Training an American Kestrel | Apollo the Falcon

[@this_is_ironic5659]

such a sweet little murder bird 🥺😂

[@UkeGirl100]

Positively beautiful! I have never seen one up so close. I am usually seeing them sitting on top of the telephone wire, looking for grasshoppers. And I have never seen one take off from his perch, they always are just watching for their grasshoppers.

[@donnypeay6770]

Had a box for Kestril on my property and they nested 7 years we lived at that location. Prettiest birds I've ever seen. They had 9 babies 1 year and all left with the parents. Had a telescopic pole to lower the box for nest checks. Sure miss them...

[@falondonahue8457]

American Kestrel Falcon: (I'm the most fearsome predator bird you ever seen!) **chirp chirp!** Everybody: Aww it's so small and cute! American Kestrel Falcon: 😢

[@davidkrull]

Your fluorescent lights really show a strobe effect in the slow-mo clip. I wonder if the falcon sees something similar, with his higher acuity and visual processing speed?

[@UkeGirl100]

David Krull yes, I would think that’s possible.

[@da_poopoo_dealer3152]

Thats partly the reason they wear hoods, the main reason being that if they can see everything they tend to get overwhelmed, as well as being sheltered in our homes, they get exposed to artificial light which can be irritating to them

[@raus_mit_Islam]

I live in Denmark and just got an am kestrel. It is still a baby with downs. I feed it day chickens.

[@GreenZephyr]

Cool! For now Apollo gets dove meat but we have live quail for when he gets better at hunting.

[@charlesgroveiii9104]

Mother nature was really being artistic when she created Kestrels!

[@lovetofly32]

When God created it in the beginning. No "she" anything

[@doomerdormroom]

These kestrels are awsome and perfect

[@jhall5490]

I love American Kestrels,they are beautifully marked and a great little falcon but don't let that fool you,they are fiesty little hunters !

[@b3njaminP]

Beautiful bird !

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Beautiful looking Kestrel nice to see.

[@mamamiabenjamia]

amazing bird.

[@gobofraggel7383]

My Sparrows love head rubs or to be held. Do Kestrels like that sort of thing?

[@angelorosario8417]

Nice responses to the fist. Nice training and weight management too. Btw what is Apollo's response and hunting weight? Good luck with the Hunting season with Apollo!

[@GreenZephyr]

Thanks! Apollo's hunting weight is 106 grams.

[@leeelliott175]

Don't falcons have sensitive hearing?

[@levimechtel1702]

What dose he live in how do you care for them?

[@brandonmundis4018]

How much do you feed him per day?

[@johnnyfisalive]

how much do they sell for?

[@readynow12345]

How you do that.

[@wadeblake9876]

I've always been a fan of falconry. I've owned birds and have trained them. Not raptors. What do I need to do to begin falconry???

[@GreenZephyr]

First you need to get a license for falconry and be trained by someone else. Once you have the experience you can catch a hawk with a mesh trap. The trap contains a mouse, and you throw it out of a truck while driving when you see a hawk you want. The hawk flies and grabs the mouse and its feet get caught in the mesh. After handling them they actually adjust to people pretty fast. Apollo and our previous Red-Tailed Hawks were quick to calm down. We kept the Red-Tailed Hawks in a huge cage in the backyard and Apollo inside the house in a much smaller cage. We caught starlings in a bird trap in advance and froze the meat to train the hawks with. In the video it shows Apollo getting trained with the meat. You can practice with them flying to you until they get used to it. Eventually you will be able to go hunting with the hawk and catch birds, rabbits, squirrels, or mice. One time one of our hawks flew off half a mile during hunting, but we walked across several fields and he stayed put waiting. Of course this is just the basics. You would learn much more on how to do it if you were working toward the license. They can be dangerous too. The first Red-Tail we had clawed at my friend's eye when she was getting fed because she saw the reflection of meat in his glasses. He had some cuts in his face, but they weren't bad at all.

[@wadeblake9876]

@@GreenZephyr that k you. In my 20s I was told I had to apprentice for 5 yrs before I could even own a bird. As a touring musician i couldn't follow through. Now I'm semi retired and really wanna do it. Thank u for the info.

[@GreenZephyr]

Happy to help!

[@brysenstrowder5178]

@@GreenZephyr hi! Do you keep and train the bird forever?

