidating prey.
Yup... I basically had to retrain my kestrel because she wouldn't come to the glove without tidbit on it. Now she she's the glove as her perch. She kinda looks at me puzzled if I have her eat off the glove. After retrieving from the kill, she waits to eat it. Sometimes mantling, but not much. I chalk it up to flashbacks😂. Now... can you direct me in the way of falcons vs. hawks/accipiters? Just gotta keep myself in check 👍
I live in Holland, which has a ton of heritage. I usually go about it the same as you though. Especially with the eagles. I must say I do feed my goshawks on the glove, never feed or call the eagle to the first though. When I get them off a prey I use a bit of food in the glove, that's all. After all it's not really possible to hide a grown roe deer in a bag...
Two words Ben: Passage Hawks. Most of what you're describing pertains to imprints. Passage birds are much better behaved. I do agree that moving from the fist to the lure is the way to go no matter what you're working with. But passage hawks rarely exhibit the type of behavior you're describing.
Love your videos Ben! I got my first kestrel eyess three days ago but I just noticed today that she has a swollen knee. Do you know what I should about it? I live in a country that doesn’t have other falconers or avian vetranarines.
You can try a farm vet who knows how to treat chickens and cats. Chickens for the body shape/injuries and cats for the organs and digestion/parasites. If the knee is in a weird angle but can still be bend it could be a perosis. If the bird cannot use the knee at all it can be something worse like broken bone or strentched tendons.
@@etoiledufaucon5904 thanks for the info, I had to put her down because it ended up being that she had some sort of defect that made it so that she couldn’t digest calcium. After I put her down I carefully examined her legs and the bones were extremely thin and brittle and they where fractured in two places. Her sibling which is feed the same diet it’s almost fully feathered and has had no complications so it had to have been that. Also I found that the calcium powder I was using was all in her pellets that she would throw up which is extremely odd to me as I have raised many baby birds and they have never done that.
@BenWoodruff I have a male kestrel that every time he sees me he starts vocalizing I need help stopping this! I do not feed off the glove and have someone else pull the food on his lure so he flys away from me for food but still every time he sees me he starts chirping and begging. How can I correct this?
Hi Ben , i wanted to know if there is any way how to hood imprint goshawks , because i had once a imprint goshawk who i couldnt hood her , she was screaming and didnt let me hood her .
There are several considerations at work. The first is the sharpness of a birds talons. The second is their grip. We can and sometimes do hold them on our bare hands. The birds have incredible gripping power, but usually when they are just perching, they don’t grip. But anything could unexpectedly trigger the gripping. They could get startled by something, you could move to quickly and they grip to keep from falling off your hand, they could see a prey item in the distance and grip you upon seeing it. Additionally, even if they are perching gently, the talons will typically still poke and scratch you. But more importantly, wearing a glove makes a more rigid stable perch for the bird to stand on, which is far more comfortable for both the bird and the falconer. That being said, again a lot of us do end up holding our birds without a glove from time to time and are usually just fine. And some traditional falconers in parts of the Middle East do have a tradition of holding their sparrow hawks without a glove, and this tradition goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Hi Ben, how you reward your Accipiters (passage, parent reared) with full crop? With both systems you described, ungarnished lure and on a kill, I missed the part when you clip your bird back to your glove? Lets say your bird has a great flight and successful kill, you want to reward it with a full crop, you throw a big piece of meat next to the kill so the bird hops from the kill to the piece of meat, then eats as much as he can and stuffs himself with food, then why would a passage or parent reared bird in this situation want to return to your glove which he sees just as a hunting perch (and the bird is full and hunting is not on his mind anymore)? I assume you clip the jesses to the glove while the bird is eating that piece of meat which was thrown next to the lure or a kill, and then when a bird has a completely full crop he might rather fly away then hop to the fist which is of no use for the bird anymore (lets say we are talking about early passages). I don't understand that part, thank you for your explanation how you do it :)
If I have done this technique from the beginning, usually I don’t have to clip them while they are on the ground. I wait until they are convinced there is nothing left to eat or mantle over and they have walked a few steps back and forth. Then I lean down with my ungarnished glove, and they hop right up even though there is no food. The reward/incentive is that they know riding on the glove results in hunting opportunities occurring and also gets them off of the ground which is a vulnerable position. Once on the glove, then I clip them if needed.
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me watching all these video knowing im probably not getting into falconry for years if at all but liking watching it anyways
Me too. He talks alot about species in general and it’s not always just about falconry. It’s about the species themselves and Ben is very knowledgeable about birds of prey in general
I'm in the same boat.
