Birds: Aplomado Falcon
With all of the boat-tailed grackles squawking and bothering the guests at the fancy restaurant in Phoenix, the owner hired a falconer to have his trained killers in the property on a regular basis. The falcons are there to frighten the grackles away and make an example of any who want to quibble with the raptor one-on-one. The falconer came with a brightly collared falcon that day, standing on his glove. It was an Aplomado Falcon and it proved to be a fantastic deterant to any other intruders in the avian world.
Magnificent Fliers
Not to be confused with American Kestrels (aka Chicken Hawks) or Peregrine Falcons, these species are great raptors to watch and admire either in flight or on the stump. They are beautifully adorned: their colors include white and black wing stripes, rust colored shoulders, legs and breast feathers, white and black tail bands, black eye masks, bright yellow feet with black talons and black tips on their yellow beaks.
What a cool bird to see on the wing!
From Falcons to Eagles
A Yale friend of mine, Michael Cromwell, went to Mongolia and photographed the Eagle Hunters in the area. I had the privilege to see some of his pictures, which are magnificent.
Henry E. Hooper 