Kestrel In Training

[RobSkit2001]

hi all, i havnt realy made many posts on here last post i made was a good few months ago, iv trained and flown a bengal eagle owl and was gonna get a fhh but iv taken a slightly different path and found myself with a female kes wich iv had for just over a month now, she was 15 months old and very nervous when i got her and wanted nothing to do with me but with some gental persuasion iv got her feeding and the fist, stepping up and fliing short distances over the last month or so and had her first free flight today. for a reletive newcomer im quite chuffed with myself to bring her on so well :supz:.

she is responding at just under 8 ounces, will get some pics up soon

rob

[Gozzhawk]

well done .
what are your plans for the bird, hunt ?? lure ??

[Sean D]

Nice one. gte some pics up, are you going to fly her to the lure as they can be quite spectacular and you can teach them to hover

[RobSkit2001]

well id realy like to try to hunt with her, oh and i forgot to mention that she has taken a live japanese quail from the fist in the garden :) wot are ppl views on quarry size with kessies, would you say they could take anything much bigger than a quail?

cheers for the replys

rob

[Daave77]

well id realy like to try to hunt with her, oh and i forgot to mention that she has taken a live japanese quail from the fist in the garden :) wot are ppl views on quarry size with kessies, would you say they could take anything much bigger than a quail?

cheers for the replys

rob

rethink that reply mate - what you've stated is illegal

[Miliscer]

Our FEK is great at catching dragon flies :cool:

Mike

[Sean D]

rethink that reply mate - what you've stated is illegal
But it was obviously an accident;-)

[RobSkit2001]

wow i was completely unaware that was elegal, i opologise if if offended anyone.

rob

[Sean D]

well id realy like to try to hunt with her, oh and i forgot to mention that she has taken a live japanese quail from the fist in the garden :) wot are ppl views on quarry size with kessies, would you say they could take anything much bigger than a quail?

cheers for the replys

rob

There was someone on here taking baggie Magpies with a female, unfortunately she died before he really got her going

[Grey_Squirrel_Hawker]

well id realy like to try to hunt with her, oh and i forgot to mention that she has taken a live japanese quail from the fist in the garden :) wot are ppl views on quarry size with kessies, would you say they could take anything much bigger than a quail?

cheers for the replys

rob

i remeber reading a thread in which a kes was mentioned that was taking partridge waiting on and stooping them. but this is exceptional. sparrows, starlings, mice and insects are about the jist of it.

oh, and er... baggies are illegal....

[RyanP]

Has anyone tried making a kestrel hover over a hedge and then beating the hedge to flush small birds?

[Grey_Squirrel_Hawker]

Has anyone tried making a kestrel hover over a hedge and then beating the hedge to flush small birds?

its an idea.. a mate of mine had the same idea but he never had the chance to try it out. problem is getting the small birds to flush cleanly.

[RobSkit2001]

some ppl say they have effectivly hunted pigeon with kestrels, i have considered this as some permission i have is running alive with them but not sure if id wasnt to risk the birds safety

[RobSkit2001]

that is somthing i want to aim for next getting my female to hover, what are ppls views on the best way to achieve this

[Grey_Squirrel_Hawker]

some ppl say they have effectivly hunted pigeon with kestrels, i have considered this as some permission i have is running alive with them but not sure if id wasnt to risk the birds safety

id have to see it to belive it. pigeons are surprisingly powerful. they also have thick, loose fethering that a kestrels short toes would be unlikely to penetrate. most your likely to get is a couple of footfuls of feathers. pigeons have amoung the fastest reaction times of any animal (having evolved alongside the fastest living animal as their cheif predator), so getting near them with a kes would be the bggest challenge in its self.

[RobSkit2001]

my thoughts also, i mean i have kept homing pigeons and when you put your hand in there nest boxes to check chicks they can give a pretty nasty wing slap and i think that slap could do some damage to a kessie

[Grey_Squirrel_Hawker]

that is somthing i want to aim for next getting my female to hover, what are ppls views on the best way to achieve this

using a lure is the easiest way, presenting a lure then hiding it when the bird is coming, she will hover breifly, then present the lure on the ground. she will get the hang of it quickly.
ive been training a female kes for demos past few months and ive been told not to use a lure ( :rolleyes: ) and ive over come this by standing with the bird facing into a stiff breeze, showing her a small peice of food in my free hand, throwing her directly up and hiding the food, as soon as she hovers, present the food in the glove. she has responded very well to this, and now with a good breeze will hover for a minute or so at a time.

[RyanP]

Has anyone tried making a kestrel hover over a hedge and then beating the hedge to flush small birds?

Maybe someone could try it with an american kestrel i've heard they are a bit more predatory than the european ones

[Sean D]

that is somthing i want to aim for next getting my female to hover, what are ppls views on the best way to achieve this

This is a bit difficult to explain but here goes, the bird needs making to the lure and should get used to taking it above you, once she is doing this confidently as she make a pass and expect the lure, pause for a second, at this point she should pull up and take the lure, then over a period of time you need to lengthen the time of the pause, I must point out I have not done this but this is how it was explained to me by someone that has and I saw this bird hovering above her.

