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Falconry – Bloodsport or Alternative Form of Birding?

10,000 Birds

Dirt hawking is a form of falconry that involves hunting rabbits and other small game with Harris Hawks (other hawk species also qualify). There are many examples in the animal world of pack behavior. I have never been one to advocate the needless killing of animals for whatever purpose. My reasons for this are as follows: 1.

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The Queen

10,000 Birds

Just before Thanksgiving, 2010, a driver spotted a Red-tailed hawk sitting on a dead rabbit in the middle of the road. She wasn’t about to leave her rabbit, and the driver figured something was wrong, so he picked her up. One of the animal keepers brought her to me, and I put her in my clinic. And to prove it, there’s The Queen.

Rabbits 251
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Comebackers

10,000 Birds

North American Peregrine Falcons have also enjoyed an impressive population rebound in recent years. Raptors and other predatory birds have largely rebounded, and there seems to be be no shortage of Brown Pelicans, Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles. Brown Pelicans are not an unusual sight on the California coast. Half Moon Bay, CA.

Albatross 218