Escaped Harris Hawk and wild Buzzard breeding!

[werdnal]

Saw a story on our local news tonight, about an escaped HH and a wild Buzzard who have successfully bred in Plymouth. Didn't catch which sex each bird was, but a falconry expert was there watching them and said he had never heard of a case like it before. I think there are 3 young, all just fledged, look like slightly dark buzzards with a longer tail than normal. The hawk is obviously an ex-tame bird as still has leather rings on its legs. I've tried to find a link to post here but not on the local news website yet. Will keep a look out and put up a link when they've updated their page.

[Dogghound]

If this is genuine its very worrying.

[Harold Smith]

How worried should we be? How long has the Harris Hawk been in the wild since its escape? Its home range is South Western America and South America so it is possible it might not survive here for very long. If this is the first time it has bred and only breeds the once then, after several generations, the HH strain should disappear. However, if the HH adapts and continues to breed, particularly with Buzzards, then I agree there is a concern.

Another point of interest. Harris Hawks, in their native range, are known to hunt in packs. Is it possible that this trait may be passed on to its Buzzard offspring which could see 'buzzards' hunting together. As far as I am aware Buzzards are solitary hunters. It will be interesting to know if the fledged offspring stay together or disperse to find their own territories.

Harold.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Harold Smith

How worried should we be?

Personally I wouldn't lose sleep over it!

Escaped falconers birds can sometimes survive in the wild for quite long periods, but as most are recaptured relatively soon after release (they often have radio transmitters fitted to help with this), or don't survive for long, it is probably unlikely that their numbers will become high enough to cause a problem.

Hybrids between species are rare, and hybrids between two different genera are rarer still (duck hybrids being the main exception) - and there is a high probability that the offspring will be sterile.
Hybrids between Harris Hawk & other species of Buteo (Buzzards) are known, although these are generally (perhaps all?) hybrids produced in captvity as a result of artificial pairing. (search for "Parabuteo unicinctus and Buteo hybrids" or something similar).

[Devilman]

Hi all, this is the report on the itv site.

http://www.itv.com/westcountry-west/...plymouth38844/


I've been following these birds for the past 10 months and as a photographer have caught some amazing photos of them! I will see if I can get some uploaded. These are stunning birds and we have seen them eating mice and rats in the area.

I did try to alert somebody when we first saw the hawk as we noticed the rings around it's leg but nobody wanted to listen! Not hugely disappointed at this though as they live outside my flat window and I get to see these stunning birds every day!

[Doggle Avaddit]

Hmmm, I still haven't come to terms with the fact that the term "falconry" sounds so respectable, yet the idea of keeping birds of prey purely for ones own entertainment sounds a lot less so.


Maybe I'm missing something here.

[stevevall]

As a Falconer myself, even my family has been stumped as to my interest in what I see as a sport. It is not so much the keeping of the bird, and most Falconers despise the "pet keepers" who simple keep them.
For me the attraction is being part of the hunting team that works together to catch game. I started in 1977, and I have had the pleasure of working with allot of different birds, and I get satisfaction for several reasons. Firstly, the birds I fly are all captive bred, raised by their parents and received in a wild state. It is your job to turn a blank slate into a hunting machine. This is not done with anything but a reward and trust situation. With the Harris, their pack nature keeps them around, once you have taught them to fly to you glove for a tidbit of meat. There is not starvation, as you are creating an athlete that must be strong enough to overtake its prey. After the training, walking through areas rabbits live in provides the chance for a chase, and they learn to stick around for that. The best part is that you are part of the team and the bird learns that. That is the attraction, and not how many rabbits you can catch either. Also, every bird I have flown, eventually goes back to to the wild in an area historically know to have had the wild birds. Where man has either hunted them to extinction, altered their habitat or whatever reason, I have returned some, where I know they have adapted, turned wild again (as they were never really domestic) taken up residence. I have seen their numbers grow year after year because of that.
I could go on, but that may give you an idea as to why I am drawn to Falconry. What say you?

