Sharpshins

[rt]

I have always liked these small little bird killers and Ive heard a imprinted male of this species is death on sparrows and doesnt have all the bad habits of a passage. They are so fast its amazes me every time I see one in pursuit of prey they can zip thru the trees like lightning. For those of you not familiar with this bird they are our smallest accipiter and are most commonly called a sparrow hawk which they are. They spend two thirds of their life following sparrows and outher birds migrational routes. They hunt by flying fast and furious thru the trees and surprising birds along the way they are wicked fast in the first 20 to 30 ft faster then any outher species in this flash attack style they however dont usally go on long tail chases but they can if they want too. They would be a great bird for areas with alot of sparrows and starlings. I will fly one of these killing machines one day I promise you that.

[Yarak]

You forgot to mention just how delicate they are. They are a very difficult high-strung bird. It takes the THE most dedication and committment to one healthy and flying. Very high maintenance.
Yarak

[ccrobbins]

See I am torn on this. Everything I "read" says with proper manning and a lot of time they are not that bad. The hard part is the manning wich is very time consuming and very tedious....Or so I have read.

[BlueTiercel]

The properly imprinted bird is almost the polar opposite of a passage bird. Still they are very delicate and very easily killed. To quote someone who has flown both imprint and passage sharpies, "you look at them the wrong way and you will kill them". A trapped bird wil refuse to eat and will have to be force fed in most instances. They will often keep them in a lightless box forthe first days to calm them down. I suppose this is kind of like seeling. i don't kow much about them but know of someone who has had success with them and he said an apprentice who is an "exceptional" falconer might be ready to go to an imprint male sharpie in 7 years.

Every new species of bird is a whole new ball game i am gathering. I know of someone who has killed 40 head of game each year, one year 60 head of game in a season with one redtail and one year 100 some head of game with two redtails. Now this person is trying to fly Gos and has no where near that number of game killed! This person is an excellent Redtail hawker but as shown going from one bird to another is like going from painting to sculpting.

[rt]

From what Ive read a passage should only be flown by someone with alot of exspierence but the imprint male is well within the capabilities of an average general.

[ccrobbins]

What is concidered average though? Is a first year average? I cannot imagine being ready to imprint one after only 2 seasons of hawking.....

[rt]

It takes alot of time and detail to imprint a bird if you have those you con do it. Plus you need a large supply of baggies.

[Weasel]

From falconers that I have talked with that fly or have flown them, they say that they MUST be flown on a daily basis or they lose the connection to you.

[rt]

the imprints or the passage or both?

[Weasel]

Both from what I hear.

[rt]

That would take a serious amount of time to fly one. I wish we could get michael mcdermott in here he would be able to fill us in the details.

[Falcon (I)]

rt said:

That would take a serious amount of time to fly one. I wish we could get michael mcdermott in here he would be able to fill us in the details.

lol thats a bit of an oxymoron Serious time to fly one and then hope that Mike would have time to post on forums

[Ooby]

rt said:

From what Ive read a passage should only be flown by someone with alot of exspierence but the imprint male is well within the capabilities of an average general.

Thats wrong. ANY accipiter requires someone well above the average. Thats why there is a seperate term to describe those whacked out people who fly accipters, its called an austringer. And the smalled accipiter is going to have the head case of any accipiter not to mention how delicate it is as far as weight management. Hell, maning is the easy part. The training is the difficult part. NO MISTAKES. You make a mistake at the wrong time and BLAM, birds f**ked, enjoy the next 2 months trying to train that mistake away. This from my sponsor who has flown accipiters for years. You have to train them PERFECTLY. Thier confidence is very fragile, and passage or imprint, nature filled thier head with the same drama. The big gain you get with imprints is you can show them EVERYTHING at a young age, and then you don't have to worry about the bird stressing over every alien thing as an adult, thus causing all kinds of medical problems.

But make no mistake about it. It takes a special kind of falconer to successfully fly an accipiter.

[Jay]

Yup im with Obby on this one. Imprints are easier in the manning area, but if you mess up im the imprinting good luck to you. A passage bird will sit there for hours when first trapped before eating, one little move by the faloner and the bird is hanging upside down and it starts all over again.

I highly disagree with baggies are required. My sponsor has been flying Gos Hawks for 20years now and this mind set drives him crazy. It should not be KILL KILL KILL with these birds their first year it should be MANNERS MANNERS MANNERS. He says he could care less if a first year gos made under 2 kills so long as it got the manners down and was actualy flown in the field. So what if you have a bird that kills. You need a bird that is great around people, with an imprint this starts early. When first aquired its should be shown anything and everything possable. If done corectly it can produce a bird that will tolerate anyone, any dog, or anything new in the feild. The problem with the passage birds is their fear, one little thing can send them over the hills.

[rt]

You mention manners if you get the birds wed to game early wouldnt that help stop the screaming they are so well known for. I was told never to feed from the fist if you do you are just asking for trouble. If imprinted correctly the manners should come with the training basically you just need to get your bird use to eveything. I also feel baggies give the birds confidence and skill, in the willd the parents give their young baggies. shouldnt we duplicate nature. I hate to tell you Jay but that kill kill kill attitude is the trade mark of an accipiter all flights I have seen in the wild and in falconry the birds are reckless and daring. Ive watched wild sharpys slam right into a side of a building chasing pigeons what do you think was going thru its mind? Sharpshins are tricky to imprint but I dont think they are outside the capabilities of a general granted his first two years went well. The imprint accipiter book takes you right thru the steps Ive heard if you follow his steps and dont try to change them it isnt that hard to imprint a sharpy now a coopers is another story.