2013 Sharp shinned hawk. "Sweet P".

[colelkhunter]

I wasn't going to post pics or start a thread but I am getting harrassed, so here you go ya vultures.

Pulled june 15, estimated 8 days of age. Female sharpie "Sweet P". P is short for Pterodactyl. She will be a full socialization imprint with full food association otherwise known as "Hand fed". No fear shown out of the nest tree with slight hesitation after one day at home. No noise or chittering so far and has been eating like a horse. Socializing with the dogs and daily car trips have already begun. Starting to show feather ferrules protruding from the down now. She is also starting to stand and flap. Should not be too long before she stands for longer periods. Diet is consisting of sparrow entirely at this point with food being left on her lure. Her visual accuity is starting to pick up as she sits and watches everything now, following it with her head. Eyes are brightening just a little to a darkish blue. Placed in a smaller, lower sided nest bowl today with astro turf to clean her original nest bowl. I think she likes this one better.

[colelkhunter]

More pics

[colelkhunter]

Pics from the pull day.

[colelkhunter]

more

[PeteJ]

Nice feet on that little gem of yours Brian. I can hear the Starlings now....

[BestBeagler]

Brian, it's sharpie mania on nafex! It was nice meeting you in person. Hope to meet you again sometime!

[wesleyc6]

More pics

Dang she looks mean in that one pic. I know she isn't, but already an intense little pose. She should be taking game tomorrow or the next day

[colelkhunter]

I slipped her on three sparrows today! They were pretty slow, being in a bowl and all...

[hcmcelroy]

Brian,

Thanks for the description of behavior and the photos!

She looks most inviting.

Harry.

[colelkhunter]

Today she is a little more hesitant and moves away at my initial contact in the morning. She warms up quickly and settles in to eat her first meal of the day. I cannot help but think this is a result of the age at which she was pulled as previous sharpies that I have imprinted have never shown this. She is being socialized more intensely today to try to rectify this a little. Almost constant contact with me and other people. I have several guys working in my front yard and got them to play with her on their lunch hour.

[wesleyc6]

Today she is a little more hesitant and moves away at my initial contact in the morning. She warms up quickly and settles in to eat her first meal of the day. I cannot help but think this is a result of the age at which she was pulled as previous sharpies that I have imprinted have never shown this. She is being socialized more intensely today to try to rectify this a little. Almost constant contact with me and other people. I have several guys working in my front yard and got them to play with her on their lunch hour.

I am still seeing a touch of hesitancy, but it seems to be diminishing. I think we all got them right on the "line" huh.

[colelkhunter]

The ragged "Line" me thinks. I am interested to see how it develops. It has to have some impact. I just hope it is manageable.

[wesleyc6]

The ragged "Line" me thinks. I am interested to see how it develops. It has to have some impact. I just hope it is manageable.

It will probably just add a little extra "killer" to them.............always the optimist. LOL

[bluejack]

I pulled a female once right around 10 days I think.
She was a little scared at first but she settled in just fine.
She did complain a bit and always had some fear about various things. She was afraid of cars. She was cool being inside one but not cool about seeing them from the outside.

[hcmcelroy]

Brian,

I was given one pulled at 11 days and it did not overcome the fear reaction. In the field it was not easy. Ken Tuttle helped with this one and told me he would never try one at 11 days again. I guess it depends upon the individual.

Harry.

[colelkhunter]

Harry I made a valiant effort to choose the youngest of the chicks. I believed her to be younger than 11 days. If the only issue that becomes of it is on first contact of the day, I will be ok with that.I would almost be tempted to say that this bird is not imprinted on me. Taking into account the age and activity I am seeing. Time will tell I guess. This is a double edged sword I am playing with and I am fully aware of it. I plan to proceed with that in mind. Any further thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated. This is the first "late" bird that I have tried.

[jeffandheidi]

Ragged line for sure, this is my first Shin so everything is new. Comparing the pics you and Wes have shared it looks like mine is at least a day older, but he's still laid back. The first morning at home he gaped once, first contact of the day, like your bird. It was early morning and a little dark still so I attributed it to that. (?)

Does your bird back away and chitter or just lean away from your hand? It will be interesting to see if it lasts into training with weight reduction and hunting.

[colelkhunter]

she doesn't start eating immediately on first contact in the morning. She stares at me and kind of pulls her head back. No chittering or noise at all. Matter of fact she hasn't made a sound of any kind. I can see it in her eyes however. Once she takes that first bite she is great and will even preen my fingers when I rub the down on her back. That little resistance is sometimes more than enough if you are paying attention. Everything happens fast with a sharpie. Tiny little things become huge issues overnight it seems. The rapid progression of their growth makes the falconer ever vigilant in paying attention to the details with them.