[faz]

Originally Posted by stevevall

As a Falconer myself, even my family has been stumped as to my interest in what I see as a sport. It is not so much the keeping of the bird, and most Falconers despise the "pet keepers" who simple keep them.
For me the attraction is being part of the hunting team that works together to catch game. I started in 1977, and I have had the pleasure of working with allot of different birds, and I get satisfaction for several reasons. Firstly, the birds I fly are all captive bred, raised by their parents and received in a wild state. It is your job to turn a blank slate into a hunting machine. This is not done with anything but a reward and trust situation. With the Harris, their pack nature keeps them around, once you have taught them to fly to you glove for a tidbit of meat. There is not starvation, as you are creating an athlete that must be strong enough to overtake its prey. After the training, walking through areas rabbits live in provides the chance for a chase, and they learn to stick around for that. The best part is that you are part of the team and the bird learns that. That is the attraction, and not how many rabbits you can catch either. Also, every bird I have flown, eventually goes back to to the wild in an area historically know to have had the wild birds. Where man has either hunted them to extinction, altered their habitat or whatever reason, I have returned some, where I know they have adapted, turned wild again (as they were never really domestic) taken up residence. I have seen their numbers grow year after year because of that.
I could go on, but that may give you an idea as to why I am drawn to Falconry. What say you?

well said and welcome to WAB

[RoyW]

Welcome to WAB.
I can understand your interest and, although I have never owned any sort of BOP, I have been out with someone who owed a Harris Hawk and had the opportunity to fly her

One part of your post strikes me as worrying though:

Originally Posted by stevevall

Also, every bird I have flown, eventually goes back to to the wild in an area historically know to have had the wild birds. Where man has either hunted them to extinction, altered their habitat or whatever reason, I have returned some, where I know they have adapted, turned wild again (as they were never really domestic) taken up residence. I have seen their numbers grow year after year because of that.

Although there are certainly good intentions behind this, the release of any captive reared bird or animal (outside of carefully planned, official reintroduction schemes), is at best misguided, and is potentially downright irresponsible, and possibly illegal (it is certainly illegal to release captive bred Barn Owls outside of official release schemes).
Even if the birds that are released do survive and manage to establish themselves, you are not necessarily acting in the best interests of conservation because other species may be adversely affected - and if anyone in the area objects to the presence of the released birds official schemes may run up against greater resistance as a result.

Apologies for criticising your first post, but if you really are releasing captive bred raptors you should stop (and if you aren't already breaking the law the law needs tightening).

[RKB]

Originally Posted by stevevall

For me the attraction is being part of the hunting team that works together to catch game.

But that "game" also includes Skylarks, Song Thrushes and Meadow Pipits etc for people who keep Sparrowhawks and Merlins (there is an annual quota). There is no difference, in conservation terms, between killing a Skylark with an airgun and killing it with a captive Merlin. Both are utterly pointless, and done only for the pleasure of it.

Originally Posted by stevevall

Also, every bird I have flown, eventually goes back to to the wild in an area historically know to have had the wild birds.

If this is in the UK, then it is illegal. You cannot release a captive-bred native bird into the wild without a special licence.

Originally Posted by stevevall

Where man has either hunted them to extinction, altered their habitat or whatever reason,

If man has altered their habitat to the point that they have gone, what habitat are you releasing them into at this place? Doesn't make much sense. And what species are you releasing that have been hunted to extinction in parts of Britain? I can only think of Golden Eagle, Osprey and White-tailed Eagle. Even Goshawks and Peregrines are fairly widespread now.

Originally Posted by stevevall

I have returned some, where I know they have adapted, turned wild again (as they were never really domestic) taken up residence. I have seen their numbers grow year after year because of that.

You monitored the populations of that species before you illegally released the birds, and then monitored them afterwards and have observed an increase? How did you monitor, and over how many "year after years"? I'm sorry if this sounds cynical, but it doesn't really add up.