Sherlock 2013 Imprint Coopers Hawk

[Jacklyna]

I picked this coops up at roughly 8 days old from a friend that pulled him from the nest last week. I've been going through old Nafex posts for threads on eyas coopers hawks, and since there aren't that many, I figured I'd start one too. This is my first imprint bird, so I sure hope I don't make too many mistakes. I'll be following along with Steve Layman's method as best I can, and I'll try to keep this thread up to date with the good and the bad.

Sherlock is about 14 days old as of today and though he still sleeps for large chunks of the day, he's beginning to walk around on wobbly feet and exercise his wings every now and then. I've been hand feeding him since the day I got him and leaving a dish of chopped meat in his nest box 24/7. I've been clicking with my tongue when feeding in place of a clicker, but he hasn't quite made the connection yet. He's only just today showed the confidence to feed himself though, so I'll start putting his food on top of an opened quail or his lure instead of a dish.

He's been pretty social and doesn't seem frightened of anything yet. The dogs will play around him with no problem, and when out of his box, he'll wander a few feet then come back and flop against me with a small chitter. He was mobbed by a small group of young children today, and he didn't even bat an eye. I have the time right now to be with him all day long, so Sherlock comes everywhere with me. He seems to love the car rides the most. He's beginning to get more mobile and active, but he seems confused about his feet still. He nibbles his lure and the spare hood I keep in his box, but that's as much as he does so far.

I can't believe how fast he's been growing!

Edit: Sorry, realized this should probably go in the Imprinting category

[Breeze]

Hi Elena! Will be following your thread! Thanks for taking time to post and share with the rest of us. Love the name, Sherlock.

[hcmcelroy]

Elena,

He is looking good keep us posted. This should be a fun trip!

Harry.

[Jacklyna]

15 days old - 270g

I'm starting to wonder if my boy is actually a girl!

Sherlock has about an inch of feather showing on his primaries as of today, and he's been more actively flapping them in a puff of down. I left some food in his dish with some water for hydration overnight, and when I woke up this morning half was gone and the other half was scattered around his dish so at least he's trying! I gave him three meals today at 8am, 1pm, and 6pm, and I'll feed him until he's full late tonight before bed. He's been doing pretty well with the hand feeding so far. He did get excited a few times and try to chase the dish, but when he did that I mantled over it like a sibling. When he lost interest, I clicked and gave him a tidbit. For his afternoon meal, I set half of an opened quail in front of him and put a few loose tidbits on it to see how he would react. Sherlock chirped and nibbled at it a few times, managed to get one of the loose pieces first. He put a limp foot on the quail and nibbled the wing then looked up at me confused. He bit the wing again, I clicked, rewarded, he nibbled the body, click, reward, repeat until he was done.

It was a gorgeous day so we spent most of the afternoon outside under a tree. His nest box is pretty shallow, so a few times Sherlock got really curious and scrabbled out of it to wander a few feet, flap his wings, and cuddle up to me. He shredded a flower and footed a few leaves and his lure a few times but then looked confused like "what did I just do with my feets?" After an hour he'd climb back into his box, but an hour later he'd crawl right back out again.

He also spent some time on the couch this morning, and he would seek out a leg or a dog to flop and preen against. One of the dogs actually started to gently lick the leftover meat from his face, but Sherlock just continued to preen without a care. I'm loving how tame he is right now. He was mobbed by some children and a dog yesterday who tickled, patted, bumped, and buried him under his pine needles. He practically fell asleep.

So far so good!

[allredone]

Size is confusing to me but looks like a male face and tarsus?

[Jacklyna]

I'll take any opinions here on the sex, I wouldn't even know where to start with a young coopers.

[FredFogg]

Hmmm, I was thinking female! Legs look a bit thicker than a male and 270g at 15 days, if it ends up being a male it will be big for a western male. It will be fun to see how big it gets and then we will know. Personally, at this age, I wouldn't ever let the bird be chirping for food, it should be getting more than it wants right now.

[FredFogg]

Edit button gone again! I meant to say I wouldn't let the bird be chasing the food dish, not the chirping part.

