Last we talked, we were trapping Kestrels -- had trapped 7 but no keepers. We did trap a few more but still no keepers (juveniles).

One of our friends had a juvie kestrel and needed to find it a home on account of a difficult pregnancy. We picked her up last Saturday at Winterfest. The kids named her Azula, but everyone is just calling her "ZuZu".

What I'll try to do here is stage a composite capture sequence (for 4-5 birds we trapped this season).

you'll remember the trap (called a Bal-Chatri) that's dropped from a moving car near a sighted Kestrel:



Once caught in the nooses, you run up with a towel and contain the birdie





the towel is not a good way to transport your new friend home though, as it's too easy to wiggle free and damage feathers.

much better is a tubular structure >> synthetic socks work well for small birds, kid's tights for mediums, up to pantyhose for the bigger birds. (If possible, try to get your wife to purchase the kid's tights for you. There are fewer questions that way...)



Note: transport chest down, not up -- it's way easier to breathe that way.

once home, weigh with the sock (subtract later) this weight will be a starting point for finding your hunting weight .





hooding the bird really helps to reduce the stress levels

hoods are about $50 a pop, but they accumulate like holsters - everyone's got a box of various sizes

[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x134/utahlefty/20140202_160713-1_zpsfa3a86ab.jpg[/img]

the sock also makes it easy to pull a leg out and get the anklets fitted:

[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x134/utahlefty/20140202_160708_zpsa87a8234.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x134/utahlefty/20140202_162138_zps14946917.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x134/utahlefty/20140202_162138-1_zps6add0d2c.jpg[/img]

now you're ready to start the "manning" process, which is pretty much a full-immersion bonding time. try to get as many hours a day as you can with the bird on your fist. sitting,standing,walking around,etc.

most kestrels will be standing on the fist in a couple hours (3-5 days for a RT) and will be done bating in the first day or two.

all of the kestrels I've caught have eaten off the fist in under 24 hours and will start jumping to the fist from 5-6 feet inside of 10 days.

the goal is to have them free-flying in 2-3 weeks and hunting again by 4 weeks

at any rate, we've taken a huge shortcut as "Zuzu" was captured in October and pretty much has the routine down.







she'd been free-lofted (not tethered) prior so that's what we've gone with >> I've been lure-flying her off the rafters in our front room:







so far, this hasn't happened to us, but one never knows....

[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x134/utahlefty/20140207_153028_zps8ba0d490.jpg[/img]

Thanks for these threads Matt! I enjoy them.

Very cool! Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Ed

Very cool! Kestrels, being small falcons, are really fun birds to watch hunt.

Thanks again for the great pictures and the lessons. She is a beautiful bird.

Outstanding! Thanks again!

thanks guys! off to look for a missing RT. brb....

That Kestrel is one cute (photogenic) little bird!

she's a sassy pants, for sure!

didn't find the missing RTs, but gotta love living in Utah --a 90 minute ride-around over lunch = 11 kestrels, 3 RTs,and one each: Prairie falcon & rough-legged hawk

What size animals do you hunt with them?

You got some really neat shots.

they're awesome to watch killing sparrows. a few are brash enough to take down starlings.

they do well on field mice from a hover too.


we had a blast last summer catching dragonflies and releasing them in the house for our last kestrel!

I can see how she got the name Azula. That's a real pretty blue coloring she's got going on there.

I look forward to your adventures with her!

Love your threads on these neat animals.

How big will a kestrel get?
Do the different birds get along with each other?

Do you get a lot of "droppings" around the house?

last question first: our house looks like a freakin' Jackson Pollock gallery!

no, the harris hawks would try to kill her if given an opportunity.

she's full grown (they all are by about 5 months of age). her capture weight was 110 grams, the one we had last year was 112 grams, and one of the males we caught this year was 109 grams.

call it 3.5 ounces or 2/3 of what a baseball weighs. wingspan is about 22"

Keep us informed I enjoy your posts, at the Nuke plant I worked one summer had a big Kestrel hung out by one of the guard towers he would catch a small bird kill it and hang it on the barb wire, I counted 7 sparrows at one time hanging!

Nice post, I've never 'owned' a bird but have hunted with them in Statesboro Georgia a couple of times many years ago. One thing most of the falconer's had in common - they were killer wicked with a sling shot.