prairie falcon.

[Mark Collins]

Hi , heres me prairie falcon, 2nd season, cheers , mark.

[Hound]

very nice

[Mark Collins]

very nice

Hi hound , got some better pics, will post them on later , cheers, mark.

[Jack]

I have watched the flight of many different species of faclon, and the only 2 that really impressed me was a big female Saker and an American Prairie falcon. The prairie falcon, actually a couple of them, were the best flyers and the hardest hitting falcons I had ever witnessed. The Saker was awsome, but not as awsome as the Prairie falcons.

Jack

[Mark Collins]

Pictures Of Prairies , Tiercel And Falcon.

[Matthew Patching]

I love praries, once the attitude problems have been dealt with!

[Barbary Boy]

Pictures Of Prairies , Tiercel And Falcon.

the falcon looks a good size? do you know what weight she was? and who bred her?

[Mark Collins]

the falcon looks a good size? do you know what weight she was? and who bred her?

Hi barbary boy , she flys at 1.10, bred by paul burns in stirling , scotland , last years bird, drove to scotland and back last year in a day , i am on the southcoast , flown 3 tiercels , determined to fly a falcon, had about 30 crows all told one gull , lent to seagull basher part season last year as i had a slipped disc operation , got her back when my black,gyr,peregrine was killed on a crow on the road, not flown this year . parent reared bird , but i am trying to turn her as she displays, and has made a scrape, hoping she will lay this year, cheers, mark.

[Matthew Patching]

Hi barbary boy , she flys at 1.10, bred by paul burns in stirling , scotland , last years bird, drove to scotland and back last year in a day , i am on the southcoast , flown 3 tiercels , determined to fly a falcon, had about 30 crows all told one gull , lent to seagull basher part season last year as i had a slipped disc operation , got her back when my black,gyr,peregrine was killed on a crow on the road, not flown this year . parent reared bird , but i am trying to turn her as she displays, and has made a scrape, hoping she will lay this year, cheers, mark.

Had a freind turn a prarie, a few years ago. she stood solid, and was a definate parent reared bird! praries are funny like this, they hate you (moreso the hood) to start and then become supremly bonded to there trainer.

[CJTaylor]

Real attractive birds mark but high maintenance, i once flew one for a friend to give him a [ brake] with little success,although some years ago i had a real good pere/prairie, she was very agresive but had to be watched as like many of this particular hybrid,she could wander. cheers. Colin

[KevGem1]

Real attractive birds mark but high maintenance, i once flew one for a friend to give him a [ brake] with little success,although some years ago i had a real good pere/prairie, she was very agresive but had to be watched as like many of this particular hybrid,she could wander. cheers. Colin

hi collin,have to agree with you there iam flying a 06 (f)pere/prairie flying weight 1lb10oz and iam finding it difficult to keep her obedience.she does like to acquire a secondry target when putting her crow down to cover.usually ending in a track down KEV. :roll:

[Mansars]

Had a freind turn a prarie, a few years ago. she stood solid, and was a definate parent reared bird! praries are funny like this, they hate you (moreso the hood) to start and then become supremly bonded to there trainer.

Hiya Matt,

Just a quiclk question, how did you over come the hooding problems of the Prairies?

As I have just got a pere/prairie on loan and shes a real pain to hood at the moment.

Cheers

Col

[CJTaylor]

Kev, every one i know who has put any time and effort into these attractive hybrids has found the same thing mate, they do breed very [typy] meaning they are all very similar in appearance and attitude, another point worth a mention, its quite common to loose mew various falcons, hybrids together once feed up through the moult, but be very carefull with these hyrids as theyre aggresive manner can lead to them attacking other birds, and killing them,this ive also sufferd. cheers Colin.

[B C]

Hiya Matt,

Just a quiclk question, how did you over come the hooding problems of the Prairies?

As I have just got a pere/prairie on loan and shes a real pain to hood at the moment.

Cheers

Col

Col

I've flown Prairies and Pere x Prairies and agree they can be tricky to hood at first. However, in all cases of difficult birds to hood, I've turned it around as follows:

If you've got a bird that bates when you try and hood her, let her bate briefly from the fist and immediately as she regains the fist (she will probably be breathing hard and trying to re-catch her breath) this is the time to simply pop the hood on and close the side of the hood that's on the same side as your ungloved hand. You do this by quickly and carefully using your thumb and forefinger to hold the button whilst at the same time sliding the hood inwards with your index finger.
If you're not used to this - practice first - without the bird.
The hood should now be half-closed on the birds head and you can close the near side by using your teeth whilst still holding the opposite side with your ungloved hand.
Be sure however that it's a comfortable hood. Your'e trying to achieve the bird not being afraid of the hood and she will learn that it is actually something that gives her comfort, leads to feeding, flying and hunting - but only if you are careful. Using this method - all of the birds that I've flown have become pretty good to hood eventually, but I must also add that it's much better to do a good job at the outset than try and correct faults that have arisen.

Good luck
B C

[Mark Collins]

Hi , nice to see there are other prairie enthusiasts out there ,colin [seagull basher ] has done amazingly well with his prairie , hes a top block and good falconer, long may he continue knocking them gulls down, they are high maintenance but then so are parent reared shortwings, i am very hopefull in turning mine around for insemination , they can lay in there first year mine is 2 next season , i am sure its just a matter of time, shes also next to a imprint peregrine and they start each other off, cheers , mark.

[Hound]

Hi , nice to see there are other prairie enthusiasts out there ,colin [seagull basher ] has done amazingly well with his prairie , hes a top block and good falconer, long may he continue knocking them gulls down, they are high maintenance but then so are parent reared shortwings, i am very hopefull in turning mine around for insemination , they can lay in there first year mine is 2 next season , i am sure its just a matter of time, shes also next to a imprint peregrine and they start each other off, cheers , mark.

you aint joking they are high maintenance birds. but what a bird they are. my gyr/praire puts in some very good catches

[Matthew Patching]

Hiya Matt,

Just a quiclk question, how did you over come the hooding problems of the Prairies?