[Jacklyna]

I'll definitely keep up on weighing him at the same time each day to be accurate. As for the chirping, Sherlock seems to be chatty in general. He's silent when eating, but then chirps for a while after he's gotten a full crop. He chirps too when he sees something interesting and when the dogs play.

[Jacklyna]

Ohh chasing gotcha! Maybe chasing is the wrong word, leaning in towards the dish with great interest? He does get fed until he's stuffed, and he's never on a totally empty crop. But when I feed him, I want to make sure he doesn't get aggressive with the hand feeding. So when he gets excited, I'll mantle until he looks away, click, and reward. My intent is to have him feeding tamely from my fingers, not snatching the tidbits when I'm not prepared. Hope that makes sense!

[hcmcelroy]

Elena,

If he is 15 days of age and 270 g. along with the short rounded face I'll guess male. A female should be within the 300 range by now.

Nice job his behavior is impressive. Some would have him on two meals per day at this stage...while others would continue with food available at 24/7.

Harry.

[Richard]

[QUOTE=Jacklyna;294682]15 days old - 270g

I'm starting to wonder if my boy is actually a girl!

Sherlock has about an inch of feather showing on his primaries as of today, and he's been more actively flapping them in a puff of down. I left some food in his dish with some water for hydration overnight, and when I woke up this morning half was gone and the other half was scattered around his dish so at least he's trying! I gave him three meals today at 8am, 1pm, and 6pm, and I'll feed him until he's full late tonight before bed. He's been doing pretty well with the hand feeding so far. He did get excited a few times and try to chase the dish, but when he did that I mantled over it like a sibling. When he lost interest, I clicked and gave him a tidbit. For his afternoon meal, I set half of an opened quail in front of him and put a few loose tidbits on it to see how he would react. Sherlock chirped and nibbled at it a few times, managed to get one of the loose pieces first. He put a limp foot on the quail and nibbled the wing then looked up at me confused. He bit the wing again, I clicked, rewarded, he nibbled the body, click, reward, repeat until he was done.

It was a gorgeous day so we spent most of the afternoon outside under a tree. His nest box is pretty shallow, so a few times Sherlock got really curious and scrabbled out of it to wander a few feet, flap his wings, and cuddle up to me. He shredded a flower and footed a few leaves and his lure a few times but then looked confused like "what did I just do with my feets?" After an hour he'd climb back into his box, but an hour later he'd crawl right back out again.

He also spent some time on the couch this morning, and he would seek out a leg or a dog to flop and preen against. One of the dogs actually started to gently lick the leftover meat from his face, but Sherlock just continued to preen without a care. I'm loving how tame he is right now. He was mobbed by some children and a dog yesterday who tickled, patted, bumped, and buried him under his pine needles. He practically fell asleep.

So far so good! [QUOTE]

He's developing nicely. They are generally pretty much finished growing by the time they start popping out feathers. 270 grams at 15 days sounds like a bird that will top out at around 300 grams at hard penned. Then he'll probably have to come down a bit for hunting weight; perhaps to around 270 grams? A lot depends on gaminess, physical conditioning and your skills.

Some birds are silent; others are not. The little chittery noises are nothing to worry about. They should go away with maturity. He's just expressing himself; pleasure or displeasure. Our "momma dog" likes to lick the babies. She mothers anything she can get close to.

Enjoy the sweetness; it ends way too soon.

[Jacklyna]

16 days - 283g with a partial crop

Thanks for the input, I'm always ready to learn. It's interesting to see the weight variances with a young coopers.

Today was rather laid back compared to the others. Right now Sherlock is nuzzled up and cheeping in my lap as I type this up on my phone. He's been standing for longer periods of time and is still learning how to foot things (he still falls over every time he attempts to do so). Once again he'd finished half the food in the dish overnight and pushed the rest around, so he wasn't that hungry when I woke up to feed him this morning. I think I'll stop leaving the dish in for the night and instead just feed him up later in the evening so that he's more responsive when I wake up and he starts switching over to the 3 meal a day plan.

