Loss of cofidence

[Martin Whitley]

a couple of weeks ago Morwenna (female Peregrine/Saker) hit a fence on a hard down wind stoop at a crow, battered herself a bit but was fine after a weeks rest except her confidence seems to have completely gone, she is now only pasing to the lure upwind, and will not make a downwind pass in even the gentalest of breezes, any one come across this before after an accident?,

[SparkleBee]

a couple of weeks ago Morwenna (female Peregrine/Saker) hit a fence on a hard down wind stoop at a crow, battered herself a bit but was fine after a weeks rest except her confidence seems to have completely gone, she is now only pasing to the lure upwind, and will not make a downwind pass in even the gentalest of breezes, any one come across this before after an accident?,

hi Martin,
Yes, i have come across this before. My 2007 peregrine x barbary tiercel hit the ground really hard after he mis timed a downwind stoop at the lure 12 weeks ago. He smashed his right coracoid and damaged his eye in the impact. After a 5 week rest period, he was able to fly very well, but he will not stoop downwind at all now. I think they are intelligent enough to realise how and why they crash, and avoid these situations thereafter. He is only flown at the lure, so its not a huge problem for me, but it does make him a much less exciting bird to fly. It may be more of a problem for a crow falcon as crows will learn to exploit this reluctance to stoop downwind to their advantage?