Thoughts on Jessie

The following is "Falconry 101" and is intended for those who are not involved with Falconry other than through this blog, and who are interested in my little "journal" and the trials and tribulations that I endure daily with my falconry endeavors. It is my thoughts into the actions and reactions to my blundering attempts to become a decent falconer.

Jessie is a very interesting bird. Most Peregrines, as far as conventional thinking go, are actually pretty amenable to falconry, in that they tend to do automatically, the things that are needed to be successful in falconry. They have evolved towards high flight to obtain their food. Like the Eagles that I described yesterday, when the wind and weather conditions are right, fly so high that most prey do not have any idea that there is a threat any where near. The birds, Eagles and Peregrines can streak down out of the sky at a speed that does not allow the prey to have many options for survival. In other words the faster the closing speed, the less effect evasion has on the outcome.

I remember one Peales (Coastal) Peregrine that came to falconry through an injury. She was given to a Falconer for rehabilitation. She was able to fly, but her wing never did quite regain its original ability. While she could hunt, the likelihood that she would have been strong enough to survive the rigors of the wild was questionable. The falconer used her to hunt ducks. Almost invariably she would take a perch on a telephone pole. The falconer would wait a while, and then wave a pigeon at her. When she would fly off, and she invariably did, he would put it in his bag. She would continue flying, take a pitch over the pond, and kill a duck when they flew. If it had been Jessie, she would have either not flown at all or would have shined the duck waiting for the pigeon to be thrown. You can fool Jessie one time. She remembers, and she holds a grudge pretty well also.

Jessie this morning, having gotten very little to eat yesterday, greeted me with her rusty gate imitation, which means that she is feeling a bit underfed, but nothing would change if I took her hunting. Falcons learn bad ( as related to our desires) behavior with no problem. It only takes once for a little speck of thought on their part to become a behavior that can take days or weeks to overcome.

I only gave her three quail in exchange for a duck for her to draw the conclusion that there was no need to fight with a nasty old duck on the ground. Much easier just to eat a quail without all the fuss.

Normally I use a swung lure garnished with a chunk of food to recall her. That is what she gets to fly the kite, then when she has finished the garnishment, she is called to the fist to finish her meal with the rest of her food. If I don't put food on the lure more than once, she will refuse to come to it until she is sure there is actually food on it. I can call her to the fist with a tidbit (quail leg), but if there is no more food given than that, she will not come to the fist anymore. Jessie likes a full crop. Thankfully she cannot reason that she would be better off without me, or she would be gone in a heart beat. I am not saying that she is capable of reasoning or thoughts that draw a conclusion as we do, or the same way we do, but in the narrow world of action and reaction that allows birds of prey to survive, she excels. If she did have reasoning powers, I would be much better off. As it is her thought processes for the most part that evade my ability to relate. I could reduce her to survival mode, wherein she is nothing more than reaction, but I do not care for that type of falconry. That is not my goal or desire. For me the reasons for my addiction to birds of prey are different from just results. I am not saying that my way is the only way, or the right way. It is just "my way" and I am not able to be different.

Yesterday when I decided that enough was enough, rather than call her to the lure where I stood, I walked back to the truck. What she was angling for by sitting on the rocks was to force me to give her the lure and therefore her meal. Hopefully by leaving the pond and walking to the truck, I didn't appear to have capitulated. Time will tell, but I will not feed her today or until she is to the point that she is so hungry that she will be an unthinking appetite. Not so hungry that she is weak, but a raging hunger than demands hunting. When she does kill again, I will allow her to eat all she can hold. Hopefully that will convince her to return to what she was intended to be. I have to break the cycle that she is locked in.

Molding behavior in a raptor is different than in any other creature that man interacts with. They do not respond to force. They are not guided by negative responses, other than withholding food. They respond best to positive rewards. Raptors in nature learn quickly to conserve energy, kill quickly. They learn what works and what is a waste of time and energy. When interaction is with a man the process is much slower. We tend to want our birds to survive, so we feed them without any clear, to the raptor, reason to do so. They then tend to become dependent on us for food rather than their ability. Since we are only able to hunt for a limited period each day, the lessons that nature teaches are lost to them. A raptor in captivity rarely ever reaches anything even close to its full potential. A raptor in the wild has developed more ability and success in less than a month of hunting in the wild, than most falconers can teach in a full season. Which of course why a "passage" falcon is so highly desired. ("Passager" is a raptor that has been taken from the wild in its first season after it has begun to hunt.)

I have always maintained that Jessie does not act as a "normal" Peregrine acts or reacts. Raptors are designed to read body language to determine which prey will be the easiest to catch. They can also read weakness in the falconer just as easily.