Meet Baby Girl,(Eurasian Eagle Owl) and Scott Metayer

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 at 7 p.m.

Mr. Metayer will discuss:

·         Historical overview of the Sport of Falconry

·         General natural history of Birds of Prey

·         Basic falconry equipment

·         Catching and training a hawk

·         How to become a falconer

Eurasian Eagle Owl

The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Eurasia. It is sometimes called the European eagle-owl and is occasionally abbreviated to just eagle-owl.^[3] It is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a total length of 75 cm (30 in), with a wingspan of 188 cm (6 ft 2 in), males being slightly smaller.

The EEO (Eurasian Eagle Owl) I have is named Baby Girl. She is a captive bred EEO who is partially imprinted. Imprinting is a complicated process and if done wrong can result in food aggression as well as attacks on humans. Being the largest owl this could be very dangerous behavior. She has spent much of her life so far in our home but now enjoys being outside.

Baby Girl was born in March 2015 and will continue to grow for the first year of her life. She currently weighs 6 lbs, but the species can reach weights from 4 to 10 lbs.

Harris’s Hawks

The Harris's hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile and central Argentina.

The Harris' hawk is notable for its behavior of hunting cooperatively in packs consisting of tolerant groups, while other raptors often hunt alone. It is the Harris's hawk's intelligence which leads to a social nature which results in easier training and has led to the Harris' hawk to become a popular bird for use in falconry.

Red-Tailed hawks

The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens.^[2] It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America. Red-tailed hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from 690 to 1,600 g (1.52 to 3.53 lb) and measuring 45–65 cm (18–26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110–145 cm (43–57 in). The red-tailed hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.^[3] The bird is sometimes referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context.

We trap Red-Tailed hawks from the wild here in Louisiana. They are trained and released after the hunting season ends.

Studies have indicated that up to 80 % of wild Raptors do not make it through their first year of life. Taking the birds from the wild at this time of their life gives them a much better chance of becoming mature breeding bird. The birds taken from the wild are already imprinted on the wild so they can be returned to the wild with no issue on being imprinted with humans. It’s a relationship with the birds and really not looked at as pets. As a matter of fact I actually see myself as the birds dog since it looks to me in the woods to put up game for it to capture.

BIO

Scott Metayer

Retired in 2007 with 24 years of service is currently living in Anacoco, Louisiana. An avid outdoorsman, naturalist and Falconer in the great State of Louisiana. As a boy Scott’s Father introduced him to falconry and a passion to explore nature.