Thor 2011 imprint male gos -his hack

[goshawks00]

Thought I'd start his own thread ... He has been "at hack" since he could stand ( 17 days or so) , mostly in the house with ocassional forays out side. He started to seriously branch yesterday, and today spent a good deal of time outside in the yard. Here is a first pic of that from today...

32 days 760gr

[FredFogg]

Nice Barry! Looking forward to reading about his hack! A question for you and others hacking birds, how far are you from the closest road and/or neighbors? The reason I ask is I would love to hack a bird but I live on 2.6 acres in town and have neighbors and a convenience store that is on the other side of my next door neighbor and I am hesitant to do a hack.

[AK Rev]

I've been looking forward to this one.

Fred, I'm sure you've heard of the prairie falcons that were hacked inside of St. Louis from a rooftop? McDermott mentions it briefly in his writings (they were successful and more than just one example) but I would love to hear more about the in-city hacks.

[hcmcelroy]

Barry,

This is gonna be fun reading and I hope to see loads of photos.

Harry.

[DirtHawker]

Wow, long way from that little bundle when you brought him home. Please keep us posted on the progress,
Sue

[FredFogg]

I am no expert in accipter sexing but when most of the experienced folks talk about the shape of a males head, it can't be more obvious than in the picture Barry posted. Awesome shot Barry!

[goshawks00]

Fred we are pretty rural here, closest neighbor is 1/4 mi. Bigest plus for hacking here is we have a lot of 100 year old trees on the property, soa he hacking is pretty self contained. Nearer to hard penning they will travel a bit farther down to the neighbors... All the neighbors are great about the hack and always call when any of them show up.. On several occassions I've called them after receiving signals from their places... and been told oh yea he/she is down sleeping on the patio furniture, or swhes in the garden playing ... Once,the old folks down the road called to tell us ..don't worry he's down here playing with their grandkids up in the tree house
Anyway day 33, hanging out on the back porch watching the rain... doing butt drags thinking he's bathing

[AK Rev]

Great photo Barry. Is this the one out of Lou's pairing?

[goshawks00]

He is a wild taken eyas Mich. goshawk, the first in 40 years. Here are a couple of him making it to the bench on the back deck... As I type this he is under attack from a robin and the small wren that has made it's nest right around the corner on the deck...

[AK Rev]

Wow...that's super groovy.

[goshawks00]

One more the makins' of a chicken hawk!!

[jballone]

Barry, I think an eyas was taken last year.

[goshawks00]

Barry, I think an eyeas was taken last year.

Mind sharing who it was , I mean there were only what four permits given... and talking with Casey our permit contact she said there were none...

[goshawks00]

Thor is now experimenting with flying... and is able to do 3 foot vertical flights. He now has his new equipment, so starting tonight he will begin to be tied to a perch when brought in for the evening...

Day 34

[hcmcelroy]

Barry,

Great pictures! A touch of fluff in the eye.

My boy is 25 today, standing and flapping but can't stand and preen yet.

Harry.

[DirtHawker]

Barry, Love the posts. He is getting some personality.
Sue

[goshawks00]

37 days
It's been a couple days now so I thought I'd give a little update... Thor is getting more mobile all the time... I couldn't find him today after a couple of hours so had to get the telemetry out...












He will sometimes come to the lure , but most often I will pick him up( he is standing on the glove now.. ) and take him to his food. With much whining and carrying on , he is brought in at around 7pm and tied to his perch and left on the blanket in the dining room for the evening. We tried leaving him loose in the house but he wanders so much and is beginning to want to perch higher up than the floor so he is relegated to his floor perch until being released in the morning...

[Zarafia]

Great thread, Barry! I will definitely be following it

[AK Rev]

Sneaky!

[hcmcelroy]

A tame hack. Do you see him during the day?

Harry.

[goshawks00]

All the time... he's hangs on the fences, under the old truck , in the bushes,on the deck furniture etc.. The grandkids spent the day here today , so he got lots of pets, carrying, talking to etc... He goes for car rides if we run to town, but spends a big percentage of his time just avoiding the robins that find him no matter where he's at.

Big step today was I called him down from the shelf where he pics came from , down to the garage floor to the lure. It's those little things that are preparing him for when he finds himself on top of the garage or the 'big tree'.

The other big issue I didn't expect is the tom turkey is showing BIG interest in him when he runs across him. The posturing tells me he may want to pick a fight if given a chance, so we are all trying to extra vigilant while he is out..

[Chris L.]

Hi Barry,

I just caught up on this thread... I love it! I have always to do a hack but never had the nerve!

He looks great!

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. It really helps shed some light on this.

I look forward to the updates

thanks again

Chris

[goshawks00]

42 days 788 grs.

Thor is doing great... It's been a few days since I've posted... On Tues. evening Thor was sitting on the railing , the one in several pics posts already when he was again 'attacked' by the Robin family. I didn't see it happen, but it became evident when I heard them cursing him not along the drive but in the front yard and about 40 ft up a big maple tree. He was well protected by the limbs but I do wonder how he had got there. It would have been a 100 ft flight and a 40 ft vertical to get to that position. Long story short, I had fed him about 2 hours before this and he a) wasn't hungry, b) didn't have a clue how to get down. He spent the night out. It rained , it blew, it thundered and lightening off and on all night.

Next day , in the afternoon after many tries, hopping back and forth among the limbs, he started to work his way down eventually ending up 15 ft above his lure. He made the last clumsy flight with a not so soft landing on the lure. After eating he was picked up (he now sits well on the fist) and put in his aviary for the day. Later that evening the same as every evening he was brought in and kept on his perch for the evening.

