Wind in the Willow… 
Suffolk Owl Sanctuary News

For the last few weeks the falconers at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary have been exercising the display team birds for upcoming events, including one of the biggest weekends of the year, over the Easter break.  

The birds have had a good rest over the winter months, putting on weight to help keep them warm through the bitter snaps and having time to moult and grow new feathers.  Traditionally, birds in the wild would moult during the summer, but whilst they’re at flying weight the display birds will not begin to moult until September and gradually become accustomed to moulting at this time of year.

 

You might not think that birds could injure themselves doing what comes naturally but, as with any athlete, a gradual build up of exercise after a period of rest is really important.  The falconers monitor the birds very closely, weighing them daily to ensure that they are at a healthy flying weight and ensuring that they have a progressive regime to bring them steadily back up to display fitness.

Depending on the size of the bird, a few ounces can make a huge amount of difference to their wellbeing.  For example, a male Kestrel weighs around 6oz, which can make it extremely difficult to find the optimum flying weight.  Half an ounce in either direction could, in the most extreme circumstances, lead to a very sick bird that is then unable to feed itself.  Thus the weighing of our birds of prey is an exact science, which the falconers have to be fully trained to do proficiently.

 

Our volunteers are extremely important to us here at the Sanctuary and one of the ways we say “thank you” is to train them to handle the birds correctly.  Just recently, I observed one of our regular volunteers, Hilary exercising ‘Willow’, a female Harris Hawk, under the watchful eye of Head Falconer Matt.  Willow wasn’t feeling especially cooperative and kept trying to fly to Hilary’s fist from her post before Hilary called her.  However, Hilary kept calm and turned away when Willow approached without being asked, so it didn’t take long before Willow stopped teasing and enjoyed swooping across the sky, feeling the wind beneath her wings.

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