We are rarely able to glimpse into the life of a wild bird. At the nest site, we see the interchange between adults and the rearing of young. But where are they when they are not at the nest? This week, Jim and the Canyoneers are following every move of the newly liberated Haya’s life.
Yesterday’s big news was the capture of a pigeon. While it is the most fundamental aspect of a peregrine’s life, it re-assured us that she is able to out maneuver a pigeon, snatch it from the air, and feed herself. This is good information. Not just because it makes us feel good, but because we now know for certain that our methods work. The days, weeks, and months of medical care worked. The follow-up care of eleven months of falconry care and conditioning worked.
(By comparison, our treatment regime for Marina also worked. She looked quite good and releasable in a flight aviary but falconry training showed that she would slowly starve if released to the wild. Our methods saved her from that slow death. Another important point that we should emphasize here is that even though Haya spent a year and a half in captivity and was trained to the glove, she never became “tame.” She is every bit as wild today as she was in the spring of 2011.)
Today, Haya returned to the food she cached yesterday to eat again in the morning and then perched in one spot for no less than eight hours. There is nothing wrong with her. She is certainly able to fly. But she was released in “high” condition and is now maintaining that weight by eating, resting, and enjoying the view from high places for the first time in a long while. She is also building muscle. Trained to falconry, Haya was in good condition when she was released. But a falconry bird is not nearly the athlete that a wild peregrine falcon is. Haya is becoming a strong, wild falcon again. Today, “being a wild falcon” for Haya meant: eating some left-overs, Perching for 8 hours to digest two days worth of pigeon gorge, making a brief soaring flight, and then settling back down on a perch.
For now, downtown Richmond has a peregrine falcon.
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