Kestrels

[Falcon Boy]

Well i am probably going to fly an American Kestrel this season. Anyone fly a kestrel? [euro or american]

[Matt]

i have had euro kestrels male and female and i have to say that they are my faverate bird. my partner trained one as her first bird . she had him so tame that she could wash him by hand and dry him with a hair dryer. bear in mined this was a p/r bird and as wild as any when i bought him for her. he became a small town selebraty in our village as we had a pub at the time and people would come miles to see the little bird with a kestrel on her sholder while she pulled pints. she also would fly him the length of the bar on request . manny people still ask about there double act . but unfortunatly the little bird went just a bit to low one night and never came up even after treatment. it broke her hart and now will not even think of having another bird.

[Falcon Boy]

Sorry to hear about the loss :(

[Matt]

it was a long time ago now m8 water under the bridge. will you have to trap your bird / imprint it or will you buy one from a bnreeder? let me know m8 as the american kestrel is a real faverate with me.

[Falcon Boy]

As an apprentice in the US, i have to trap it, i hope to get a passage male. not many people breed them over here [ I know of one breeder thats it] becuase they are so incredibly common.

[Kornie]

can an apprentice have two birds?

[Falcon Boy]

No we can only have one in our possestion, and a maximum of two birds per year [example, i can trap a bird, and if it doesnt turn out well and trapping season is still open i can release it then trap another.]

[Matt]

good luck trapping . what you hoping to catch with your bird? i fancy sparrow bashing my self. keep me updated m8 im hoping i can learn a bit more about am kestrels from you.

[Falcon Boy]

yes i was planning sparrows as well. After much thought though, and since my school requirements have recently increased [long story] i have decided to go with another redtailed hawk. I decided that with me not being home all day or atleast half a day, a kestrel was going to be to risky.

[SkyRider]

Can anyone give me sizes and materials used for jesses/anklets. I know they have to be smaller, but I'm not sure what to use. I was thinking nylon strings or something for jesses.

[Falcon Boy]

I used leather for everything :roll: Jesses were like 4inches, i dont remember how big the anklets were.

[Gozzhawk]

read the couple,of first posts, ****** die yourself.... flyin a bird in a bar ... you disrespect not only the bird, yourself , but anyone who ACTUALLY CARES FOR RAPTORS

[Falcon Boy]

wow, thought you were talkin to me there for a sec :roll:

[IAmTheWeasel]

Yea, Me too!!! I had to go back and read the previous posts to be sure!!!!! I was thinking....."wow....guess he doesn't like leather huh?"

[SkyRider]

Hahaha! Thought that was a personal attack on me too! Whew, okay, now that I feel okay about what I posted... :D

[Raptor Reunited]

I fly my Euro Kestrel to the lure and he is fantastic to watch at displays, even though he is 4 months old he looks like his been doing it for years.

[Hercocan]

hello,who know someone that sale american kestrel? thank you

[Bird_Dog]

I trapped my first kestrel with a zebra finch in a BC. I caught two shrikes before finally snagging a nice female kestrel. After all these years as a falconer I find it odd that kestrels are designated as apprentice birds. The only reason must be that they are so common. I seen some falconers throw their kestrels like a dart at sparrows. Flying a kestrel is good experience before moving to larger falcons (maybe we should debate it).

-- BIRD_DOG