As I have just got a pere/prairie on loan and shes a real pain to hood at the moment.

Cheers

Col

Be patient, but if she throws a fit and wont sit on the fist just raise your left leg balance her on it and slip the hood over while she is like this, then set about righting her on the fist.

If you let them get away with stuff a couple of times then you will have a bird that thinks it can do it all the time.

One thing that I did find out dont call other birds with in earshot, as they think you are calling them and when they hit the end of the leash and realise that they cant go any further they will get upset with you the next time they see you!

[Mark Collins]

Hi , prairie falcons , and crow , gull hawks , that is the parent reared ones i feel all benifit from being flown just once a day , its so easy to multifly them , that is fly them twice or even three times , i prefure to take my time and look for a good setup for the bird i am flying on the day , if shes young and inexperienced , i look for a close slip, if its a bird thats already had a few i look for a more challenging flight , but very rarely would i fly a bird twice , although some birds you can get away with , but personaly if i find a good setup and she,he misses i call them back into a lure or if its a young falcon a dead crow,gull, if your not carefull you can end up with a bird that jumps in the car and walks off the cadge which is a pain by itself but if you have other birds in the car could turn out to be dangerous, i once spoke to a guy who was flying his first gyr,peregrine , at crows , he said to me , hes a real pain on the cadge jumping off and fidgiting when hooded, i have flown about 6 gyr,peregrines , in fact my best ever crow,gullhawk was a g,p, anyway i couldnt understand this as normally they are really placid , then he explained to me how he slipped him at crows twice, picked him up of the lure with a chicks leg , then stooped him , then kited him , jessus its a wonder he ever came back to him at all, one good flight if they try hard reward them and try again , this is my policy anyway , its worked for me over the years , also it means as soon as you swing the lure its feed time , you get loyalty, which is a big plus in crow,gull hawking, sorry to go on once i get started, cheers , mark.

[KevGem1]

Kev, every one i know who has put any time and effort into these attractive hybrids has found the same thing mate, they do breed very [typy] meaning they are all very similar in appearance and attitude, another point worth a mention, its quite common to loose mew various falcons, hybrids together once feed up through the moult, but be very carefull with these hyrids as theyre aggresive manner can lead to them attacking other birds, and killing them,this ive also sufferd. cheers Colin.

hi colin,could you please explain what you mean by (its quite common to loose mew various falcons,hybrids together once fed up through the moult) as i am not quite sure what you mean cheers KEV.

[Hacker]

I`d say he means to freeloft them together at fat weight

[SeagulBasher]

hey up mark almost forgot heres afew of your female prairie on some crows i caught with her
colin

[CJTaylor]

hi colin,could you please explain what you mean by (its quite common to loose mew various falcons,hybrids together once fed up through the moult) as i am not quite sure what you mean cheers KEV.

Kev quite a few lads who have maybe 2 or 3 falcons of various parentage loose mew together off season providing there isnt a vast size diff, that is birds are fed up fat whilst on their , blocks, then if space allows,for instance i have quite a large open sided aviary i will let them loose to moult together with no probs, of course these birds will be familiar with each other prior,but the nature of prairies or their hydrids makes this a non starter as they are more likely than other hybrids to cause fighting.

[Mark Collins]

hey up mark almost forgot heres atew of your female prairie on some crows i caught with her
colin

Hi , colin good to see those pictures , seems a long time ago , shes back in her chamber as we speak very vocal and goes into her nest ledge ,when i go into her , looking good for next year, cheers , mark.

[AK Gavin]

Hi , heres me prairie falcon, 2nd season, cheers , mark.

nice bird mate has it caught anything else yet???
reguards ak gav

[Mark Collins]

Hi ak gavin , she was flown all last season , virtualy every day she was very checky in the early days pigeon mad , if she got her foot to one she would in a lot of cases fly it down and kill it as it baled out into cover , it drove me mad it was only safe to slip her at crows gulls if there wasnt any pigeons around otherwise thats what she would chase , i had a back operation and lent her to seagull basher [colin] he flew her at crows and all told she killed about 30 and a single gull , but she also killed about 15 pigeons , they are very effecient falcons but for me check was a serious problem , didnt fly here this season shes been out on the lawn with the others , but is now back in the pen as i will try to inseminate her this coming season, cheers, mark.

[Berkut]

Hi ak gavin , she was flown all last season , virtualy every day she was very checky in the early days pigeon mad , if she got her foot to one she would in a lot of cases fly it down and kill it as it baled out into cover , it drove me mad it was only safe to slip her at crows gulls if there wasnt any pigeons around otherwise thats what she would chase , i had a back operation and lent her to seagull basher [colin] he flew her at crows and all told she killed about 30 and a single gull , but she also killed about 15 pigeons , they are very effecient falcons but for me check was a serious problem , didnt fly here this season shes been out on the lawn with the others , but is now back in the pen as i will try to inseminate her this coming season, cheers, mark.

Mark,
A lovely looking falcon with a good set of feet.

[Mark Collins]

Hi neil , thanks , they really are cracking falcons , hows it going i no you lost a real good gull hawk this year , terrible shame , are you still flying gulls , cheers , mark.

[KevGem1]

hi colin,thanks for that i moulted my last falcon out on the block and put her out in the garden every day,it seemed to work out ok she moulted out really well.that was a pere/saker hope my pere/prairie stays calm enough to do the same ? i also have a nine year old (f) harris that is free lofted all year round and i put her out in the garden every day and she always moults out very well.KEV