[BestBeagler]

I think I chose the youngest one in the bunch. He was a bit hesitant to the touch but not out of fear. I just kept petting him and playing with his feet and yesterday I had him in the nest bowl on my chest and he scooted over to be next to my face. Finger feeding has helped it seems. He's become a cuddle bug. I think the chicks in the first nest where the youngest, but it was weird some birds that where older seemed to show no fear and some birds that where younger did?

[colelkhunter]

Did I say leaps and bounds? Yeah, I meant that....

Wake up at 0630 to the sound of "Thud, thud.....thud". Nothing in my house makes that noise. Dog wasn't barking, so they knew it was going on. Went out to my hawk table and find the sharpie standing, flapping and jumping. She is out of the nest bowl and trying to figure out how to get up on the bow perch next to the nest bowl.

Feeding time. I placed her lure into the nest bowl and she hopped back in, sat down and waited to be fed. Turn of a page today I think. No hesitation at all this morning.

[jeffandheidi]

That's great news Brian!

[hcmcelroy]

Brian,

She sounds good to me. My only suggestion is to watch her carefully as she begins to hard pen and creep the weight down if she becomes withdrawn slightly but only enough to keep her attentive. Best of luck but so far so good.

Harry.

[Breeze]

Hi Brian! Loving this thread! Thanks for sharing - look forward to following Sweet P (love the name!) and you all season. Enjoy!

[colelkhunter]

Pics from today. 17 days approximately. Feathers are showing well now. About an inch through the down on the primaries and a little more on the train. Today was a good training day. My mini doxies has basically took Sweet P to raise.She licked her all over and layed with her today next me. Kinda got irritated when I put Sweet P back on the hawk table. Standing a little more today but not too well. Flapping a lot but not getting anywhere.

[colelkhunter]

Food on the lure this morning and what a greedy little pig! She is quite taken with the lure already. I modified it last night with some leather wings so I didn't look so much like scrotum, reasons are obvious. While I worked on it, she stared at me across the room and seemed to be unsettled. Lure was put back with her when I finished and she settled in with it for her last meal of the day. Wedding to the lure? Check.

[BestBeagler]

I modified it last night with some leather wings so I didn't look so much like scrotum, reasons are obvious.

What beaches do you fly on LOL? I always fly my birds with my clothes on but to each their own! Speaking of scrotums lol I like Mario's kangaroo scrotum lures. I'm going make one.

[colelkhunter]

I like Mario's kangaroo scrotum lures. I'm going make one.

That's what I am using now (refer to the first series of picture). I added leather wings to it for good measure. Mine weighs 70g and is the perfect size.

[BestBeagler]

That's what I am using now (refer to the first series of picture). I added leather wings to it for good measure. Mine weighs 70g and is the perfect size.

Aha! I was wondering what that was. Cool.

[Bryant Tarr]

Ahhhhh....I thought you had some secret recipe for imprinting with potatoes.

[colelkhunter]

Ahhhhh....I thought you had some secret recipe for imprinting with potatoes.

Shhhhhhh!!!! Bryant, I swear. I can't tell you anything.

[wesleyc6]

Shhhhhhh!!!! Bryant, I swear. I can't tell you anything.

What wil be interesting will be to see the difference in the white potatoes recipe and the red potato recipe....oh I said too much again

[colelkhunter]

What wil be interesting will be to see the difference in the white potatoes recipe and the red potato recipe....oh I said too much again

For the record and before this goes too far: The bowl she is sitting in IS IN FACT microwave safe.

[Bryant Tarr]

or is it a Sweet Potato? Hmmmm??? Sweet P?

[colelkhunter]

or is it a Sweet Potato? Hmmmm??? Sweet P?

[colelkhunter]

Update:

Sweet P is more mobile today. Standing regularly today and got kind of upset with her lure. She is running for a few steps and then falls over. Feathers are fanning more by the day. I still sense a little resistance from her but at intermitant times. At first it was just in the mornings. Now there seems to be no ryme or reason to it. Only happened once today and once yesterday. In this instance, when I approached in the middle of the day, she scooted away from me and ducked her head. A few seconds later I offered food to her and she sat down and accepted the food without problem. Very confusing, she seems to be sending mixed signals. She is willing to submit to me as a parent for food but shows apprehention when no food is present and not all the time. I would also like to mention at this point that she is eating vast amounts of food. Today was the most yet with 5 dressed sparrows and a small amount of quail breast. My estimate is about 60g. This is distributed throughout the day. I check her about every 3 hours to see if she will accept food with food always present on her lure. On the bright side she has made nothing resembling noise. No chitter no nothing. She will willingly scoot closer to me on the couch when I sit with her. Recognizes her nest bowl and seeks it out when she is sleepy even after hopping around and playing on the table or couch. So we have good and not so good...