Phoenix (nickname Finn the Shin)

[BestBeagler]

Finn has learned he can run now. He can't run far by any means, but he can make 10 steps about as fast as my old eyes can keep up. Then he stops and has that silly look on his face. Reminds me of how a killdeer moves in the wild. If you sit by his tub he WILL jump out on your leg and climb up your thigh to lay in your lap. He is just too funny to take seriously at this point. It will be both a joyous and sad occasion to see the serial killer come out in him. I understand why people have always said that a sharpie may be the most fun bird of all to imprint.

Wes I know what you mean! My little bugger has been my favorite imprint so far. They just do new a cool things so often. I wonder how much older yours is compared to mine? Sadly I know that soon we will have to tie them up once they start getting really fun to have loose. I know I won't risk a collision indoors.

[colelkhunter]

You will see that look in his eyes change from baby to killer in a day. One day you will get up and notice something different about your little baby bird.

[wesleyc6]

Yeah, they do grow fast guys!

[wesleyc6]

One way to know a sharpie is crazy small is when your merlin hood braces are wider than your sharpie's jesses

Finn's full days of freedom are slowly coming to a close. I don't know how much longer I will wait before tethering. Twice now he has hopped out of his nest bowl, ran over to my feet (with a throw blanket on my legs/feet) hopped up and then started climbing and flapping to get in my lap, so I slowly lift my legs up and then he hops half way down and lays down in the pocket the blanket makes between my thighs and lays down. Pretty cute, but getting harder and harder to make him stay in his bowl. I think I am going to have to start putting him in a deeper tub for a few more days and then...............tether. Sorry to bore you guys with another post, but I hope to be able to look back on these updates and see things I did right and wrong. 130g today.

[wesleyc6]

Here is a pic from today too. My son knows for sure not to pick up the bird. However tonight I had to put him in a taller container because he would not stay in his nest bowl. He did not like being contained like that. So I asked Zach if he wanted to take him in his room and let him romp a bit. Zach told me he was chittering. I went back there and he wasn't chittering but cheeping softly. I couldn't figure out why, but he stopped. My son sat down on the floor by him and immediately Finn jumped in his lap and settled down for a while. A little bit later Finn jumped up on his arm and just stood a while. My son does a great job of just being still. Finn eventually hopped/climbed/flapped up on his shoulder.

[jeffandheidi]

Our birds are mirrors if each other. Appearance and actions. Are you still going with constant food availability? I've been thinking of meal time on the lure now that he is so active and mobile, and removing the food when he stops eating and is distracted.

[wesleyc6]

Our birds are mirrors if each other. Appearance and actions. Are you still going with constant food availability? I've been thinking of meal time on the lure now that he is so active and mobile, and removing the food when he stops eating and is distracted.

Yeah, at this point I am still leaving food out almost all the time. I am not in a hurry, but as soon as I start taking him out and see him beginning to get to the point he can almost fly, I probably will go to three a day and then two a day and then one a day. It all seems to happen so fast with these guys that it is hard for me to keep up.

[wesleyc6]

Tethered again for about 30 mins. Again zero fuss, just laid down after a while. Still didn't pull jesses tight yet. He climbed on my wife's shoulder and laid down and preened her hair. Here are a couple of pics. Sorry, just cell phone pics and not good ones, but you can see the feather growth is just going crazy. I guess the fertilizer on the food is overkill Just kidding of course. He is a little attention seeker at this point. As Brian and I talked about, I guess I have gotten what I want in an imprint, now the question will be can I keep what I have. Probably not, but it will be fun trying.

[wesleyc6]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention two things. One is he dips his butt like a bird taking a bath, but instead he mutes. The other is that when he decides he is going to make a big hop or climb up something he cheeps softly as he does it.

[Huntndad1]

Man those feathers are coming in fast!

[jeffandheidi]

I'm starting to think our birds are brothers. Mine does the same egg-laying act when he mutes. Sometimes it's at the edge of the nest box but usually it's wherever he stands when the urge hits.

[rocgwp]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention two things. One is he dips his butt like a bird taking a bath, but instead he mutes. The other is that when he decides he is going to make a big hop or climb up something he cheeps softly as he does it.