He's been responding well to the clicks so far and has been more patient and tame when taking the tidbits from my fingers. I've been placing the food dish a few inches away when feeding him and marking calm behavior (ie preening, looking around, being quiet) as well as any time he bites at his lure. After a few times, he would bite the lure then immediately look to me for a reward. I set an opened quail with loose tidbits on it in front of him again this evening, but he still seemed a little uncertain about it, so I marked any time he leaned in towards it or nibbled the body. His appetite is definitely slower than it was yesterday, and he seemed to lose interest in his food and get distracted sooner. He still is never on an empty crop, but he acts more content on a less full crop than last week.

Sherlock is also more keen on exploring and being out of his nest box now that he knows how to get out of it. I had him outside for a few hours again and he loved it-wing pumping, jumping, chirping. When inside, he would hobble from one side of the couch to the other, and when one of us or the dogs sat down, he'd often chirp and sidle up and sleep or preen against us. He also got to watch my boyfriend's Harris hawks get used to their new perches, something in which he took great interest, chirping and turning his head this way and that.

Sherlock slowly inched himself up against the dog's neck, chirped, and fell asleep


He decided to scramble out of his box and sit next to me on my rock


]

[red_tailed]

Awesome pic of the coops next to the dog. Is that a pure Russell or a beagle/JRT cross? As it looks exactly like my 14 week old cross. I only hope that he will be that gentle with my birds in due time.

Bob
BC Canada

[Jacklyna]

Thanks! That's my boyfriend's dog Rielley, who is a 5 year old Jrt/beagle cross. He thinks the coops is his new best buddy for life

[Jacklyna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBHD...e_gdata_player

Video of Sherlock playing with a ball of masking tape

[red_tailed]

Thought so about the dog. Did Dan pike breed him? If so I wonder if our dogs are related. As i can see mines face looking exactly like that. Also interesting on the name as "Reilly" was in final 3 names for mine. It came 3rd to Ripley and to the eventual winner of Casey.

Bob
BC Canada

[Jacklyna]

Yes, this is one of Dan Pike's dogs so there it's likely that they are related. If you're interested I can see about his actual breeding information for you. And that's kind of funny about the names!

[Jacklyna]

Day 17 - I'll get a weight later this evening

Took Sherlock on a drive again to bring my boyfriend lunch at work as usual, but this time he hopped out of his box right away and looked fascinated when I shifted gears. Nothing better to judge how smoothly I drive than having a wobbly fuzzy headed bird next to me!



He's getting better with hopping and managed to scale an eight inch step in the garden with a jump and a flutter. You can see here his tail feathers are already longer than last night.

[allredone]

Enjoying the photos!

[Ricko]

Great to see more Washington falconers on here.

[Jacklyna]

Glad you guys like the pics!

Day 17 cont - 289g with a partial crop

Yay progress! I offered Sherlock half an opened quail with loose tidbits again, and after about half an hour hour of looking confused and nibbling on the meat and body with no success, he managed to work a piece loose and something seemed to click in his little head. He ripped into the quail then, eating part of the breast meat, the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys. When he got caught on some tougher bit, I'd reach in and help him out with absolutely no issues or change in behavior from him.

Besides that, not much new. Some more footing and jumping practice, and lots of sleep.

[Jacklyna]

18 days

Sherlock is getting better at eating from the quail on his own and is starting to use his feet to hold it down while he pulls. Still no issues with me reaching in to help and feed tids from my fingers. He was huuungry this morning so it took a few two or three clicks for calmness before he became more patient. Spacing the meals about 5 hours apart seems to work well with us because he's responsive to the clicker training but at the same time he still gets fed all he wants at meal time.

I put some anklets on him today because of how active he's getting. I'd rather he get used to them now before he gets too ahead of himself and hates them later. The first went on easy, but the second took longer since he suddenly realized he didn't like the grommet setter. I spent a minute or two getting him used to the tool so that I could set the other one without fear from him. A few surprised looks and bites, but he ignored them pretty quick.

Noticed some fret marks towards the end of a few feathers which are likely from the day he was pulled and brought home.

