harris' hawk (raptor free flight demo)

What a great shot, Fred!! Thank you very much for sharing.

Wait, no jesses?? And even more surprising, no ring????

Very nice photo.

@Kakapo A few years ago they stopped using jesses so that photographers could get more natural photos.

@Arizona Docent Do the birds have any way of tracking should something happen? Having worked with birds of prey, I've seen raptors fly off at some point or another whether startled or not feeling like doing what is wanted...

@Great Argus I've heard if this. The raptors are free to go anytime they want. They always come back.

Most of the birds have radio transmitters. After the demonstration they invited those of us who wanted to stay to watch them train a juvenile harris hawk (which I think is the one pictured here). During this informal time they told us their dominant adult female had recently flown off and was tracked in Superior, Arizona (east of Phoenix and quite a ways from Desert Museum). Two staff went up to find her but her feather with the transmitter fell off. They found it in a field but a few days later she returned to the Museum on her own.