[@GreenZephyr]

@@brysenstrowder5178 no, Apollo was released months ago. We will be getting a new hawk eventually. Either another Red-Tailed Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

[@ryath1030]

Green Zphyr I recently rescued a female Kestrel. she couldn't fly, she was completely infested with mites other than that she seems in good health. I got rid of the mites and she can fly once more. My question is how much am I supposed to feed her? How much is she supposed to weigh? I'm not going to use her for Flight Training or anything like that for right now. I just want to make sure she is in excellent health. The other day I caught a lizard and she ate it she really enjoyed it. I've been feeding her wax worms, meal worms, and crickets. I recently just bought frozen mice. I know they are not good at digesting fur but I have no clue how much I'm supposed to feed her. She constantly eats mealworms and other bugs, if I let her she won't stop lol. She's like a little pig LOL. I would really appreciate the time to reply I've searched the internet and it doesn't have much on kestrels.

[@GreenZephyr]

Most kestrels will eat 2 mice per day or 2 birds. The equivalent of around 20 grams per day. Kestrels love eating bugs too, so feed about 20 grams of bugs or 2 mice per day. Female kestrels should weigh around 4 ounces when fully grown.

[@ryath1030]

@@GreenZephyr OMG thank you so much for the reply and the education. I had a scale but she doesn't weigh enough to do anything to it so I need to get a smaller scale. I really appreciate your help

[@user-xx1yl9ze1v]

I found a young kestrel in the middle of a road a few years ago. But it is usually considered a bad idea to interact with wild young birds bc their parents might abandon them? So I just pushed him along out of the cars... wonder if he grew up fine..

[@user-xx1yl9ze1v]

@JIFFY it was young, but it had fledged feathers. Maybe it was learning to fly? The place was over populated with kestrals anyway...

[@lunartears6761]

@@user-xx1yl9ze1v well, at least you got it away from cars. That gave it a chance to figure it out if it could fly.

[@Navy_realawesomness]

I want a kestrel now

[@coffeehugger]

He has jesses on. Is it easy to get him used to having those on his legs, and do they come off? I always wonder how they can stay clean. This is a great video!

[@GreenZephyr]

Thanks! They eventually get used to the jesses on their own. And they do come off, you are supposed to replace them once in a while to keep them clean.

[@coffeehugger]

@@GreenZephyr I'm not trying to pester you, but I really have so many questions. Is it hard to teach him to wear the jesses? It is beyond amazing, you have this bird you took as an adult from the wild and somehow you tamed him and at some point he will be going off leash and on his own into the sky, he will come back to you. Just totally amazes me.

[@emmagunter6727]

@@coffeehugger when you first get the bird you put the jesses on them and leave them like that until months later when you replace them. The birds will get used to them on their own, there’s not rly “training” to get them used to it.

[@michaeljohnston3026]

Is Appollo a passage or haggard?

[@ozdemirelektrik4310]

Which of these two prefers a kestrel mouse? sparrow?

[@BiggusWeeabus]

Smol Pidgeot

[@MarkusTaka]

Beautyful little boy 😍 What weight does he have?

[@martinjoseferreyra1961]

106 grams he said in another comment

[@MarkusTaka]

@@martinjoseferreyra1961 thank you!

[@tcapo514]

that is cool I got a female Kestrel in my backyard . I've been feeding the birds in the neighborhood and now she starting to hang around.🦅🦅🦅👍

[@tonyclark5151]

What size enclosure do they need?

[@GreenZephyr]

Apollo's enclosure can be seen at 5:41 in the video. It was an old cabinet that was repurposed to be his enclosure. He was kept inside the house in the 3x2 ft cabinet. He had a leash so he could move around the whole area and drink and bathe, but not leave the cabinet. When it was feeding time he was taken off leash and into the garage for training like in the video. He also had a separate perch in another room in the house that the leash could attach to. The other Hawks were kept outside in a 10x8 ft cage that was 7 feet tall and could move around in that cage wherever, also leashed to a perch in the center of the cage. I hope this helps!

[@tonyclark5151]

@@GreenZephyr Thank you so much...do you breed kestrels? Or would you be able to point me in the right direction?

[@GreenZephyr]

@@tonyclark5151 No, we don't breed them. Apollo was caught in the wild and then trained. I don't know anyone who breeds either, sorry. Best of luck to you though.

[@mehmetkaracan719]

Hungry to get the bird to handle? Are you running it?

[@ToreeArt]

Well well well, I have a female Kestrel name flare, but same in panel de Pon series

[@artdraw2483]

why don't know this Predator Birds looks so cute

[@Knowdis96]

So I can trap one of these, train it, and then have it fly out my hand out my car to kill a bird?

[@mehmetkaracan719]

Turkish is my unit

[@jimboyorante5846]

We dont have kestrel in Philippines 😐 I want to try kestrel falconry ❤

[@darioreyes8573]

But your country has a huge falcon... Why not tame it

[@zulmakarnacha]

I like american kestrels too bad they eat meat and i dont wana see them kill vegetarian birds so i rather have doves as pets lol

[@suicidesqueeze]

I see these birds everywhere where I live. This video makes me sad.