Which Mounting Method?

[FredFogg]

I would venture to bet that anytime a raptor gets its transmitter, be it backpacked or tail mounted, caught on barb wire the bird would have hit the barb wire anyway. If you look at a raptor in flight with a backpack mount on, it's head is usually above the height of the transmitter, so for them to go through a fence and their head miss the barb wire but the transmitter catch, well, I still think they would have hit the wire anyway. I am going to mount a key chain camera on a backpack this year and will post some footage for everyone to get a better perspective.

[RT Alison]

While imprinting my coops I took extra effort in handling JUST so mounting a trackpak would be a breeze. Lots of time spent touch the bird's back, underneath the wings, etc. When it came time for the install, he just sat unhooded on the perch watching me put it on without so much as a single bate... or bite. I still added a tail clip for a tail saver wrap or a second transmitter.

My HH is just now tame enough to get hers installed. Again I have been expanding the human touch routines to include reaching fingers under her folded wings and lots of back touching. I also trained this one to the hood so I don't expect any real behavior issues in the install. Again, she will continue to have a tail clip for a tail saver wrap or second tranny.

[sugezwolf]

I would venture to bet that anytime a raptor gets its transmitter, be it backpacked or tail mounted, caught on barb wire the bird would have hit the barb wire anyway. If you look at a raptor in flight with a backpack mount on, it's head is usually above the height of the transmitter, so for them to go through a fence and their head miss the barb wire but the transmitter catch, well, I still think they would have hit the wire anyway. I am going to mount a key chain camera on a backpack this year and will post some footage for everyone to get a better perspective.

I'll take yer money Fred. The tiercel in the picture clearly didn't catch his head on the wire - only the transmitter. This is because hawks can't take account of an alien bit of gear attached to their bodies - only their actual bodies.

Gerry x

[RT Alison]

This is why I like the Trackpak mounting system. My tiny male Coops, Ehrler, is wearing one with a Merlin transmitter in this photo.

[eminart]

Looks good, Michael. That's one thing I like about them too. Or, that I think I WOULD like about them.

[BestBeagler]

Well, I tried one on my sharpie and did not care for it. I love the principle but did not like it on my sharpie. His feathers never laid right no matter how much preening and rousing he did. Even with my help preening. I had it on him for a short while and cut it off finally. I couldn't stand those odd feathers not laying right. In fact, after I took it off he preened himself more and was just overall happier in the care of himself. I might try it on a bigger bird and see how I like it. Also, I was talking to another falconer and we agreed the down side is that you can't see what's going on with that ribbon under all those feathers. You have to be very vigilant in making sure it's a good fit. That means misting the bird down so you can see what's going on. This is just what think after having used it on one bird. My friend uses them exclusively and loves them I do to but they have their downsides like all the mounting methods.

[RT Alison]

If the band is too loose, displaced feathers are going to occur a lot more often. I noticed this after one installation settled in and a larger gap was available under the plate. I carefully picked the glue off, managed to use hemostats to clip onto the ends, relieve tension on the brass tube, then tighten up for a better fit. The displaced feathers greatly reduced at that point. Once the thing is correctly fitted snug, but not too tight, the plate and bands no longer shift around causing feathers to skew.

[hcmcelroy]

Isaac,

No doubt some hawks will not do well with any mounting system as you say but I've ignored feathers being out of place and leave the harness on for years. At times feathers are displaced during the molt but eventually they go back down. My 4th year HH and 3 year gos are ending the molt with the original harness at this time with no problem.
I mount them rather loosely so they do not become tight during the molt.

Harry.