Hooding your bird

[FredFogg]

I am sure someone else can answer this better than I but I will give my opinion. As an animal trainer and if you have worked with birds, you should know that most birds (daytime hunters) become dormant in the dark. They relax, calm down, pull up a foot and mostly sleep in the dark. The hood serves the purpose of putting a bird in the dark, per say. This reduces stress, keeps the bird calm and also allows the falconer to do things needed while the bird is hooded (coping, equipment changes or adjustments, medical purposes, etc.). Probably the biggest advantage of hooding a bird is during transportation to the field. These are a few of the things that come to mind for me. As I said, I am sure others have a better explanation.

[Mandragen]

I am sure someone else can answer this better than I but I will give my opinion. As an animal trainer and if you have worked with birds, you should know that most birds (daytime hunters) become dormant in the dark. They relax, calm down, pull up a foot and mostly sleep in the dark. The hood serves the purpose of putting a bird in the dark, per say. This reduces stress, keeps the bird calm and also allows the falconer to do things needed while the bird is hooded (coping, equipment changes or adjustments, medical purposes, etc.). Probably the biggest advantage of hooding a bird is during transportation to the field. These are a few of the things that come to mind for me. As I said, I am sure others have a better explanation.

I have worked with a few birds but mostly the tropical versions. I do understand the concept of the hood and why it work, in most cases. I guess I say most cases because put a hood on mine and it spends the next few hours trying to get it off, pretty funny actually. However, I feel that hooding my bird at this point is more stressful than not, which is something I am working on because I know how important it is. I think coping, minor equipment changes/adjustments, and most minor routine medical purposes should be trained, any lack of desense in these areas seems to me a lack of effort on the trainer. Do we put ourselves under every time we cut our nails, brush our teeth, visit the dentist for a clean up, change our clothes, or visit the doctor for a routine exam? Do we do the same for our dogs and cats, or other animals that are in our care, kids included? Other than the car ride, which I don't think you should have a bird just sitting there unhooded, why do we press so much on which side people should stand on when walking, or why do people hood the bird from the car to the woods?

[PeteJ]

If it is spending hours trying to get the hood off then probably that isn't funny, but probably the hood is not fitting well. As for where to stand when around someone else when they are fist hunting their bird? Most lookie loos do not keep up appropriately to be on the backside of your bird and the bird will notice it and will be distracted by that person. If they could talk this sort of behavior (looking back over there shoulder at the laggard) they would say "Keep up or go home!" As such it is better to be off to the far side of the hawk with the falconer in between, less distracting there and the hawk will treat you like you don't matter one bit to them.

[Mandragen]

If it is spending hours trying to get the hood off then probably that isn't funny, but probably the hood is not fitting well. As for where to stand when around someone else when they are fist hunting their bird? Most lookie loos do not keep up appropriately to be on the backside of your bird and the bird will notice it and will be distracted by that person. If they could talk this sort of behavior (looking back over there shoulder at the laggard) they would say "Keep up or go home!" As such it is better to be off to the far side of the hawk with the falconer in between, less distracting there and the hawk will treat you like you don't matter one bit to them.

Hours was an exageration, but it was pretty funny. I don't put it on and annoy her with it for my own entertainment, I'm not mean. I had my sponsor check it out and he hasn't seen anything wrong with the hood, like I said we are working on it. I will check into the fitting again just to make sure that it's right, thank you for pointing this out. I walk with her on the fist occasionally and I have a friend that also goes with us nine times out of ten. My friend is also a professional animal trainer with experience in marine mammals, birds, primates, etc. Sometimes he will walk right next to the hawk, maybe 2-3 feet off her back and she doesn't seem to care, I don't even hold her jesses.

[PeteJ]

Hours was an exageration, but it was pretty funny. I don't put it on and annoy her with it for my own entertainment, I'm not mean. I had my sponsor check it out and he hasn't seen anything wrong with the hood, like I said we are working on it. I will check into the fitting again just to make sure that it's right, thank you for pointing this out. I walk with her on the fist occasionally and I have a friend that also goes with us nine times out of ten. My friend is also a professional animal trainer with experience in marine mammals, birds, primates, etc. Sometimes he will walk right next to the hawk, maybe 2-3 feet off her back and she doesn't seem to care, I don't even hold her jesses.

Can I assume this is a Redtail? They often are not nearly as reactive as some of the falcons and accipiters which is why they are favored for the newly initiated.
Another thing to keep in mind, sometimes, as annoying as it might be, it can be beneficial and actually safer for the bird to be somewhat leery and reactive. There are situations out in the field where being totally at ease will get them killed...for instance by a gunner that needs to 'plink' something, or perhaps an unknown dog, or cat, or car, or train, etc.. A good bit of falcony is based on balancing tameness with just enough edge of the wild to allow the bird to exhibit the behaviors that we find so fascinating about them. If we just wanted a nice looking bird to hang out with, we'd all have parrots right?

[Mandragen]

Can I assume this is a Redtail? They often are not nearly as reactive as some of the falcons and accipiters which is why they are favored for the newly initiated.
Another thing to keep in mind, sometimes, as annoying as it might be, it can be beneficial and actually safer for the bird to be somewhat leery and reactive. There are situations out in the field where being totally at ease will get them killed...for instance by a gunner that needs to 'plink' something, or perhaps an unknown dog, or cat, or car, or train, etc.. A good bit of falcony is based on balancing tameness with just enough edge of the wild to allow the bird to exhibit the behaviors that we find so fascinating about them. If we just wanted a nice looking bird to hang out with, we'd all have parrots right?

Yes, it is a RT! This is an excellent point, and maybe it will be different with other birds in the future, I'm excited to figure that out.

This post was exactly what I was looking for, sometimes you don't know until you read it. I can respect this thought and it makes perfect sense. Thank you!