Operation Falcon?

[Gloria Carr]

Now that I have your attention...

My sister is with the Marines in Iraq, and one of the guys stationed with
her bought a shot-up (I assume, it can't fly and is apparently blind in one
eye) falcon of some sort from one of the local shop owners. They're feeding
it all kinds of crap, cooked hamburger meat, cheese, and probably anything
else they happen to be eating at the time. I'm not a falconer, but I do have
some experience with birds of prey (I volunteered for four years with my
zoo's birds of prey show program and most recently interned with the
Hawaiian Endangered Bird Conservation Program with the crows) so naturally
that just made me cringe a little inside.

I'm half a world away and not sure what, if anything, to do. I know there's
no way in hell that bird could come to the US, (if it were possible I would
probably offer to buy it and my sister could bring it back with her in 14
months, but with the law the way it is I don't think that's a good idea). My
sister apparently picked up enough from me to know that the bird isn't going
to live long on that diet, but it isn't like we could have frozen quail or
frozen rodents shipped out, they would probably be all thawed and rotted. I
know there's probably places in Kuwait that they could order from, but still
there's the shipment problem... My sister suggested raw chicken, which I
suppose is the best that can be done. I told her to try to get some chicken
liver and hearts as well.

I suppose what I want to do is send them a book to educate the current owner
about proper care of a bird of prey, since I think most of the problem is
that they just don't know what to do. Also a vitamin supplement, Vitahawk
maybe? Any other suggestions would be much appreciated!

Gloria

[f***@gmail.com]

Gloria, there's no need to say things falconers value on the level of
s_3_x to get our attention. There's few enough of us here.

As to your question. Shipping over a jar of Vitahawk is a great idea.
However, a raptor still needs feather and bone in its diet to stay
healthy. If possible the soldier should try to trap some small birds
and pigeons. Do not feed the head, crop or stomach to the falcon but
everything else is legit. Once a week should be ok.

Trapping small birds can be done with a secured-down mousetrap (placed
where birds congregate) . Bait with birdseed, crumbs, or anything else
small birds will eat. A more sure solution would be using the type of
trap that the animal enters and the door closes.

An alternate that will keep the raptor's stomach clean(er), but will
not give the calcium supplement provided by birds, is to feed the bird
rangle. Rangle is small stones and they can be stuck to or inserted in
the food. A large (female pere to gyr sized) raptor would take things
the size of a pea. For a small kestrel sized raptor something like
large sand grains maybe 2-3mm. Don't do this more often than once
every six weeks, it's harder on the bird's stomach. There's really no
substitute for fur & feathers.

Good luck and do follow up on this. I'd love to hear about it.
-andrea-

[Gloria Carr]

Post by f***@gmail.com
Gloria, there's no need to say things falconers value on the level of
s_3_x to get our attention. There's few enough of us here.
As to your question. Shipping over a jar of Vitahawk is a great idea.
However, a raptor still needs feather and bone in its diet to stay
healthy. If possible the soldier should try to trap some small birds
and pigeons. Do not feed the head, crop or stomach to the falcon but
everything else is legit. Once a week should be ok.
Trapping small birds can be done with a secured-down mousetrap (placed
where birds congregate) . Bait with birdseed, crumbs, or anything else
small birds will eat. A more sure solution would be using the type of
trap that the animal enters and the door closes.
An alternate that will keep the raptor's stomach clean(er), but will
not give the calcium supplement provided by birds, is to feed the bird
rangle. Rangle is small stones and they can be stuck to or inserted in
the food. A large (female pere to gyr sized) raptor would take things
the size of a pea. For a small kestrel sized raptor something like
large sand grains maybe 2-3mm. Don't do this more often than once
every six weeks, it's harder on the bird's stomach. There's really no
substitute for fur & feathers.
Good luck and do follow up on this. I'd love to hear about it.
-andrea-

Sorry, I was making a bit of a joke, given the current operations going on
over there. It's either laugh or cry that my little sister is over there.
I'm not always known for my good taste.

I'm aware of the roughage problem, however I don't think it's a good idea to
have someone completely inexperienced with birds to force-feed rangle. That
just somehow sounds very scary to me. Once Sis sends me her new email I'll
find out if trapping something is possible, it may not be given their
current time-constraints or willingness on the part of the owner. Would a
couple whole pre-killed mice or something like a gerbil do instead? Not
'wild caught', of course, God knows if it ate poison, but maybe something
purchased from a pet store or animal-seller (or whatever they have over
there). The bird's eating human-food, no doubt it would eat anything else
offered.

I'm thinking about sending over a basic falconry or bird of prey care book,
any suggested titles? There's a giant independent book store here that has
an amazingly good falconry book section. Perhaps Modern Falconry by Frank
Beebe?