@@happybee7725 yeah funny thing i found him cause i was researching falconry for rdo ( before i knew it was gonna get fucked by rockstar
I love how you address the psychology of the bird, and point out that falconry is not just about levelling up in the sport. Really helps me figure out if I want to pursue falconry more.
I have been watching a lot of your videos lately and have really enjoyed your presentations. I took a flegling kestrel from a tree in my uncles yard and tamed him and then released him. He was fed through the winter and periodically the next spring. He was around for years and would respond to the whistle but never came for food after the spring. This was about 1960 and I have had an interest in falconry ever since. I grew up in Socorro, NM and lived in Moab, Grand Junction, Gateway. My dad and uncles were settled in Socorro but came from Texas. I had a couson named Ben Woodruff in Farmington. My name is Warren Woodruff and now live in the USVI. Your connection to these birds is amazing.
Eagerly awaiting your new books! I’d love to see you expand more on the “modern accipiter training” approaches
Ben,
Thank you for all of your dedication and on-going hard work to assist the falconry community [especially the newcomer] and the general public alike. You are very much appreciated!
I'd love to see the book on the modern approach to all accipiters!
Thats great news about you’re book needing a reprint Ben! That means people are buying you’re book and are paying attention and appreciating you’re knowledge. Well done, I’m happy for you.
#41👍😀I love the way you evaluate and see the relationship is fluid!
Another great video Ben Could we see a video on training issues between an imprint goshawk and a parent reared
I would vote for. a full accipiter guide!
I love this video, Ben & your approach of constantly fine tuning the training, based on behavior!! What a great training methodology, Ben, using an ungarnished lure, and then throwing the food down and not feeding off the fist, on a regular basis. At the place I volunteer, they fly 2 Harris Hawks(1-male, 1-female) and have them come to the glove and eat something, about 4 or 5 times..then a lure, with food, is thrown on the ground, and they eat. The male can be grouchy and I think changing it up, to what you do, might help. Please keep us updated...I wilI buy your reprint and any new book you write, but if you're asking>>> I would prefer something all inclusive. Thank you very much for your knowledge.
Love your videos! I’m always learning something new from them. Any chance you can do a video on how to stop a RTH from baiting constantly on the glove and perch even after manning?
Birds training people seems about right. I grew up with border collies and have seen so many trained humans
All my apprentices learn to let their hawk eat on the ground once they start hunting. A pickup piece after they settle is okay but the glove is not for a meal once they are going.
Your system would also remove the issue of sticky feet that over feeding on the glove creates.
I have dramatically reduced feeding from the glove. 10% of daily intake off the glove, 90% off the lure or served blind (food shoot in freeloft). No food association so far. Which without doubt makes things so much easier. No mantling, and even no aggression towards the bare hand while on or around game.
A big vote on a modern book on Accipiters, there has been so much progress in training and managing accipiters in the last couple of decades. It needs condensing into a book.
Great video again Ben but did you say why falcons are the exception? I may have missed it. I will rewatch.
I’d love to see how you manage the extra aggression or fear when a goshawk finishes hardpining .
0:41 Ben, I am convinced you know more about birds of prey than I do. However, with that in mind there is not a bird nor a human being that has ever even come close to living a thousand years.
Excellent Ben, we have heritage falconry here and not advance enough as you are talking all these things. there is no concept of these basic things here. One thing. I can't understand about my shikra that when I throw my bird to chase waterhen or crow it chases for short distance and changes its way to tree and stops chasing as it has no energy to fly far enough and looks like lazy not energetic while it's weight is perfect looks like it has less confidence.as usual your videos enhanced my knowledge thanks Ben.😊
If you are sure that the weight is spot on, the. It is likely a confidence/experience issue. I would find a way to catch a waterhen or crow live and use it as a “bagged game” training experience. Have it crow tied in a line and let the Shikra catch it. Then give the Shikra a HUGE reward, letting it completely crop up on the kill. That way psychologically the Shikra has seen that it is easy to catch one, and there is an enormous payoff for catching one. The Shikra will not know that you restrained the quarry and made it a guarantee. If the weight is where it should be, then if you do this 1-5 times with large bagged quarry and crop up the bird, this should build the confidence much higher and help the Shikra see that there is actual incentive to going after larger more intimidating prey.
Makes sense to me because of your experience. Your blood sweat and tears are my hearing aid for the right way to go
Yup... I basically had to retrain my kestrel because she wouldn't come to the glove without tidbit on it. Now she she's the glove as her perch. She kinda looks at me puzzled if I have her eat off the glove. After retrieving from the kill, she waits to eat it. Sometimes mantling, but not much. I chalk it up to flashbacks😂.
