As a licensed falconer I am permitted to take an immature prairie falcon from the wild for the purpose of falconry. I did so quite late into the season during mid December and tamed and trained the falcon to work with me and my pointing dogs. I particularly wanted to trap a male prairie as my main quarry over winter are grey Partridge and i believe they are well matched. He showed me he could not only take them frequently and efficiently, but he even caught an adult female sharptailed grouse which is not a common occurrence, in fact it is only the 2nd instance I am aware of. I flew him almost every day and was amazed how quickly he adapted to working with a human and figured out what was expected of him. Of course I didn't need to show him how to hunt as he'd been doing that for 7 months prior and shown he was a survivor.

What was unexpected though, was how he began to bond with me and see me as a parent or potential mate, or at least as how I interpreted it. He became vocal when i approached him in the mews (hawk house) and when I would pick him off the lure after an unsuccessful flight. For a bird this old and having fended for himself for over half a year in the wild this is unusual but not unheard of for prairie falcons as a species. I must take steps to minimize the need for him to do this and he is already flown in a robust condition ...as are all my birds.

I was keen to end the season with him on a positive note so I spent an entire day looking for the right set up to increase his chances of success. This video is a compressed into a 13 minute account of over 6 hours of searching and hunting and the experiences during the process. I will molt him for the spring and summer and try to hunt ducks with him in September and after that, I will decide when I will ultimately return him back to the wild. I hope you enjoy the video and subscribe to my channel if you'd like to see more, not only about falconry around the world but of my wildlife and nature encounters both at home and when travelling abroad.