Something just occurred to me, would oyster-shell work instead of rangle? We
fed it to the crows in Hawaii as part of their daily mineral supplement
(which also included bonemeal and calcium carbonate), but they were also
getting whole rodents so I have no idea if helped clean out their crops as
well. It might be easier to sprinkle the oystershell on to the raw chicken a
couple times a week (the crows got it every day), than force rangle down
it's throat.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Gloria

[f***@gmail.com]

That's all right; my reply wasn't exactly the most caring. A few
months back at a coffehouse, the spouse and I ran into a group of
soldiers who were going to be shipped out there in a few weeks. They
were typical army guys and gals, with that cop/military humor, but we
could sense the tension. We told them to make sure they came back... I
can't imagine what it would be like to have your sister over there.
She better come back too.

Rangle doesn't have to be force-fed; like I said just stick it to or in
the meat. Sand and dirt sticks to downed prey in a natural diet
anyway. But if there's someplace that sells feeder mice, that would do
just fine, especially for a smaller falcon. The bird having been
around humans this long will probably not be a picky eater. Oyster
shell might very well be good as calcium but may be too soft... don't
know, really. I don't know of anyone who's tried it, and hopefully
someone is still around in this group to say yea or nay.

To my shame I haven't read "Modern Falconry" myself. If you can give
it a skim to see what it says something adequate about feeding, by all
means snap it up. Nick Fox's "Understanding the Bird of Prey" is a
good book, but it's quite large (quarto size, and 1.5" thick) and
expensive (at least $50).
-andrea-

[Gloria Carr]

Post by f***@gmail.com
That's all right; my reply wasn't exactly the most caring. A few
months back at a coffehouse, the spouse and I ran into a group of
soldiers who were going to be shipped out there in a few weeks. They
were typical army guys and gals, with that cop/military humor, but we
could sense the tension. We told them to make sure they came back... I
can't imagine what it would be like to have your sister over there.
She better come back too.
Rangle doesn't have to be force-fed; like I said just stick it to or in
the meat. Sand and dirt sticks to downed prey in a natural diet
anyway. But if there's someplace that sells feeder mice, that would do
just fine, especially for a smaller falcon. The bird having been
around humans this long will probably not be a picky eater. Oyster
shell might very well be good as calcium but may be too soft... don't
know, really. I don't know of anyone who's tried it, and hopefully
someone is still around in this group to say yea or nay.
To my shame I haven't read "Modern Falconry" myself. If you can give
it a skim to see what it says something adequate about feeding, by all
means snap it up. Nick Fox's "Understanding the Bird of Prey" is a
good book, but it's quite large (quarto size, and 1.5" thick) and
expensive (at least $50).
-andrea-

Heh, she's doing computers so it's not too bad, but they do send the 'Geek
Corp' out on convoys to give them a break every once in a while. Given that
the convoys are attacked just about every time they go out that should give
you an idea about her work-load.

LOL, I have Understanding Birds of Prey, and I actually used to haul it
around everywhere with me because of the cute fledging falcons. It's a good
book, both if you want to know how to care for a raptor, and if you want to
kill someone. It's a bit heavy! Shipping would be a bitch, and would I have
to give up my copy since I can't afford to buy another one.

I thought I had Modern Falconry, but it turns out that the Beebe book I have
is A Falconry Manual. It's been awhile since I took a good look at my
library! Not a bad book, but most of it is about the different N. American
species and the best ways to catch and train them, not real useful when
you're in Iraq and already have a bird. (especially one that is apparently
dog-tame, according to my sister. Either it is really that tame, or it's
sick, but there's no way for me to know.) If I can I'll try to get to the
bookstore next week and see what they have. I think I want a book that's
more about care and management, than about training a falconry bird (real
useful with a blind and flightless bird! Manning is just about all you can
do), also I'm not totally certain that I want to put Ideas in anyone's heads
over there. Something that at least covers some of the latest laws would
also be good.

Sis promised me photos, if she sends me some I'll post them so we can figure
out what kind of hawk it is. She thinks it's a falcon, and it's brown, but
that's all she's said. I'm not totally sure that she's right as to it being
a falcon, though! (it would kinda surprise me if it wasn't, given that
falconers in that area of the world typically use falcons, and not other
birds, but on the other hand someone might have seen an opportunity to get
rid of a bird that was unsellable in many different ways. The seller
probably laughed all the way to the bank about the idiots that bought a
half-blind and flightless hawk!)

I'll sugest the rangle on the food, and see about getting oystershell since
it probably can't hurt even if its too soft to clean the crop. The bird
probably needs the extra calcuim any ways if it hasn't been getting the
proper diet.

In the meantime it's off to Northwoods Limited for me.

