Goals and preliminary plans to achieve them.

I primarily want him to be a high flying game Hawk, steady on the wing to what I am trying to flush for him.

To do that I intend at the right time to introduce him to the Drone or a kite to build muscle and form the habit in him to remain focused on the lure and me.

Once he has reached the height that I want him to "wait on", I will introduce bagged quarry for him to kill.

All sounds simple, but its deceptive. One of the advantages of Drones and Kites is that you can have a real reason for the bird to climb up in the sky. Food is there, and once a pattern is established the entire thing is achievable.

In the past the only way that you could teach a raptor to go up, was with thermals and pigeons. The idea was to not reward a raptor with a pigeon to chase until it had gone up high over you. If the bird was too low, you threw a Pigeon that could out fly it. If its height was what you wanted or an improvement then you threw one that it could catch. Somehow I have never been smart enough to make this plan work. The first thing that happens is that the falcon soon realizes that if he flies away, you will soon be spouting Pigeons like a hippie wedding.

The thermal idea is actually one that will work, most of the time. Its a bit of a juggling act in that the bird needs to be independent enough of food, that it is not a driving force, but still would like to eat if it is easy. When its hot, birds know that cooler air lies just above them. The higher they go the cooler it is and the further they can see. Their eyes are such they can see a long way, There could be a Pheasant just along the next valley. Temptation is a mighty driving force. Just ask any 50 year old man in the throes of Manopause.

The short story is that it is easier teach a  raptor to wander than it is to teach them to "wait on."

With a Drone, kite or balloon, the food is right there, 50 feet under it. There is no reason for it to wander, or trying to figure out what you are trying to get it to do. So they build muscle striving to gain enough altitude that they can reach the lure. You start out low and over a period of several weeks build enough muscle, that the bird can climb 600 feet in a couple of minutes. Once altitude is reached they can hang there with little or no effort. The next is when the bird reaches an altitude that you are satisfied with you can then toss the bagged game for a reward. The raptor soon learns that it gets rewarded when it reaches that altitude.

Quite a few falconers want their birds to fly out of sight or at the limit of vision. I do not. I want the bird to be high enough to command the field and quarry. I agree that it is pleasing to watch and listen to a falcon tear up the sky. They can achieve tremendous velocity, but they dare not hit something at that speed lest they kill themselves. I find that I only manage to see the last hundred feet of such a flight any way. Where as at 4-500 feet I can flick back and forth between the two adversaries and see the whole thing. Its a matter of choice. The higher a bird flies the more opportunities are visible. So there is little reason for a bird to hang around waiting for you, if there is a tempting quarry just over the hill.

The key to any animal training is to be smart enough to show the animal what it is that you want it to do in a way that it can understand what you want. You have to be able to understand how the bird reasons, and it rarely is the same way that you think. Raptors survive by being able to read the body language of the things that they interact with. You and I go through life looking at billboards, seeing nothing.

About the only quarry that I can produce in a regular manner for a falcon, is Ducks. There is generally a mixture of Ducks too big for Lee to kill and those who weigh about he same as he does. So the goal is achievable. It will depend on how he learns to handle them.

Prairies are not normally associated with Ducks, but if one does learn to hunt them, they generally excel at it. Prairies generally hit things hard enough to kill it in midair.

The reason that Prairies are not generally flown here in the states is that they are one of the more difficult birds to train, and there are lots of "Designer birds" available. Every one wants bigger, flasher and easier birds to work with. Getting along with a Prairie is a bit like getting along with your mother in law. Once lied to or cheated you will be an asshole for the rest of your relationship.

Much of that is not in play with Lee, simply because he does not know that there is anything other than us. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

These goals are close within my reach, and things look good at the moment. So far, we are on a good path. Time and patience will tell. If he is not what I want, and I do turn him back to the wild, I have still learned and gained much. I will make sure that he as well, benefits by getting him through that difficult period of adjustment from fledgling to young adult.

There are many nuances to training and understanding raptors. Most of which after 52 years I do not even consider any more. If you need further thoughts concerning Lee and raptors feel free to ask.