Now... can you direct me in the way of falcons vs. hawks/accipiters? Just gotta keep myself in check 👍
I've watched one guy who seems to *always* put food in his glove, *every time* that he calls his HH... seemed to me to be "bird trains man" ??
I live in Holland, which has a ton of heritage. I usually go about it the same as you though. Especially with the eagles. I must say I do feed my goshawks on the glove, never feed or call the eagle to the first though. When I get them off a prey I use a bit of food in the glove, that's all. After all it's not really possible to hide a grown roe deer in a bag...
Two words Ben: Passage Hawks.
Most of what you're describing pertains to imprints. Passage birds are much better behaved. I do agree that moving from the fist to the lure is the way to go no matter what you're working with. But passage hawks rarely exhibit the type of behavior you're describing.
Love your videos Ben! I got my first kestrel eyess three days ago but I just noticed today that she has a swollen knee. Do you know what I should about it? I live in a country that doesn’t have other falconers or avian vetranarines.
You can try a farm vet who knows how to treat chickens and cats. Chickens for the body shape/injuries and cats for the organs and digestion/parasites. If the knee is in a weird angle but can still be bend it could be a perosis. If the bird cannot use the knee at all it can be something worse like broken bone or strentched tendons.
@@etoiledufaucon5904 thanks for the info, I had to put her down because it ended up being that she had some sort of defect that made it so that she couldn’t digest calcium. After I put her down I carefully examined her legs and the bones were extremely thin and brittle and they where fractured in two places. Her sibling which is feed the same diet it’s almost fully feathered and has had no complications so it had to have been that. Also I found that the calcium powder I was using was all in her pellets that she would throw up which is extremely odd to me as I have raised many baby birds and they have never done that.
@BenWoodruff I have a male kestrel that every time he sees me he starts vocalizing I need help stopping this! I do not feed off the glove and have someone else pull the food on his lure so he flys away from me for food but still every time he sees me he starts chirping and begging. How can I correct this?
Hi Ben , i wanted to know if there is any way how to hood imprint goshawks , because i had once a imprint goshawk who i couldnt hood her , she was screaming and didnt let me hood her .
Ben,
Unrelated topic but want your opinion; I fly Harris hawks at work for abatement. Can an abatement bird be cross trained for hunting in the office
Off season I meant
What happens if you put the bird on your arm without the gloves
There are several considerations at work. The first is the sharpness of a birds talons. The second is their grip. We can and sometimes do hold them on our bare hands. The birds have incredible gripping power, but usually when they are just perching, they don’t grip. But anything could unexpectedly trigger the gripping. They could get startled by something, you could move to quickly and they grip to keep from falling off your hand, they could see a prey item in the distance and grip you upon seeing it. Additionally, even if they are perching gently, the talons will typically still poke and scratch you. But more importantly, wearing a glove makes a more rigid stable perch for the bird to stand on, which is far more comfortable for both the bird and the falconer.
That being said, again a lot of us do end up holding our birds without a glove from time to time and are usually just fine. And some traditional falconers in parts of the Middle East do have a tradition of holding their sparrow hawks without a glove, and this tradition goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Hi Ben, how you reward your Accipiters (passage, parent reared) with full crop? With both systems you described, ungarnished lure and on a kill, I missed the part when you clip your bird back to your glove? Lets say your bird has a great flight and successful kill, you want to reward it with a full crop, you throw a big piece of meat next to the kill so the bird hops from the kill to the piece of meat, then eats as much as he can and stuffs himself with food, then why would a passage or parent reared bird in this situation want to return to your glove which he sees just as a hunting perch (and the bird is full and hunting is not on his mind anymore)?
I assume you clip the jesses to the glove while the bird is eating that piece of meat which was thrown next to the lure or a kill, and then when a bird has a completely full crop he might rather fly away then hop to the fist which is of no use for the bird anymore (lets say we are talking about early passages). I don't understand that part, thank you for your explanation how you do it :)
If I have done this technique from the beginning, usually I don’t have to clip them while they are on the ground. I wait until they are convinced there is nothing left to eat or mantle over and they have walked a few steps back and forth. Then I lean down with my ungarnished glove, and they hop right up even though there is no food. The reward/incentive is that they know riding on the glove results in hunting opportunities occurring and also gets them off of the ground which is a vulnerable position. Once on the glove, then I clip them if needed.