- Hey everyone, Jamie Leigh from Bird Tricks here,
and today I have a special guest, Lauren McGough,
and we are going to be talking about
when eagles attack parrots,
and how to keep your free-flying parrots
as safe as possible when it comes to these predatory birds.
(upbeat music)
So I'm really excited because your background,
I was able to read a bunch of interviews that you did
online, I'll make sure to link to them
in the video description,
but really cool,
so why don't you tell everybody a little bit
of background so that they understand
your perspective on eagles?
- Sure, so I am a falconer, I'm been one since 2001,
when I was 14.
- Wow.
- I started off flying red-tailed hawks
and peregrine falcons,
but I quickly realized that my real love was Golden Eagles.
And of course, Golden Eagle falconry is one of
the most ancient human-animal partnerships,
so it began back in Central Asia
some four 5,000 years ago, hunting foxes
off horseback with these huge Golden Eagles.
And I was really lucky, I spent two years
living out in Mongolia, apprenticing myself
to the Kazak masters there.
And gosh,
it's been one of the most fulfilling things in my life,
and now I'm able to take what I learned in Central Asia,
bring it back here to the U.S., and I use falconry
to rehabilitate Golden Eagles that need to learn
how to hunt before they can be released back into the wild.
- That's so cool.
So, so cool.
Okay, so this video, and the whole premise of what
I really want people to learn, is we're trying to make
the practice of free-flying parrots outside
just overall safer,
because obviously they aren't native to the places
that we are free-flying them in,
and we need to understand more about predatory birds
to keep our birds safe.
So, what is the natural prey of eagles?
- So eagles, here in the U.S. especially,
are mostly specialized to hunt black-tailed jackrabbits,
or white-tailed jackrabbits,
but rabbit species.
However, they are very opportunistic,
and they like an easy meal,
whether it might be a dead deer on the side of the road,
they're happy to eat that,
or a, I could see an eagle that if it saw
a parrot that was busy on the ground, not paying attention,
thinking oh, that could be an easy meal also.
- Okay, so they'll still go for something even if
they've maybe never seen it in their habitat,
they might still recognize that as edible prey?
- Yes.
It's a good survival tactic that they have,
that if an opportunity looks like easy,
they're inherently lazy, which I identify with,
with eagles.
Then they'll give it a shot.
- Okay, so the likelihood of them going for a parrot
is pretty high if the opportunity is in their favor?
- Yes, but there's easy things to mitigate it.
So eagles are very conspicuous.
And if you are flying your parrot in the Western U.S.,
I would simply, so falconers that fly falcons
also have this same fear,
because an eagle will opportunistically attack a falcon.
So I would simply look around.
Are they soaring overhead?
Is there a huge bird perched in a tree nearby?
Luckily, also, your presence as a human
is a big deterrent.
- Okay.
- So the parrot would have to get a fair distance
away from you.
But just a quick scan of everything around is very useful.
- Okay, that was actually one of my other questions,
of, in a worst case scenario where an eagle
has initiated a chase on a parrot,
what is the best option for the parrot to take?
Should it land in a tree for safety?
Should it go low, should it go high,
or should it just get back to the human
as fast as possible, in the most likelihood scenario
of actually surviving that sort of chase?
- Oh man, that's a great question.
So, like I said, the eagle wants the easy opportunity,
so if the parrot,
well so came back towards you,
then you're the deterrent,
eagle wouldn't want to, would be put off by that,
and I think the most danger is in the initial attempt.
- Yeah.
- [Lauren] And so if the eagle misses initially,
and the parrot either books it or takes refuge
in a tree or some kind of cover,
then the eagle's like, ugh, it's harder than I thought,
gonna go back in my soar and find something else.
- Okay, so that's good to know.
Okay.
So one of the questions I have that I think will
apply to a lot of free-flyers is,
what kind of terrains should we be scouting
and looking to fly our birds at that are less likely
to have Golden Eagles checking them out too?
- Yeah, so this is a great question.
I know you guys like to fly in Moab.
Moab can be useful because there is a big human
presence there, there's that deterrent
where eagles realize, oh, this is where the people
hang out, I'll be on the outskirts,
but I don't really wanna get right in Moab,
so finding that fine line between some human.
- Presence?
- Presence, but you still, you don't wanna be,
I don't like being where there's too many people.
- Same.
Unless I've invited them.
- In the middle of, so that's a big part of it,
if you're in the middle of nowhere,
you're more likely to encounter eagles.
But again, they are conspicuous.
They're not going to come out of nowhere.
So eagles also, their main way to get around
is soaring in thermal air.
So you're a big bodied eagle, it takes a lot of work
to fly,
so if it's in the morning or the evening,
and especially if the air's cold and still,
it would take a lot of work for you as an eagle
to fly around, so that's good for flying your parrots,
because one's not going to just come bombing in from
ten miles away.
Now, in the middle of the day,
most eagles are soaring quite high
and looking down at everything.
So that's when they're the most mobile.
