This is a picture of me and my buddy Quiver. He’s an American kestrel Falcon, the smallest Falcon in North America. This past Saturday, Quiver, Drea and I were out meeting visiting falcon watchers in town to meet for a mini convention and watch the Kodak Falcons.
This is the first time I’ve ever held a bird. Drea has been volunteering for a number of months with Wild Wings Inc. a local non profit group that does raptor educational shows. That’s raptor as in bird of prey, not killer dinosaurs.
Quiver was supposed to spend Saturday on a perch. But he prefers to be held. And the next thing I knew, Wild Wing’s director asked me if I’d do the honors. Hopefully this picture in no way portrays how afraid I was of breaking the bird.
For the most part he seemed happy. The closest he got to a commentary on handling skills was when he pooped on my hand.
I like this picture. At first I thought one of the Kodak Falcons had adopted you as a distant cousin, but then I read your post. Another place you can “hold” birds is Mendon Ponds on the Chicadee Trail (think that’s what it’s called). Where two trails intersect, the birds like to gather and will perch on your hand if you have some birdseed in your palm. In fact, I think you might have been with me the one time I got a bird to do this!
He didn’t peck your eyes out, so it sounds like it went pretty good! Hah!