May have a screamer on my hands

[Sean]

When i go out to my back garden, my harris usually starts screaming,for short amounts of times, but often, so long as he can hear me. he is silent in his box, and he is silent when flying him. but just screams when im around in the garden. he also screams when im not about, but not much, maybe 3 or 4 times a day.(probually cos he can hear a neighbour). could this get worse? or will it die down when hes got his first kill?
thanks

[Matt]

i would think it will pas with loads of kills m8 .. im blown away by all this talk of screaming harris this year iv never had a problem with it . whats changed with things thee days . im sure its just a fase sean mate . maybe hes bored is he free lofted now you have him under controll ?

[MickeyDredd]

i would think it will pas with loads of kills m8 .. im blown away by all this talk of screaming harris this year iv never had a problem with it . whats changed with things thee days .

You are hearing more this year simply because you are on this forum, previously how many (newbie) falconers would you converse with?

I mention newbies because they appear to be the only austringers posting about harrises making a noise - coincidence? i think not!

Also they are all posting about their hawk screaming whereas i bet most of them are calling rather than screaming which is a different thing altogether, and is both down to the training methods employed and the fact that they had not realised that young harris hawks are vocal.

[Darren]

Is it a full blown SCREAM or is he just chirping away to you.
Has someone comented on his SCREAM when your not there ?

My male will give out a couple of calls when he see's me in the back garden but he doesnt make a sound if I am in the kitchen & he can only hear me but not see me.

[DeathFromAbove]

I wouldn't worry too much about it Sean, Harris's by nature are social vocal birds, my harris calls at me when i go to her each morning due to excitement about going out and getting fed. he may be a partial food imprint with you buddy. as long as he's quiet out in the field and the neighbours aren't complaining about the noise then go with it, it should die down when he gets a few kills under his wing and realises that he can provide for himself too. hope this helps.

[Kanati]

i have a male harris that can be a bit of a screamer when at home. Once the voice breaks, it gets less and is not so harsh on the ears! Also a good spell of regular hunting (and actually catching things) will help, along with keeping him well fed when not being hunted. I found that a kill and big reward followed by a day of fasting and not seeing you at all, work quite well. You need to try and do this solid for maybe a week, maybe longer, but I found it help a lot. This seems to help them swtich on to the fact that they should not shout at you for food. The times they get to see you are the times you are taking them to get their own food, so why bother calling for it...

[Tim Laycock]

If you have fed the hawk at home then this is the answer to your problem
Juvenile harris hawks should not be fed in or around the aviary or mews where they are to live during training.

If you have fed the hawk at home or in its living quaters it will expect more of the same and in turn it will scream at you!

If you feed only in the field from the off and have good technique in all other respects the hawk will be silent.

[Sean]

Hi guys,
the bird is screaming the odd time when im not there(my mum says shes heard him a few times, but not enough to be annoyed by. He isntfreelofted yet, but by teh weekend he will. I only fed him around the mews the first few days

[Sparrow Hawker]

I'd agree with what Blackbird says. I tend to use a food chute so the bird doesn't associate me with food everytime he sees me at home!

In the training field when the birds coming back to the fist well in training I tend to concentrate more on lure work and do very little calling back to the fist, that way I believe the bird starts to become more independant and starts working for its reward instead of seeing the falconer as the sole food provider!

Does he tend to be more vocal around the time you normally fly him?

Some calling is to be expected from a harris, my bird on the whole tends to remain very quiet. Harris's are clever and can become used to a routine, I tend to fly at a set time and just prior to this if he sees me he sometimes calls, I put this down to the excitement of knowing he's going out hunting!

All The Best,

HH

[Dave G]

hi sean you have a screamerrrrrrrr in the make will grow out of it in a few years mean while move out of your moms get a caravan stick it in the middle of an open field so your moms neighbours dont get a council noise order out on your mom for your new screamerrrrrrrrr :) pmsl

[Sean]

He justs seems vocal when i go to take him out, and in the mornings when i check on him. another thing im worried about is, when i do free loft him, he will be able to see into the kitchen and the backroom, will this make him scream more because he could see us?

[Tim Laycock]

Hi guys,
the bird is screaming the odd time when im not there(my mum says shes heard him a few times, but not enough to be annoyed by. He isntfreelofted yet, but by teh weekend he will. I only fed him around the mews the first few days

The first few days feeding a home is quite enough to alter behaviour.

Free lofting is unlikley to provide a solution as if the hawk screams at weather or in the mews it will almost certainly be the same when free lofted

If the screaming is minimal then it will recede over time providing the hawk is regularly taking game and fed in the field on fresh kills.

[Sean]

lets hope so :cry:

[Dave G]

mines free lofted sean a male harris the front of the weathering is closed off with tongue and groove top to bottom the only time my harris can see me is when i go through into the front of the loft through the double door i did have it open fronted when i first had him and all he did was climb the bars and snagged his feathers so boarded the front up and have no probs with noise

[Chunty]

I have got the same problem.
She is 22 weeks old and screams like mad when she hears or sees me.
Whether she is in her avairy or on the weathering lawn.
Quiet when in her night quarters.
Neighbours are being very good about it, I think

[Sean]

tonight he was vocal again, this time in his box aswell!, my neighbours r being very kind too. but thats only because theres a barking mad dog next door and it gets all the attention lol.

[Coedhirion]

tonight he was vocal again, this time in his box aswell!, my neighbours r being very kind too. but thats only because theres a barking mad dog next door and it gets all the attention lol.
That could be your problem. My Harris screams when the flippin dogs bark. when they shut up so dos he. He knows that the dogs yap when I'm around, so he screams for attention. when he sees me he shuts up..like the dogs.

[Sean]

he doesnt scream when the dogis barking tho :S, not even a fearfull scream. hes very steady when he hears it, but very loud when he hears me lol. last night, just to see, i opened the back door and slammedit again. he started screaming :(. hes bound to get a rabbit over the weekend, lets hope that settlesit

[Dave G]

hi sean dont worry he will grow out of it in a couple of years :) the harris is just a vocal bird ,and dont think your birds going to stop screaming because it catches a rabbit as this is not the case mate of mine had a female she would catch every day when taken out rabbit ,pheasant , but at home all day she screamed not only when she heard him she just screamed

[Sean]

:roll: oh dear