Gloria

[f***@gmail.com]

I forgot to mention, raw chicken would be fine, especially the head and
neck (ideally with feathers) would give sufficient casting stuff, and
that should be pretty easy to find. Just email what we've discussed to
get them started on obtaining a decent diet. The sooner the better!!!
If you want to mail something, maybe photocopy the relevant pages from
Fox on food and rangle (the latter's around page 220). Fox also talks
about a molting diet for their birds in Saudi, but quail could be
harder to find than chicken.

I look forward to seeing the pictures. If they could have something
that indicates size that would certainly be an aid to IDing it. A
brown falcon could mean any first-year bird. Dark eyes (or a barely
discernible iris) and a short, almost parrot like beak, would be prime
indicators of a falcon, as well as sickle-shaped wings.

But don't worry about the seller laughing, it probably cost your
soldier all of ten bucks, if that much.
-andrea-

[f***@gmail.com]

One more thing I completely forgot until that wonderful spouse of mine
reminded me: clean undyed wool, or first aid cotton if desperate.
There's your casting material. Just a pinch with each meal (for some
reason I intuit this is a small falcon, maybe a kestrel)...

When I said iris in the last message, I meant pupil.

[Gloria Carr]

Post by f***@gmail.com
One more thing I completely forgot until that wonderful spouse of mine
reminded me: clean undyed wool, or first aid cotton if desperate.
There's your casting material. Just a pinch with each meal (for some
reason I intuit this is a small falcon, maybe a kestrel)...
When I said iris in the last message, I meant pupil.

Good idea with the wool, it's a type of hair after all. Sis said that it was
pretty decent sized, but didn't say exactly how big it is. She held and pet
it, and if it was small I think she would have described it as being about
'Wesley's' size (my black-capped conure). Right now I'm waiting for her to
email me, the little brat hasn't yet.

To get things going I'm going to mail the Vitahawk and some xeroxed copies
of some of the sections from my books (I also have Medical Management of
Birds of Prey, and which IIRC also has some sections on diet, and what to
feed for what species, etc.).

Long term I don't know what to do, and it's up to the owner, really. I did
suggest contacting the Air Force since they have a falcon as their mascot,
but Sis just laughed at me. The usual Marine Ego at work, I think.

Gloria

[f***@gmail.com]

I posted your question to another list and someone told me there are
falcon clinics in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That's a resource at the least,
and possibly where the bird can go at the end of the soldier's tour of
duty.

Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/eng/pages/aboutus/org/adfh.html
map: real close to the airport!
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/eng/pages/aboutus/adfhmap.html

Dubai Falcon Hospital
00 971 4 337 7576
tom -dot- bailey -at- dfh -dot- ae
(obfuscated to prevent spambots; reassemble to use)

And if your sister or the marine has internet access, this thread can
be seen at:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.sport.falconry/

-andrea-

[Gloria Carr]

Post by f***@gmail.com
I posted your question to another list and someone told me there are
falcon clinics in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That's a resource at the least,
and possibly where the bird can go at the end of the soldier's tour of
duty.
Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/eng/pages/aboutus/org/adfh.html
map: real close to the airport!
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/eng/pages/aboutus/adfhmap.html
Dubai Falcon Hospital
00 971 4 337 7576
tom -dot- bailey -at- dfh -dot- ae
(obfuscated to prevent spambots; reassemble to use)
And if your sister or the marine has internet access, this thread can
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.sport.falconry/
-andrea-

Thanks. I'll email him and my sister, who finally set up a new email
account. I'll send her the information too since she's the one with direct
contact with the bird. Right now my family has some issues going on, so I
don't know if she is able to deal with it, but hopefully this will help.

Gloria

[f***@gmail.com]

Gloria, I got the following message from Tom Bailey at the Dubai Falcon
Hospital. He has all sorts of good options and information here. I
would really recommend you contact him directly at the address I posted
previously.

Dear Andrea,

Thansk for the message.

On the diet front, I would not worry too much about wrangle at this
point in
time, sort out a good diet, which would as one person suggested would
be
meat with bone, rather than just meat. The chicken necks with feathers
is a
good idea - I presume they can get hold of whole pigeons or chickens
(ie
freshly killed with feathers) It would be best to remove the crop and
digestive tract as pigeons can transmitt trichomoniasis (frounce).

What kind of falcon is it? Could one of the army doctors look at the
eye -
or does the US army have vets looking after working dogs over there, in
which case is there a vet who could have a look at it?

Regarding what to do at the end of the marines service, if you want to
hand
the bird on to us at the hospital we would need to check with our
manager,
so you would need to be certain that it is possible to get the bird
from
Iraq to Dubai? I thoughthat there were renovating the zoo in Baghdad?
Perhaps this is another option?

Best wishes,

Tom Bailey