Understanding...

[jdrmd]

That works fine. But you have to then be careful to only hold the glove out when you want your hawk to come in. You could be scratching your nose one day and be very surprised to have your hawk hit it hard because from where it was sitting it looked close enough to the cue to decide to come in. I am not smart enough to use the glove as a cue and keep from accidentally setting it off and surprising myself.

Geoff,
You point is well taken. I try to only wear the glove when I want the bird to come to me otherwise its off. If I go in the mews to get her, I wear the glove, if I go in to change the water or do other chores I don't. She looks for the glove when I enter, if she doesn't see it she carries on with whatever she was doing and responds similarly in the field. As I get more experience that might change but for now...
Being a surgeon, I am subconsciously aware of my hands, especially with gloves on, because of sterile technique. I would never touch my nose with my sterile hawking glove

[goshawkr]

Geoff,
You point is well taken. I try to only wear the glove when I want the bird to come to me otherwise its off. If I go in the mews to get her, I wear the glove, if I go in to change the water or do other chores I don't. She looks for the glove when I enter, if she doesn't see it she carries on with whatever she was doing and responds similarly in the field. As I get more experience that might change but for now...
Being a surgeon, I am subconsciously aware of my hands, especially with gloves on, because of sterile technique. I would never touch my nose with my sterile hawking glove

I guess then it is pretty aparent that I am not smart enough to be a surgeon.

The cue can be anything that the critter you are training can percieve as being a distinct signal. There is a lot of reasons why your example of holding out the glove wouldnt work for me, but it seems clear to work well for you.

Its also important to keep in mind that the aninimal you are training will often pick up on cues you are not even aware of, and these can sometimes accidentally be given as well. As an example of this, I used to keep my hawk food and tidbits in a fanny pack back when they were commonly around. I kept my fanny pack in front so it was easier to get to. One of my redtails noticed that I touched my fanny back just before I called, and that became a cue that it reacted to far better than the raised glove, whistle, or even the lure. I nearly needed to get stitched up the first time I noticed the connection, because I was just shifting the fanny pack around a bit. I learned keeping food near your groin area is never smart unless you are a total masochist.

[jdrmd]

Its also important to keep in mind that the aninimal you are training will often pick up on cues you are not even aware of, and these can sometimes accidentally be given as well.

Good stuff Geoff, I can't agree with you enough on that point!!! Developing and maintain a consistent routine is something I aspire to.