[RobSkit2001]

well some exellent advice for me to be thinking on, she seems to be a very quick leaner so asl long as i can keep up with her i think she wil come along luvly and become either a very goo small quarry bird or a good lure bird.
will keep everyone posted and will try and get some pics up tommorrow

rob

[SSFalconry]

If you can beleive once I trained a kestrel to the kite and he was brilliant.He manage to reach really high pitches.It's a shame that I don't have a vidoe of this.

If you watch on the youtube "kestrel flying to lure and hovering" that will be me with a kestrel while training it.With kestrels if you put time in you can have lots of fun.

[Daave77]

Just because euro kessies don't tend to make decent hunters there will be hardly any out there that won't take a very easy bird right by them, I don't mean baggies which are illegal over here Rob and sure you've never used one mate! ;-)
I reckon farm buildings and stealth are the best way forward, with a half fit bird and persistence and a slow rising sparrow by a dust bath and sooner or later you'll bag something.
Don't expect to catch Pigeons or Partridge mate, be realistic and set your sights on the achieveable, they are clever birds so don't be put off if initial attempts fail, they won't refuse a sitter on a short slip, you just have to have patience finding it!

Best of luck.

[Gozzhawk]

I asked on a few threads if anyone in UK was actually hunting a kestrel , ak or euro.
Never seen a reply yet.
It has been a dream of mine for years
As for hovering I believe some birds more prone to it and is difficult anyway.

as for waiting on ..........anything in the area sees a free lunch

[RobSkit2001]

yep well there is an area on a permision of mine where i always see magpies sitting on hay bales are these worth trying a slip with the kessie

rob

[Daave77]

yep well there is an area on a permision of mine where i always see magpies sitting on hay bales are these worth trying a slip with the kessie

rob

Always worth a try and if it chases, catches and you get me footage i'll give you £20 mate! I'd set your sights on the sparrows or similar to have more success.

[RobSkit2001]

well im gonna do my best to give her a slip but whatever she catches if anything im gonna enjoy flying her :)

[Daave77]

well im gonna do my best to give her a slip but whatever she catches if anything im gonna enjoy flying her :)

Good on you and best of luck - keep us posted on this thread too!

[btcombat]

rethink that reply mate - what you've stated is illegal


I am sorry what is illegal i did'ent catch what is illegal

[Daave77]

I am sorry what is illegal i did'ent catch what is illegal

Feeding Live quarry to birds is illegal in the UK.

[btcombat]

Feeding Live quarry to birds is illegal in the UK.

Way is that, what about if you bought it from a breeder that the only purpose is for eating .


Fab

[Arie291]

I also train Kestrel, not european Kestrel but Moluccan Kestrel. I've trained her for 1 week, now she can Flying To The Fist. Yesterday my father told me that my Kestrel can catch a grasshopper and eat it. Usually I trained her to hunt a sparrow, but I think grasshopper is also Kestrel's main diet so I think it's OK.

[Daave77]

Way is that, what about if you bought it from a breeder that the only purpose is for eating .


Fab

It's the law in this country, it must be dead regardless of where it came from.

[Boustanji]

good job mate

iv just started with a african kestrel,amazing bird iv got here eating form the hand yesterday and ive had here for 2 days but she was parent reared and by people so a bit of both vant ome up with the right word.ill `post soem pictures.

have a good day.

[Gozzhawk]

keep us up to date guys

would love to hear about kestrels HUNTING.

[FlameHairedFalconer]

Has anyone tried making a kestrel hover over a hedge and then beating the hedge to flush small birds?


A few years ago I had a male kestrel that I flew for hedge hunting. He wouldnt hover but go up above the hedges and wait on until I flushed something. I had some great flights with him at 'various' but sadly he never connected. Unfortunately my partners harris hawk managed to kill him before he realised his potential.

I'd do it again, it was great fun, they are so much more than lure birds or 'pets'. The only problem now would be getting the necessary quarry licences, they were not required for LBJs way back when...

[btcombat]

It's the law in this country, it must be dead regardless of where it came from.

Ho i see so what do you guys use to train your bird .
You can't even give a baggie that makes it even harder .

Thanks for the info
Fab

[Daave77]

Ho i see so what do you guys use to train your bird .
You can't even give a baggie that makes it even harder .

Thanks for the info
Fab

That'll be why no one on here (as far as we know), takes quarry with a Euro Kessie in the UK. i'm sure you could take the odd thing with one if enough work is put into it, but other birds are far simplier to enter so people concentrate on them.

[btcombat]

That'll be why no one on here (as far as we know), takes quarry with a Euro Kessie in the UK. i'm sure you could take the odd thing with one if enough work is put into it, but other birds are far simplier to enter so people concentrate on them.

Pete

Are Euro kestrel smaller then the American Kestrel.

Fab

[Daave77]

Pete

Are Euro kestrel smaller then the American Kestrel.

Fab

No bigger but lack the tenacity in their trained state.

[RobSkit2001]

hi guys just to update had my kes out on some land iv permission on free flying for the first time today and every thing went absilutly perfect, im realy pleased with her.. im just starting to introduce the lure to her and she seems to be showing willin so every thing seems to be going good:supz:

sorry i havnt got any pictures up yet my camara is playing up but as soon as i have it working ill get some up

rob