Falconers call it eagle o'clock
at ten o'clock when all the eagle highways open up.
So that's a good thing to keep in mind,
if you're flying midday, if it's windy, if it's warm,
there's going to be a lot of raptors
just out riding the wind.
- Okay.
- So you wanna be aware.
Now, because eagles are soaring a lot, like I said,
you'll often see them,
and it takes them, it would take them a long time
to get out of their soar to you,
so what I would do, personally,
is make yourself very known.
So shout, wave your arms,
and that in itself would convince an eagle,
oh, okay, I'm gonna mosey on over here,
there's something weird there making a lot of noise.
- Okay, I guess another one of my questions is,
a lot of the time we hear falconers talk about
like oh, there's golden eagle nests on that hill
or that cliff side, or usually kind of mountain top-esque
is the feeling that I get,
yet I see them mostly hunting in open like farm fields
and valleys where I'm assuming that they're looking
for ground rodents sort of things.
Which one is more dangerous,
is it more dangerous to fly near the hills,
or is it more dangerous to fly in the open valley?
- Yeah.
So hills, this is true, they're going to nest in hills,
mountains, places that can elevate them,
and the hill also represents,
like I said, eagles, it's hard to move your big body,
a way for them to get up and get some height.
- Okay.
- So on a windy day, they'll go to the hill,
get up high,
catch a thermal,
and then start soaring out above the open ground
above the valleys.
- Okay.
- So the hills are like their home base,
and then when conditions are good,
they come out into the open.
- Okay, that makes sense.
All right.
So most likely, if we flew near hills
where there happened to be a nest
but we were unaware,
would it be more likely that we would get a chase
that's a bit more territorial,
or is it more likely that we probably wouldn't see them
because they only go visit there at certain times
when they either need to feed their young
or roosting or that sort of thing?
Would majority of their time be spent away from their home?
- Yeah, so eagles are very divide and conquer.
One will, which is good, one will incubate the eggs
or tend to the chicks,
and the other one will go out hunting.
So you have a bit of both.
But, I think,
this is a good question.
- They sound about equal because of that.
- Yeah.
I think they would make themselves known,
and then it would be good for you to relocate.
So they might initially be interested in
oh, it's my territory, I'm gonna scare this out of here,
and then if you stay too long, they might be like,
uh, might be good food for my chicks.
- Yeah.
Okay, that's kind of what I was thinking as well.
As far as size of parrots, how likely are they
to eat based on size?
So, my thought process, and I don't know if this
translates to eagles, which is what I'm curious about.
We fly little Sun Conures that are like 100 grams.
My thought process with that is like,
why go for something so little with so little meat.
Is that really worth it?
Or do they think of it differently,
versus a medium-size African Gray or Galah
that's more pigeon-size, it's between three and 400 grams,
to me, that seems like something they would be more likely
to go for, and then we have our large Macaws,
which we hope are more deterring,
because it's like maybe they would
get injured in that process,
possibly they would weigh the risks of going for something
that large that's around 1,000 grams,
what do you think the likelihood is of each of those?
- Yes, so, I agree with the small birds,
especially the Conures,
a few hundred grams, I think an eagle would think
it's not worth its time.
- Okay.
- And eagles, they're agile for something big,
but they're not that agile.
So, anything small like that that would really require
a lot of maneuvering, you don't have to worry about,
I wouldn't say, with eagles.
However, I think the risk goes up as the bird gets bigger,
and I think they would find the biggest birds
like Macaws very appealing.
- 'Cause there's a bigger payoff.
- Bigger payoff, they would think they're not as
maneuverable, and eagles aren't easily intimidated,
'cause we have records of them catching
foxes and coyotes, and so.
- [Jamie] Okay, so their risk assessment is,
like, yeah, probably not gonna hurt me.
- [Lauren] Yeah.
- [Jamie] Okay, well, darn.
- But, for everything except an eagle,
I would think there'd be a big intimidation factor
for hawks, for falcons.
- [Jamie] Where they're more of the same size?
- [Lauren] Yes.
- Okay, that makes sense.
So another question is,
when for us to be seasonally aware?
So their breeding season, their nesting seasons,
when is it more likely that they're gonna be out
and checking things out,
when is it more likely that young juveniles
are going to be more willing to just, you know,
go for something different?
What would you recommend to a free-flyer of like,
hey, you should stay within these limitations
just as a safety guideline.
- It's very important and perceptive,
so eagles typically lay their eggs in March,
and the eggs hatch in May.
So I would say, they're courting and nest-building
late January-February,
so from that point on, they're mating or thinking about it.
So they lay eggs in March, hatch in May,
and once they hatch, the eagles, of course,
also feel a big pressure to hunt and feed their young,
and so that will make them more
likely to try new things, predatorily.
And then so the eagles hatch May,
grow June, July, typically August they fledge.
- Okay.
