Pleasant, a master falconer and communication coordinator for the Michigan Hawking Club, a statewide falconry group.
"There are so many types of birds to fly and so many different quarries to hunt," said Kory Koch of Mt. Michigan falconers also are allowed to trap birds in other states, following those states' rules, and bring them here. Some keep the birds for the duration of their lives others return them to the wild after a season or two of hunting. Many falconers trap young red-tailed hawks - less than a year old - in the fall, train them and then hunt through the winter. Michigan issues up to four permits per year for goshawks, two for great horned owls and just one for a snowy owl. Michigan will issue up to 80 permits per year for trapping of young hawks, including red-tailed hawks, American kestrels, sharp-shinned hawks, rough-legged hawks and Cooper's hawks. In Michigan, the majority of birds used in falconry are red-tailed hawks, which are abundant in the wild. "You have no control, really, over the raptor, and what you're watching is a real-life reality show with predator and prey," he said.Īlthough some falconers do hunt with falcons, the name of the sport refers to any hunting done with birds of prey. The rewards can be great, said John Shuell, a master falconer from the Oakland County community of White Lake with more than 20 years' experience. Whitburn is one of about 120 licensed falconers in the state of Michigan, people who follow centuries of tradition in using birds of prey to hunt small game. If you don't want to go, you don't have to go." "Here is the falconer on the ground blowing a whistle and waving a glove. "The falconer is basically trying to create a condition in which the bird looks at hunting with the falconer as more advantageous to its survival," said Karen Cleveland, all-bird biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. So when he blows a whistle, she spreads her wings and sails lightly down from the tree to land on the thick leather glove that covers his hand and forearm. But over the past few months, Whitburn has built a relationship with her, and she has come to understand that hunting together can benefit them both. Skye - caught from the wild by Whitburn earlier this fall - could fly away at any time. The bells are the only sign of her captivity.
With a barely visible effort she lifts off the tree branch and into a short flight, settling into a nearby tree with a small clanking sound from the bells attached to her legs. Skye apparently doesn't like the view from where she is. On a breathtakingly cold winter morning, a red-tailed hawk named Skye sits motionless on a bare tree branch against a sky clearing from clouds to blue.īelow her, Jeff Whitburn and others prod the snowy underbrush with sticks in hopes of flushing out a rabbit.
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