[Jacklyna]

22 days - 292g

Sherlock has been floating between 290 and 295g the last few days with all his equipment on, so he's without a doubt a tiercel. Thanks for the input!

He's been doing pretty well so far, and I'm fascinated by the amount of growth he has every day. I do have a few questions though that I'd love to hear some of your guys' input/opinions on though since eyas coopers are entirely new to me.

First off, I've noticed that although Sherlock responds pretty well at mealtimes (ie click and immediately look for a reward), sometimes his attention will drift and at then the clicks don't even seem to register with him. For example, he'll be sitting on his haunches in front of me, and I'll mark and reward his calmness for a few bites. He eats them eagerly and with no issues, but then something else grabs his attention and he'll stand up, stretch, and go wander off to explore or investigate for 5, 10, 15 minutes. In that entire time, he completely ignores the clicker or even food that I offer. Earlier on, I tried to mark when he chased a feather or footed a leaf, but there was no response as if he suddenly lost his entire appetite. However, after this, he runs or hops back to me, looks up, and waits patiently, and I can resume feeding and shaping with the click and immediate response like nothing happened. Is that normal behavior for a young bird like him? Or should I work on solidifying that click/reward relationship everywhere he goes?

Secondly, I was curious as to when others have generally introduced their eyasses to the perch. He's been getting increasingly mobile, and though he still considers his nest box as his home base, he'll happily spend hours playing, preening, or sleeping elsewhere. I'm not sure whether it's better to start introducing him to the perch now or after his feathers have grown in a little more. Has anyone noticed a difference in how they respond to being tethered in relation to when you start?

Other than that, he's been a total sweetie and pretty calm in general. Last night, he was surrounded by about a dozen kids and parents who flooded him with sudden attention and noise. In the beginning, it was obvious he was a little unsure of all the petting but he relaxed pretty quick and even walked around out of his nest box for a little bit (much to their delight). This was, however, another time when I wish he would respond to the clicker outside of mealtimes so that I could reward his behavior in large groups. I'll have to see what to do about that.

And now for that important stuff!

19 days - sunning in the garden


20 days - cuddled up during a movie and spreading bird dander everywhere



20 days - I think the black leather suits him


21 days - Generally how his mealtimes look. He couldn't care less about the dogs being around while he eats (although here the dog had just snorted at him)


21 days - sunning some more




No pictures yet from today, but I'll grab one or two later.

[Breeze]

Hi Elena! Just wanted to pop in and tell you I'm enjoying your thread! Thanks for sharing so many pictures and describing your adverntures with Sherlock.

[Jacklyna]

Thanks Deb! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[Jacklyna]

22 days cont.

Well, I guess it's time to expand Sherlock's play area from just the floor to every piece of furniture in the house. After some intent staring, he made a leap and scrabbled his way up to the sofa cushion where he then chirped a bit like he was proud of himself. My little guy is growing up!

On another note, I brought him into my truck to take a drive as usual, but I guess the combination of heat, noise, and the fact that he hadn't been in it for a few days caught him off guard and I only made it to the end of the road before it was obvious he was getting stressed and overheated. Turned around right there and brought him back where he in the shade under a tree for an hour or so. Re-acclimating him to my truck is back on my list it seems. I really wish I had ac in there for the poor guy.

[Jacklyna]

23 days
At the WAFA picnic.

Both of us!

Tired from a long day


24 days
Testing his wings

He willingly steps up and down on occasion and has no problem being carried

Learning to balance

Relaxing like a big bird


25 days
New, smaller anklets

His favorite spot in the truck

[Jacklyna]

26 days

I haven't been bothering to get a weight on Sherlock lately since he's so mobile these days and just hops right off the scale as soon as I put him on. Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been spending the day just enjoying my time with him!

He's definitely branching now which makes having him in the house much more time consuming since he sees every single raised surface as a great adventure to scale and and flap around on. He's started to make little noises like a squeaky toy when he gets excited. He can now fly a few feet at a time and, several times a day, will dash madly through the house circling tables and foot the chair legs with somewhat wild abandon It is pretty hilarious to watch though. For a little bird, he sure can book it!