If he gives that much notice before he mutes, put that on cue! How awesome would it be to put it on cue and teach him where to poop. I've always played around with the idea, but never fully carried it through with a hawk. I've done it with parrots and don't see why the same wouldn't work in hawk. Of course I knew how often the parrot pooped and would take him back to his cage to go potty and then would turn him loose in the house again. It kept the furniture and our shirts poop free. Could make being married to a falconer much easier on our wives.

Not to mention, It could be handy when you had somebody hawking with you that was annoying. Aim the bird, give the cue, and splat...

[wesleyc6]

Yeah, my wife would appreciate that! Man this little stinker grows fast. Last night he got on the top of the couch and went to sleep.

[wesleyc6]

It is officially "on" I guess. LOL. Finn was on the little table perch and flew about 5 and half feet to land dead center in his nest bowl on the floor. Hopped out of that and ran over to the couch and jumped straight up to the couch. He thinks he is big stuff. LOL

[Breeze]

Go Finn! Enjoying your thread!

[wesleyc6]

Thanks Deb! This morning.

[FredFogg]

Wes, you better turn him around, you are asking for some keyboard trouble there! LOL Great pic!

[wesleyc6]

Wes, you better turn him around, you are asking for some keyboard trouble there! LOL Great pic!

LOL, I was nervous. He left there in a 4 feet long slightly upward flight, but he didn't quite make his mark(bench)

[Breeze]

Love the photo, Wes!

[PeteJ]

Time to turn the ceiling fans OFF.;-)

[wesleyc6]

Time to turn the ceiling fans OFF.;-)

I think ye speak thee truth

[wesleyc6]

You gotta work to stay in this household

[wesleyc6]

Going to try to post a video or two of him playing around and eating.

[wesleyc6]

Finn seems to be doing well. Things that I am seeing change: He doesn't eat much in the mornings and only a little at lunch, but eats more heavily in the evening. He started bathing today. He can change directions in flight now. He doesn't do the butt rubbing mutes now but slices and he doesn't care who or what he slices on. He can be carried on the glove now.

I put him in a low tree this evening and called him to the lure outside. He did fine, but of course isn't very hungry. He is still quiet other than occasional soft cheeps.

Here he is perching on Zach.

[Huntndad1]

Nice hat Zach!

[jeffandheidi]

He looks great! Mine has a lot more down on his head. Have you had any problems with tethering?

I think I gave my male too much freedom inside the house and while he will sit on his bow, today he also spent a lot of time bating for taller furniture. Sitting on laps is no longer good enough.

[wesleyc6]

He looks great! Mine has a lot more down on his head. Have you had any problems with tethering?

I think I gave my male too much freedom inside the house and while he will sit on his bow, today he also spent a lot of time bating for taller furniture. Sitting on laps is no longer good enough.

He does bate some. We still turn him loose though in the house some so we manage ok.

[wesleyc6]

I took Finn outside today after work to let him play around some. It looked like this:


He kept climbing until he was at the tip top of the oak tree by my house and had no interest in coming down, so I decided to go up. It looked like this:


He acted like he wanted to come down, but didn't really know how. After hanging out for atleast half an hour in the tree, I decided to come down and climb to the roof of the house so it wouldn't be so "down" for him. He finally came down to me on the roof of the house and it looked like this:

[colelkhunter]

[wesleyc6]

I let Finn see a live bird today. It was medium sized (a bit smaller than a starling) and he was sure interested. I can tell you this, he killed it 50 or 60 times over with the "stare of death" or maybe it was the "penance stare" off Ghostrider. Whatever it was, it was one of the most fierce stares I have ever seen. I will probably not be able to sleep. LOL. He did finally fly to the ground, run over and foot it, but wasn't serious enough to kill it.

[wesleyc6]

Here are a couple more pics. I guess I am about done showing pics as I don't think he will change much more. Hope you enjoy them.

[jeffandheidi]

He looks perfect! I love the personality these guys have. Too funny

[passager]

Very good looking bird, nice job!

[wesleyc6]

Thanks guys. He is a lot of fun. He is starting to make a little bit of soft noise. I have noticed in the house he isn't quite as needy toward us and tends to prefer to fly around some. No ceiling fans are allowed on now or are any window shades allowed to be open. He prefers to perch on the ceiling fans. He has gotten fairly quick inside.

[wesleyc6]

Well I said probably no more photos as they would all look the same, but I did get this one today and it is different than the others.