Thurs. he was turned loose again and he spent the day in the cedar tree preening and enjoying his freedom, that evening we had a bit of an issue with the wind and him not knowing how to fly into it, and worse, what happens when you turn down wind. He wound up landing several feet from his intended landing and hop/walked over to the lure.

Friday, it rained most all day so he spent the day in his pen watching the rain , taking baths,preening, and just hanging out. Later that evening he came in to his perch surrounded by 5 adults and 6 grandkids as they were making dishes for todays graduation party for 3 of our grandsons.

He has just eaten off his lure as always, and is in his pen for the morning, later when the party starts he will be brought out and left on his bow, for lots of pets, strokes and handling.

All is well, though I just realized he hasn't had any car time , so I'll have to start that up again as it is imperative to get him saturated with car exposure as I want to try crow hawking him this year early on...

[adam norrie]

Hi Barry,

This is one of those threads where you want to read more and more. You are doing what a lot of Goshawkers would love to do. He is a good looking chap.
Looking forward to more news.

[DirtHawker]

He is looking really good, I am enjoying your thread please keep us posted.
Sue

[hcmcelroy]

Barry,

Beautiful hawk! The thread is grand reading. Keep it going.

Harry.

[goshawks00]

Thanks Harry, he is just about on pace with the other hacked goshawks I've done... He is branching well now , but does seem to be a bit behind in exploratory flying. He seems very content to stand or lay around on the bigger branches, preening and just observing. One little twist I notice in him that I've seen in a few others but not all, is his fascination in bugs, ants, spiders and other crawlies. He will go out of his way to walk up a limb to get to one then either cock his head up side down to make sense of them, or beak flick or try to foot them... It's kind of comical to watch him, and maybe it's just training for eye foot co-ordination.

One other observation is that he is not a big eater, which may or may not become an issue later in his hack. Today he was 789 grams so he is maintaining his weight, yet on a good day he will consume 2/3 or so of skinned quail. That to me is a bit low but you can't make them eat if they don't want to... It also tells me he will be a big tiercil, as once his appetite picks up along with his exercising he will eat more and at a minimum I think maintain that weight...or gain, I think... We'll see.

[goshawks00]

45 days 785 grams

Thor is finally losing his down at a slower pace Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

We have started his car rides again and after discovering windshields, he settled into watching the world go by. His favorite perch is on the folded up arm rest in the pickup, and will ride there without reservation. On the way back from the store yesterday we came upon a couple of youngster crows, so I slowed way down and he was all eyes and stretched necked with interest when we went by. Unbeknown-st to those crows they were 10 feet and a few weeks from their death angel.

He continues to come in and get tied to his bow perch for the evening and most of his evening meal.. I believe the earlier you start teaching them restraint the easier it is for them to accept it. We expose them to as much as we can so they learn their lessons while young and easily molded hoping to broaden their acceptance of things later in life. Tethering is just one more lesson the will have to learn.

Today we are having sustained 20-25 mph winds, and Thor is getting schooled. Several times I've tracked him down along the treed north property line and found him 'playing' with the wind. He lifts off flaps his wings then grabs the branch he's on.hanging on for dear life so he doesn't get blown away. I haven't seen him 'lose ground' so I guess he is getting the hang of it. I just got back from finding him again , and he was just standing there one footed soaking it all in no care in the world.

[adam norrie]

Hi Barry,

I love this thread. I never hacked a Gos, but it brings back memories of the games they play whilst growing up. I wonder if you get to see his first chase at birds whilst at hack.
Will you be feeding him on the quarry you will eventually fly?

[goshawks00]

Hi Barry,

I love this thread. I never hacked a Gos, but it brings back memories of the games they play whilst growing up. I wonder if you get to see his first chase at birds whilst at hack.
Will you be feeding him on the quarry you will eventually fly?

Eventually he will turn the tables on his tormentors, but my experience has been the first kills will be baby birds in nests. As far as feeding quarry that he will hunt, yes at some point we will establish a prey image of sorts so that he will recognize fur and feather. There was guy that used a plastic type crow decoy with food tied to eat for his gos. Novel idea and i believe the gos killed the first crow it actually chased.

[adam norrie]

Thanks Barry,

I really like the photo's of him in the tree.

[goshawks00]

day 45

Thor has been spending the afternoon everyday in a chamber,he gets called down to the lure, given a few bites, picked up, taken to the chamber and fed the rest of his meal in there.

Today about 3pm I went out to call him down, not sure what to expect as the winds have picked up to 30+mph, and he has been all over the property in the trees. When I got near his pen, I was surprised to see him standing on the door to the pen. I went back in the house got the camera and took a few pics. When I tossed the lure in the chamber he went right in... grabbed the lure and food then proceeded to toss, catch and play with it , for a couple of minutes then began to eat. I'm not sure if this is a one off deal or not , but it will be interesting to see if this is a start of a pattern.. I hope so. It also reminds me that it's near time to start feeding him some meals in his GH for future use.

[hcmcelroy]

Barry,

He is looking good! The tail is way down!!! Are you feeding once per day?

Harry.

[goshawks00]

Barry,

He is looking good! The tail is way down!!! Are you feeding once per day?

Harry.

No he still is being fed three times a day, though he isn't eating much at any one time...

[Lee Slikkers]

Wow Barry...he's almost all grown up already Looking forward to following along...