I've still had him outside with me for a few hours each day, and he's taken to perching happily in one of the trees nearby. The robins, however, protest loudly and strafe his head every now and then. Sherlock did well with watching the skies before, but now he always has his eye on his surroundings. He's practicing hopping from one branch to another but doesn't do so well all the time and falls out of the tree sometimes. It's only a four foot drop so it's not that bad, but he can't make that leap up by himself quite yet and he's aware of it. So when he falls, he dashes around on the ground until he finds somewhere else to perch. Or, if he gets too close to jumping into the neighbors yard (which is at a lower level than ours) I pick him up and he rides on my wrist back to the tree. He understands stepping up and down now and being carried without a fuss.

His appetite has been changing around this past week, and by following along with his preferred habits, we're now on a one evening meal a day with random tidbits interspersed through the morning and afternoon. He just is not interested in food at all in the mornings which makes it a little more difficult for clicker training since he just tends to wander off after one or two bites. His appetite gets strong enough for a full crop sometime between 4pm and 8pm but it varies each day. For those meals, I've been switching around my methods depending on how responsive he is. Sometimes I'll have him work with the lure since that association doesn't seem to be solidified yet, and I'll have him walk to it and bite it for a reward. Other times, I'll open a quail for him and help him eat from that, using that time to mark calmness on the carcass. He's pulling more strongly at the meat, but still hasn't quite made the step to using his feet to help him hold the meat down. I feel like he should have gotten this part already, but I might be expecting to much.

[Jacklyna]

33 days - 2nd official day of hack

Sherlock looks to have topped off in the 300-305g range (with his equipment on), so it looks like he'll be at an average tiercel coops weight when he comes down a little for hunting. He's wed to the lure now and will come to it from any distance if when he's hungry. He's come to it a few times on a partial crop but not very quickly. If he's looking in the opposite direction when I pull the lure out, I'll whistle or yell and he will turn to look my way , see the lure, bob intently, then fly and/or dash towards it. He can also feed himself from a quail without a problem now, only needing help when he gets caught up on bones around the chest cavity.

Now that he's officially at hack for most of the day, I feed him only when he comes to the lure. He eats a partial meal in the morning and gets a full crop around 5pm when I call him in for the night. I would cut out the morning meal, but he's already a bit noisy in the afternoon, and I think that bumping him to one meal at this point would only increase that noise/hunger level. In the mornings he doesn't feed from a full quail after coming to the lure. Instead, I focus on tidbitting and marking calm behavior or encouraging him to chase a tidbit that's thrown away from me so that his focus is not on my hands or my face at mealtime. In the evening, I help him start on a quail and mark tight feathers and calmness on the carcass in hopes that this carries through to when I make in to him on a kill. He shows no nervousness or fear when people or dogs are touching him, walking around him, or making noise while he's eating, and I hope to keep it that way.

He's developing rather nicely, and his ability to fly is growing exponentially each day it seems. As of yesterday, he was flying twenty or thirty feet without a problem. His third tail bar is slowly on it's way out. I've had him outside to wander for several hours almost every day since we pulled him, and when he decided to scale twenty feet up in a pine and preen for two hours three days ago, I decided there's no better time to start a hack than when the bird says he's ready! He's been chasing the bees and ants and hummingbirds in the yard and footing branches like crazy. I have not put any telemetry on him yet since I have no backpack mount ready and currently have no spare bells, but I was confident Sherlock knew where home was and how to get back. Yesterday I called him to the lure at 8:30am, picked him up and put him in a tree, and drove off to run some errands. There was no sign of him until about 2pm when I walked outside in the front yard and heard some sudden squeaking high up in tree somewhere nearby. I sat down in the grass for the next half hour and listened as the squeaking got nearer and nearer, and then out of nowhere Sherlock barreled into the ground next to me and jumped on my knee. He played near me for the next few hours until I called him to the lure at 5pm with an instant response and took him inside for the night.

