This is the difference of about 25 frames per second, as humans process a movie at a theater, to frames per second. The importance of raptor eyes as it relates to their ethology cannot be understated. And what it means is that a bird of prey is constantly aware of the next opportunity as well as the next threat.
As raptor trainers, this is one of the many features of working with birds of prey a challenge for the last three to four thousand years. Coupled with their relative lack of social reinforcers, this puts a raptor trainer in a position to carefully monitor their value and the reinforcers they have available to them when influencing the behavior of a bird of prey. Positive reinforcement training methods for just about any animal are based on the delivery of food among other types of reinforcers, and raptors in particular being extremely food motivated excel with a food based training methodology.
Food is not the only reinforcer and certainly not without its drawbacks. Space, comfort, water, exercise, visual stimulation, hunting opportunities, and enrichment are all among a comprehensive toolkit of effective reinforcement strategies.
Because the prey drive is so strong, there are times when the pairing of food with the trainer or the delivery of food itself can cause problems. There is also the added issue of satiation, which can be a particular problem when the bird of prey trainer is far from a travel carrier or mews and must somehow transport the bird back to safety on the glove in mutual comfort. This is where a properly fitted, well trained falconry hood comes into play.
A falconry hood can be a critical tool in preventing problems because it can be so hard, if not impossible, to train a raptor to be calm in all circumstances.
This means when unpredictably scary stimuli arise and we have a raptor with us, it can associate us with the fearful situation, whether we choose to restrain it on the glove or it flies off, leaving us in a lose-lose scenario. The same can also be said for changing and unpredictable circumstances when we can no longer rely on food motivation to help us work the bird through in a calm manner.
It cannot be understated that the manner in which a raptor is trained to wear the hood has a huge impact in the comfort that it exhibits. Hooding can be trained through choice-based training that includes positive reinforcement utilizing tidbits and negative reinforcement that uses distance to reinforce the desired response.
It fits well, does not damage feathers or hamper breathing allows air circulation and does not under any circumstances come into contact with the falcons eyes.
This manner of working with falcons and eagles was learned many hundreds of years ago already. Which has lead to a rich falconry heritage in the art of hood making from all over the world.
These images serve to show the form of different types of falcon, hawk and eagle hood designs. Under no circumstances should these be used to fabricate hoods for real living birds of prey! JavaScript appears to be disabled in your browser. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionalities of this website. Falconry Hoods. Why do falcons wear hoods? Falconers often tether their birds to their perches using a leash on a swivel to prevent it getting tangled.
Imagine leaving your dog waiting outside a shop while you go in. Once flying, the falcon repeatedly returns to the falconer for food rewards and will then be happy to sit and conserve energy once again. The leash should be long enough to allow them to gain access to their water bowl but not so long that should they try to fly, they would pick up enough speed to strain their legs.
If the birds were not tethered they would wander off and possibly get into harm or kill other nearby birds. Birds of prey do not think like we do.
So hoods are used to prevent the bird becoming stressed in situations that might frighten it, especially during training, when a young hawk or falcon is still untrusting of humans. When birds of prey are calm and relaxed, they often stand on one leg and puff up their feathers. When hunting with a falcon or hawk, the bird is prevented from seeing unsuitable or untimely prey that it would want to chase, until the falconer is ready to release it with a good chance of success. Experienced falcons learn that the hood means they are going hunting and can become quite excited to accept it, knowing that when it is removed there will be something to chase.
Falconry is legal in the UK but the birds used must have been bred in captivity. In the United Kingdom it is illegal to take any bird from the wild. This includes the taking of eggs or young. Birds of Prey used in falconry in the UK must by law, have been bred in captivity and wear closed rings on their legs. Furthermore, falconers using birds of prey for public display should be inspected and licensed to do so by the local Council Environmental Office.
There are a number of breeders up and down the country who breed birds of prey for falconry. You should not attempt to acquire a bird of prey unless you are trained in its upkeep and know how to train it. There are a number of falconry courses available for this, both formal and informal.
Having an experienced mentor is also invaluable to avoiding the many pitalls of working with birds of prey.
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