birds of prey - harris hawk or owl?
Discussion
thinking about getting a bird of prey, i spent a day flying a Harris Hawk and loved the fact it would fly with you, apparantly very easy to train and look great.
however, i really hanker after an owl, either a Barn Owl or Indian Eagle Owl.
has anyone got any experience of keeping birds oof prey?
what sort?
what advice can you share?
thanks,
nick
however, i really hanker after an owl, either a Barn Owl or Indian Eagle Owl.
has anyone got any experience of keeping birds oof prey?
what sort?
what advice can you share?
thanks,
nick
Until now Ive never realised how much I need a bird of prey.
I really really hope I am wrong, but I feel certain you can't just own one. Pretty sure it is illegal unless you havr a license or something.
Let me know if I am wrong because if I am then I shall almost vertainly get myself a condor or the biggest vulture I can
I really really hope I am wrong, but I feel certain you can't just own one. Pretty sure it is illegal unless you havr a license or something.
Let me know if I am wrong because if I am then I shall almost vertainly get myself a condor or the biggest vulture I can
When at Uni I worked in an owl sanctuary for a summer. (I can't tell you anything about hawks, sorry)
Are you sure you have thought this through i.e holidays, when you get sick, day-olds in the freezer, noise, smell, etc.
Barn owls can be had for about £20-£30 around here, I don't think they "handle" as well as Hawks and I guess would probably take longer to teach/train. They are smart though and knew me from other handlers. The males didn't handle as well as the females and could be a little feisty.
If it was me I would go for the hawk as I think they are beautiful, although I would never own either. You should check your area for a club.
If there is anything specific you wish to know about owls I'll try and answer.
Are you sure you have thought this through i.e holidays, when you get sick, day-olds in the freezer, noise, smell, etc.
Barn owls can be had for about £20-£30 around here, I don't think they "handle" as well as Hawks and I guess would probably take longer to teach/train. They are smart though and knew me from other handlers. The males didn't handle as well as the females and could be a little feisty.
If it was me I would go for the hawk as I think they are beautiful, although I would never own either. You should check your area for a club.
If there is anything specific you wish to know about owls I'll try and answer.
clarkmagpie said:
i have a tvr for track days and a ps3!
looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
My neighbour has both. Several Owls, including Barn and European Eagle and Harris Hawks.looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
He flies them in the field behind my house, they have landed in my garden before, and takes them in to schools and village fetes, etc.
As far as i'm aware they are all rescued / captive born and rejected, ie hand raised and unable to return to the wild.
Beautiful creatures.
You think that is bad, buy an african grey, jesus.
Having one of them is like getting married to the most paranoid woman in the world, try locking it up in it's cage, it will scream like an 8 year old girl until you let it out. Then when it's out you won't be able to pee without it with you.
Having one of them is like getting married to the most paranoid woman in the world, try locking it up in it's cage, it will scream like an 8 year old girl until you let it out. Then when it's out you won't be able to pee without it with you.
160steve said:
dont do it, they should be free. you defo need a licence as they are protected species.
Err no, Barn owls can never be released back in the wild if from captivity, they just die...Any born in captivity can be sold, last time I spotted some for sale they where going for £20 each, I have seen them going for £10 in recent years
clarkmagpie said:
i have a tvr for track days and a ps3!
looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
The fella over the back of us has got a Russian Eagle Owl and from what I can tell they take a lot of looking after. He flies her over the fields three times a day, every day and it is amazing to watch. looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
He's got a remote controlled car covered in fur that he attaches dead mice to, starts the car off, unhoods the bird and she "hunts" for her prey. However, he has to bring the bird in if there are any small dogs around as she thinks they are her dinner and he can sometimes be standing over there for ages with an impatient owl squealing on his arm because the owner doesn't/won't call their dog back, and sometimes she'll be squalking in the garden for ages on warm nights (I assume because her instincts tell her she should be out catching food).
It seems that if you want to own one you can't have a full time job unless you can get home to exercise the bird during the day. I think you'd be better off finding somewhere local that does falconry and going to do some hunting at the weekends, that way you get the best of both worlds
http://www.countrywidefalconry.co.uk/
Uhura_Fighter said:
Any born in captivity can be sold, last time I spotted some for sale they where going for £20 each, I have seen them going for £10 in recent years
You could maybe catch your own by going to a country show where there's a bird of prey display, and climbing up a tall tree whilst clutching a chunk of raw meat... Mrs Trackside said:
clarkmagpie said:
i have a tvr for track days and a ps3!
looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
The fella over the back of us has got a Russian Eagle Owl and from what I can tell they take a lot of looking after. He flies her over the fields three times a day, every day and it is amazing to watch. looking for something i can take out into the fields and local woods, i love seeing them fly and love the feeling of them landing on the glove.
He's got a remote controlled car covered in fur that he attaches dead mice to, starts the car off, unhoods the bird and she "hunts" for her prey. However, he has to bring the bird in if there are any small dogs around as she thinks they are her dinner and he can sometimes be standing over there for ages with an impatient owl squealing on his arm because the owner doesn't/won't call their dog back, and sometimes she'll be squalking in the garden for ages on warm nights (I assume because her instincts tell her she should be out catching food).
It seems that if you want to own one you can't have a full time job unless you can get home to exercise the bird during the day. I think you'd be better off finding somewhere local that does falconry and going to do some hunting at the weekends, that way you get the best of both worlds
http://www.countrywidefalconry.co.uk/
I have been interested in falconry for years but the time and dedication required mean that its unlikely I will ever actually own a bird of my own.
Having said that, the Harris is the best bet by a long chalk.
Owls, despite their reputation, are stupid (relatively speaking).
Sheets Tabuer said:
You think that is bad, buy an african grey, jesus.
Having one of them is like getting married to the most paranoid woman in the world, try locking it up in it's cage, it will scream like an 8 year old girl until you let it out. Then when it's out you won't be able to pee without it with you.
LOL, I know the feeling. Can't be on the phone in the same room Having one of them is like getting married to the most paranoid woman in the world, try locking it up in it's cage, it will scream like an 8 year old girl until you let it out. Then when it's out you won't be able to pee without it with you.

We had an African Grey for a while when I was a kid. What a f
king miserable bird. It was a sort of unwanted gift from an old man we knew who became very ill and couldn't look after it anymore, so we were kind of duty bound to keep it.
What a f
king miserable bird! First off, a grey parrot FFS. Parrots are a tropical bird, famous for being brightly coloured and attractive, yet this one is the colour of wet concrete. Any time you tried to go near it, to feed it or make an effort to be friendly, it tried to bite you with it's nut cracker beak, and when successful it stung like a b
h but was usually just irritating.
When it had food it would flick it everywhere so there was this horrible mess of cracked sesame seeds and whatever else they eat all around it's cage. When it didn't have food it would make this dreadful scratchy crawing noise. The rest of the time it just sat there making these stupid noises like emptying milk bottles, or mimicking the telephone.
There was so many times that I was tempted to wring it's neck it's not funny. What would have been even more fun though would be to get some vicious eagle type thing to eat the f
ker.

What a f


When it had food it would flick it everywhere so there was this horrible mess of cracked sesame seeds and whatever else they eat all around it's cage. When it didn't have food it would make this dreadful scratchy crawing noise. The rest of the time it just sat there making these stupid noises like emptying milk bottles, or mimicking the telephone.
There was so many times that I was tempted to wring it's neck it's not funny. What would have been even more fun though would be to get some vicious eagle type thing to eat the f

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