Falconry: Spiral and stomp. The secret technique for building trust

This falconry video explains and demonstrates a technique to help build trust with your bird when they are on the ground on the lure or mantling over prey that they have caught. This technique discourages falconry birds from flying off with their catch, or from being afraid of you as you approach.

[@KibatheMalinois]

Thank you. I don't know much about falconry or about the sport but I have watched a few of your videos and have found them to be very informative and this one clearly showed creativity and out of the box thinking to desensitize the hawk to your presence. Your approach is great and very out of the box.

[@JeremyThePlayer88]

Your method outbeats the traditional method of laying down and crawling! Before I saw this video, it made a lot of sense to lay down, because of the fact that it makes you appear smaller and weaker to the hawk! That hawk doesn't have to look up in order to see your head. But you want to make the hawk know that you are there to protect it from larger animals, and you can't really do that if you appear to be a weakling! So, by walking in a circle, starting from a far position and getting in closer and closer with each rotation, the hawk realizes why you are there!

[@Desert_wings]

Nice video.. I tried this technique with my birds and it works perfectly.. it saves me the trouble of chasing a falcon carrying a dead pigeons for several miles..

[@gregoryh4601]

Hello Ben. Thanks so much for a awesome training tips. Have you thought of making a DVD on training Birds of Prey? God Bless an be Safe.

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

gregory h I hadn’t thought of that. But since you suggested it, I will think on that. It could be a great idea!

[@sniperhood7243]

In addition to avoid this bad habit in early days of the training the falcon never pull the food from him even if he had enough till the trust build up and still you have to smoothly pull the food without letting him know that it’s you who hide the food ,if this habit gained then it’s very hard if not impossible to change it

[@Luxfer999]

Great technique, works best doing it in big open flat ground, at least the first month or so. Kind regards from Mexico

[@blindsey8234]

I want to get into falconry, I might be too old but if I'm not too old I will use this technique once I get the basics down. Just waiting to retire from the Army, I'm too busy right now but in a year I should be able to start.

[@that240guysx]

It's been a year where's your falcon

[@blindsey8234]

@@that240guysx I get busier the closer to retirement! They're squeezing all they can from me.

[@that240guysx]

​@blindsey8234 I got you top! I was an army sapper and they squeezed just about everything including my will to live! Hope you get out soon! When I did I just sat in a room sleeping and not shaving for about 20 days before I emerged from my cave of isolation and then I wanted a motorcycle and and falcon.

[@ThatSocratesguy]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="75">1:15</a> Traditional way to retrieve the captured quarry: Lay down, or crouch and approach slowly, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="335">5:35</a> Ben’s own preferred technique: circle around

[@jdub4802]

This very technique is described in the Red Tail section of Frank L. Beebe’s book “North American Falconry and Hunting Hawks”

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

J Dub awesome! I was not aware of that. I’ll have to check it out.

[@TheUltraBeast1]

Incredibly good channel. Keep it up

[@richlaw5136]

This is awesome

[@oldschoolhawking8191]

That method works the best. Good job, trust is best.

[@davemyers7507]

Good advice I do the same thing with a weighted lure thanks for the video and Snoop Dogg’s on your commercial

[@LumBabsFan]

Hi Ben! I'm just starting my journey in falconry and your videos have been so helpful! This method is awesome, especially considering I hope to work with kestrels and merlins & peregrines in the future post-apprenticeship. Is there anything you recommend in talking with a future sponsor about if one is sure a kestrel would be a good match? Keep being awesome! Faith

[@kymamonson7434]

What do you suggest for a gos on a lure that lunges at you as you try to slowly circle in?

[@mohammedalialbalushi7190]

Top content brother. Amazing. Welldone.

[@c0dy85]

before Falconers had Redtails and Harris Hawks to start apprentices on what would be the usual starting bird, or did most place just toss the newbies in the deep end?

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

c0dy85 in most of the US it was often a kestrel. Kestrels can be trained very easily, but they also are delicate and require precision weight management. Unless the apprentice is religious about their weight management, then I think a red-tail is a better beginner bird. I think the Harris hawks, red-tails and kestrels in America, the main reasons they are so commonly used by apprentices is ease of access, comparative ease of trainability, fairly forgiving of training mistakes, and the fact that those species don’t require the use of telemetry.

[@heidiholtz4382]

Ben Woodruff Wait a minute. When did Harris’s Hawks become approved apprentice birds?

[@kevinparker461]

Never crawled into a bird on lure or kill, as you say start to spiral in. If its on a kill its just made as soon as you can while the excitement has not died down & its not had time to think. It must unnerve a bird after having you walk straight in normally to see you now crawling in slowly on your belly. It must think 'Whats he up to?'

[@jantirpak7902]

Hello Ben, this is a very good technique to approach any falconer predator. I also use it. JT

[@alkonost8459]

This deserves much more wievs 👍

[@Kryptokeeper9]

How long did it take the bird to get to where you could stomp, charge, jump over? An average.

[@TheSaulono]

Hey salute you from México, o got two situations one with a female merlyn Hawk she doesn't trust me well, what can i do. The other situation is with a female great horned owl que is very powerful and its a little bit angry how can i do to make her more pacefulling

[@what2watchyt]

Do you have any raptors?

[@Zombie_Longwinger]

This is not your technique it’s a well known falconry technique it’s also in Falcony & Hawking by Phillip Glasier. Spiralling around your falcon during training and making into it is well known.

[@romer8548]

I dont like my falcon to tame for hunting.

[@startazz]

Is it me or did the opening video of the bird of prey eating another bird,look like it was eating another bird of prey? if not it still looks/seem wrong to me,more like cannibalism or that type of thing,having said that i bet only humans would think like this. 😒😉 I guess it's no different than my African Grey parrot eating eggs and one of his favorite foods is chicken drum sticks lol. I was going to say is it because you look less of a fret when so low to the ground to retrieve what ever it is your bird has,i think you call it mantling,meaning said bird has his wings and tail splayed out,so if another bird or animal is over head looking down they have less of a chance to see what it is the bird has.

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

The opening video you are mentioning is a gyr falcon eating a hen pheasant she caught. And you are right, that hen pheasant has barring and stripes that at first glance, really do look like a bird of prey. It does kind of seem weird having a bird eating a bird. But I guess it is basically the same when a mammal eats a mammal. Like a lion eating a zebra, coyote eating a rabbit, or a weasel eating a mouse.

[@startazz]

@@benwoodrufffalconry Thanks for the quick reply Ben as it is very much appreciated. PS,I forgot to mention in my first comment,i love the fact that you are showing us a little more of the birds you refer to,if not the birds of prey you use to help get your point across as i really enjoy seeing them,even if they were just sitting on someones arm or where ever would be fine by me,as i really enjoy seeing most birds but especially birds of prey,so a huge thank you from me. Much love and respect from another bird lover in the UK,huge thumbs up.👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