I introduced him to the perch and being tethered this past week, and by the next morning he was regaining the perch. That same night he stopped bating from the perch and would sit and preen happily until about 7pm when he started getting antsy and jumping towards his box. I put him in and cover him for the rest of the evening and he would go straight to sleep. He rides the glove better now, but we're still working on regaining that if he bates from it. I'm not pushing glove training too much at this point since I rarely carry him around on it right now. Either he's flying loose or I'm carrying him to his perch where he stays tethered each evening.

27 days (?) He spent a few hours hiding under this bush


28 days - 2nd tail bar had just come out of the quills


29 days - Hanging around outside a shop where welding tools and loud machines were being used. He ignored everything and played with leaves all afternoon.


32 days - after breakfast, looking like a dork

[Jacklyna]

And from today at 33 days. He's hanging out under a tree in the front yard right now

[jeffandheidi]

He looks great! Those feathers really do grow fast!

[Jacklyna]

Called Sherlock down to the lure around 4:30 as he was acting more hungry than usual aka running around my feet the moment I walked into the yard. I had him chase the lure around the yard which he did eagerly, and when I let him catch it, he acted like he hadn't seen food in days. He mantled for the first timeover the food but wasn't aggressive to me. He whistled loudly and tore into the quail but didn't mind when I touched the food or his feet. I slicked his wings and tail back and marked that with a click and some tidbits. He'd whistle and flare his wings for the first few tidbits but soon calmed down and finished his meal like a total sweetie. We'll see how he acts on food tomorrow.

[Breeze]

Hello Elena! Just wanted to let you know, still following your thread and love the photos and hearing about Sherlock's progression. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

[Jacklyna]

Thanks Deb

34 days

Yesterday was an uneventful day at hack for Sherlock. He stayed within eyesight pretty much all morning and afternoon in one of the large pines bordering our yard, squeaking every now and then. Around noon, I sat out in the yard with him and tossed leaves and small rocks around for him to chase and "murder" which he did with a bit of hilarious action. I attempted to weigh him around that time as well, but he did NOT want to have anything to do with the scale. It wasn't that he was afraid of it, he just wanted to go away and do his own thing and not be held by the glove. That was probably a mistake, since I had to follow him around the house and pick him up against his will to take him back outside (so that he wouldn't bash himself against a window in the house) and he squeaked and bated in protest. However, once back outside, he was happy as could be again. He did manage to bend one of his secondaries sometime during the day, but it doesn't look all that bad, thankfully.

I took a few shots of his playtime after that with my phone so they're a bit blurry but I thought it was pretty fun! I called him to the lure earlier than usual, around 3pm yesterday since I didn't feed him as much that morning. He was after the lure instantly and showed no signs of mantling or aggression even with me walking around him, touching him, and messing with his feet. However, that coopers side is definitely starting to show. Before I distracted him with the leaves and the rocks, Sherlock flew straight at my face when I came into the yard and landed on my head, plucking my hair and squeaking at me. That's to be expected though, I just hope once he starts hunting that will pass. The rest of the day I had him perched inside the house in front of the tv, surrounded by noisy playing dogs and the whole family. He bated a bit at first but soon got over it and preened until about 7pm when he started getting antsy and bating again. I put him back into his nest box and covered it at that point for the evening. I don't have any spare GH's for him yet, but I'll rig one up after this weekend.









35 days - 297g

Sherlock is able to regain the glove no problem now if he bates from it, but he still doesn't care for it much, and besides carrying him from his box to outside to a perch, I'm not going to push it yet. He flew about twenty feet to the lure, landed maybe 3' away to run the rest and started footing the lure. I'm going to try and reinforce him looking my direction if I yell "hey" so that I can get his attention that way if he's away from me in the field. I alternated tossing tidbits around the yard for him to chase and feeding him from my fingertips. He still has not shown aggression towards my hand, and I make sure to only feed him the tids from above his head and not from his feet.

He ate two quail legs this morning, let me pick him up and carry him to a tree, then took off flying into a higher one when I approached him a little later. I'll snap some photos later this afternoon when I call him down for his afternoon meal.