News From The Mews

Aldo the American Kestrel has been inside for several days during our cold snap. He has a tendency to get bored during these long stretches indoors and likes to destroy his preferred rope perch. It gives me a headache to hear him ripping at the rope because the perch is a pain to repair. To prevent too much destruction, we ramp up enrichment. Newspaper strips to rip, mealworm snacks, and live bird feeder cameras are good ways to keep him busy. I also change out his perches occasionally. Today I removed his favorite rope perch and left him with two perches covered in plastic turf. He doesn't have rope to destroy, it's good for his feet to have a different surface to stand on, and he gets something new in his day.

I was delighted to find this well-timed photograph of a Red-tailed Hawk "slice" from photographer Ron Dudley:  See more from photographer Ron Dudley on his website: Feathered Photography Caught in mid-mute, the photo clearly shows how forcefully a hawk can clear out their last meal. The falconry term for this is a "slice," defined by The Modern Apprentice as " the throwing of a mute as what Accipiters, hawks, and eagles do forcibly ejecting the material. Falcons mute straight down while the other raptors fling their fecal matter out with a bit of velocity. " I see the effects of this every week while cleaning our raptor mews. Aldo, our American Kestrel, drops his mutes below his perches so it is relatively easy to clean up. Carson the Red-tailed Hawk slices her mutes "with a bit of velocity" so the whole floor, and even the walls, are splattered with poo.