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Falcon Lure

Made this falcon lure from Kangaroo Leather and some pigeon wings I had lying around. 

Great Horned Owl Brancher

Great Horned Owl Brancher

This not-so-little guy was watching my brother as he walked along the wooded path in his backyard.  This is a Great Horned Owl brancher, who appears with a small bit of down and probably fledged the next just a day or two ago.  No Doubt, the parent birds will be looking for him for his feeding time.  Nature sure is wonderful sometimes!

Outdoor Hawk Perch Box

Outdoor Hawk Perch Box

 

Outdoor Hawk Perch Box

Outdoor Hawk Perch Box

 

Outdoor Hawk Perch Box

The Fall hunting season is coming up sooner than it seems that it should be, but it will be upon us before we know it. I wanted a more solid, sturdier housing option for the hawks up at the cabin, so I needed to find something bigger than a Giant Hood, but not quite as elaborate and big as a whole new mews. Space is at a premium up at the cabin, so building a new mews there really isn’t an option.

When I helped a falconry friend with her outdoor pens, there were housing boxes in there designed for the larger birds for shelter from the elements. The one designed here is a smaller version of those, with a few improvements and some small design tweaks. The basic concept for the box is an outdoor shelter that provides cover from the rain and a high perch that cannot be easily fouled by a leashed bird. If you enclosed the box in a 8ft. high fenced in enclosure, you could meet all the requirements for housing a raptor as required by the DNR.  After perching Cedar on it for a couple of hours, she took to the box well and enjoyed the higher, commanding perched view while outside.

The special features and design of the box make it a great box for an unattended leash situation for raptors. The perch ring is situated around a short pole that cannot bind or wind up. The metal flashing on the 2×4 wood piece above and below the leash pole mount prevents the ring from “eating away” at the wood. The large protected / covered perch will not catch on the leash, and the hawk cannot go under the perching substrate. There is a rounded top perch that also will not catch the leash as the hawk bates and returns to the top perch. I also liked the small extra gap in the floorboard that allows the mutes to slide down to the ground instead of collecting inside the box. The only part the leash may be able to catch on is the rear roof edge if the hawk should decide to walk 3/4 of the way around the box and then try to alight up onto the top perch.

 

* UPDATE: As a recent suggestion by a fellow colleague, you could install doors and hinges on the perch box.  During the evening, you could latch the bird in the box for additional protection and safety if the box was not in an enclosed area. Again, also great for a semi-mobile temporary mews situation.

 

Click the link below for the PDF of the Perch Box Plans.

Outdoor Perch Box Plans