HH Found in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Near Tallahassee, FL

This was posted on a raptor rehab list.

A Harris Hawk with jesses has turned up at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, about 25 miles south of Tallahassee, FL. A local falconer familiar with Harris Hawks hasn't been able to tempt her; she appears to be hunting and happy, but the jesses are a concern. He's asked around, but so far hasn't found anyone missing this bird. If anyone has any information or ideas, I'd appreciate it.



Thanks.

Sandy

Sandy Beck

Education Director

St. Francis Wildlife

Tallahassee, FL
sandybeck@stfranciswildlife.org
850.528.0823
stfranciswildlife.org

A falconer has been trying to catch the bird but it is supposedly very trap shy. I have not heard an update in a few days though.

You can see photos of the bird here.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151972853156501.1073741826.171798811500&t ype=1

Looks like a good candidate for a Swedish Goshawk trap! Eric, pretend it is a merlin and go trap it! LOL toungeout :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ericedw

A falconer has been trying to catch the bird but it is supposedly very trap shy. I have not heard an update in a few days though.

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Have they tried a bownet?

I'm really not sure what all traps they have tried, I get the feeling they just tried a BC though. I'll see if I can follow up with them and see if they are still trying to catch it.

I had a male Harris Hawk in the wind one year for over two weeks. First hunt of that season he caught something while we were dealing with a JRT that had been hit by a car. We could not locate him.

He turned up at a dog training facility in the Skagit area of Washington. The owners of the facility said he would show up in the morning and watch the bag pheasants that were released for the pointing dogs. When one flew far enough he would just follow it to cover.

We were driving around looking for him and he popped up on a hose reel in a field. I walked the magic spiral path in to him and tossed out a dead rabbit. He dropped to it and then traded to the fist. He looked pretty upset that he had fallen for that trick :)

Nice thing was he was a very good upland hawk after that two weeks of "unintended tame hack".

This bird would be fun to get in hand and see what he has learned :)

Just got email and phone calls that the bird has been trapped and returned to it's falconer.

It's great to hear some good news for a change.