The Basic Summary: I have been a Texas falconer since 1997, flying birds in many different environments and a few other states. The birds I have flown include the following list, they are not in any order: 5 American Kestrels, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, a Harris Hawk, 2 Merlin, and I had a tiercel anatum but transferred him before free flight. I have found kestrels suit me best and have been the most fun, so far.

I am currently flying a passage male American kestrel I trapped November 1 2007. He is free flying but has not had any good slips to make contact. I am hoping to get him stable on sparrows, and passionate about catching starlings.

I have caught wild game with all the birds I have free flown, but some caught more than others. The following is a rough list of the birds and what they caught during the season.

My first three seasons (97-00) I flew red-tailed hawks (RTH), which I suggest as the first bird. The first one was a male I had for a short season catching 40+ squirrels and a few rabbits. The second RTH was a female I kept for two season and she caught 50+ squirrels and a few rabbits each year plus a few ducks her second year. The first year (00-01) as a general license falconer I trapped a female kestrel early in the year and later trapped a Red-Shouldered hawk (RSH). The kestrel did great catching just over 100 head of game. The RSH was much more difficult to train and he only caught a rat in the hunting method I was trying to use. The fifth season (01-02) I received a female kestrel from a friend and she caught 180 head of game for the season mostly starlings but some field hawking. Sixth season (02-03) I looked for another RSH till late October and spent the rest of the season training to only catch one grackle. I later discovered the reason for my problems was my slip set up. In September of my seventh season (03-04) I trapped a female kestrel who caught 3 starlings before I lost her in October. I immediately trapped a Harris Hawk who caught rabbits and many different birds. In January of the same season I received and transfered a peregrine falcon but I didnt get him free flying. During the 04-05 season I took a work break and was unable to fly. I jumped back in during my eight season (05-06) with a female kestrel trapped September 15 who was flown in a cast with the male Merlin I trapped in December. The kestrel caught many birds in many hunting methods, but the Merlin only caught one sparrow. I lost the Kestrel and let the Merlin go. In June of ninth season (06-07) I pulled a brancher female kestrel who became my best sparrow bird and was developing into a great all around bird with over 75 kills during the 4 months before I lost her. I soon trapped a female Merlin who I flew for two months and caught 13 head before releasing her. I then trapped another RTH and flew him for 2 months catching 5 squirrels before releasing him. I was trying the different birds to see which were the most versatile for how I want to hunt and determined the kestrel is what works best for me.

Last year I was able to fly a male American Kestrel trapped 01 November 07 that you can read about in My Falconry section. He was released at the end of the season with a total of 100 vertebrate kills and many great flights on grasshoppers.

If you have specific questions or are interested in my training techniques or procedures feel free to email me and I will respond as soon as possible.