- And again, so same sort of thing,
even though they fledge, it takes them a long time
to figure out how to hunt,
so the parents will help them,
help teach them how to hunt, maybe,
it's actually very cool to see,
they might bring say a pigeon,
the eagle might bring a pigeon that it's caught overhead
and then drop it and the young eagle
can practice catching it, so there's.
- Playing with their food.
- Yeah.
But after, especially after September,
they're all on their own, back to their solitary lives,
so,
it does make for a conundrum, so it's good to keep in mind.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- [Lauren] Winter's your least worry,
but then it's cold in winter.
- [Jamie] Yeah, and not so much fun.
- [Camera Man] That's awesome, 'cause we fly Moab
in April, so they're on eggs.
- Yeah.
- [Camera Man] And usually September, October,
when they're done with the juvenile side
and it's like.
- Yeah, we never fly in.
- [Camera Man] Everything you said, I'm like, oh,
no wonder we've never had.
- We're doing it right.
- [Camera Man] Yeah.
- We got this.
So I guess that's another question that I have,
when do they hunt together versus solo?
- Yeah, so really cool animals,
it makes it wonderful to bond to them as a falconer.
Because they'll transfer this willingness to hunt with you,
how they hunt with each other with you,
so mated pairs, bonded pairs, will hunt together,
and they'll stay,
they'll stay bonded together for as long as they both
are alive.
- Shall live.
- Yeah.
So, if one dies, they'll go find another mate,
which they should,
but so it can be years-long teamwork,
and it's quite cool to see.
One eagle might take the role of trying
to flush a jackrabbit that's hiding,
just get it to run,
while the other eagle is waiting overhead,
and then will come down and make the attempt
to actually catch it.
- Oh, wow.
- And then young birds that have just fledged
might stay together for a little while.
- Okay.
- Especially, so females tend to develop slower,
because they're bigger, they mature a little slower,
so it's not uncommon for a young female
to maybe glom on to her brother.
- Okay.
- Who's figured out hunting faster,
and then wants to get in on everything that he catches.
- Yeah.
- But yeah, so you'll see a little bit of that.
- Okay.
- Ultimately, though, they're very solitary
most of the time.
- Okay, so it's kinda that sibling dynamic,
and then the pair dynamic,
and other than that, they're going solo.
- Yes.
- Okay, so what I've come to learn,
especially just getting a glimpse at falconry,
I always thought hawks and falcons of all sorts
were at the top,
and then I learned that eagles are at the top of them.
Is there anything that is a threat to an eagle?
Like, is it another eagle, is it I don't know,
anything, do they have to worry about anything?
- Uh.
- [Camera Man] Teenagers with a shot gun?
- Stop.
- Well, this is,
you know, actually, this is true.
Eagles, there is a problem
with people shooting eagles still.
It's shocking to me,
so, I would say the main dangers
to wild eagles, shooting, electrocution,
landing on power poles.
- Oh, okay.
- Wind turbines, they can't anticipate
how quickly the blades move,
and they soar so much that they're always covering
much ground around where it's a good place
to put up wind turbines.
I do, when I fly my eagles,
I have to be cognizant of the territories
of other eagles,
because they'll get into territorial disputes,
and I have to respect the eagles that were there first.
- Yeah.
- Give them their space.
And then I would say, when they're hunting,
individual Golden eagles have different levels
of what they're willing to hunt,
I mentioned some will try to catch coyotes,
which, it is something they do,
but they also recognize that it's dangerous.
- Yeah.
- And so that would be the other danger.
If you're a very gutsy eagle, and you're trying
to catch big things, like the lion catching the wildebeest,
you put yourself in danger in that way.
But as far as predation, it's,
that is a nice thing that I don't have to worry about
anything trying to eat my eagle.
(both laugh)
- That is nice.
I guess, so the last question that I wanna end
on this part of the video,
is what classifies an eagle as an eagle?
- Oh yes, very arbitrary.
It's true, yeah, gosh,
'cause there's eagles, there's hawk eagles, there's.
- It gets a little confusing.
- It's confusing, sneak eagles.
Buzzer eagles.
Eagle owls.
- Yeah.
- Those are definitely owls, but yeah, so for
what we call true eagles,
would be Aquila eagles,
so eagles with the scientific name that starts with Aquila,
so our Golden eagle is Aquila chrysaetos,
but that is characterized by feathers
going all the way down their feet.
So most hawks and falcons, they have bare legs,
you'll see all the scales.
- Okay.
- But an eagle, next time you're up close to a
Golden eagle, notice that there's feathers
all the way down,
but gosh, so that's the true eagles.
But then there's sea eagles, so bald eagles
do not have that.
- Oh.
- So it's very arbitrary.
We tend to just make it anything that's a really big bird,
a big predatory bird.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- But biologists can talk all day
about what actually makes an eagle an eagle.
- Oh, okay.
I didn't realize it was gonna be that complicated.
- It's a whole thing.
- We'll just let that one go.
Well, thank you so much,
we're gonna pick up on this conversation
in part two of this video,
so make sure that you check out part two.
(upbeat music)