!\ \ Pltrtto bt, Rob Palmer nalDd qoa q opqd flN ouolFurrrueg 'O'IA[ ururtul senruf 's'n, oql u gWoppurold wffipn Ig 'S'n aql ut uoJIeJ opeuoldy aqt qll^{ Surlung 32 Hunting with the Aplomado falcon in the U.S prey such as bobrvhites. Aplomado Falcons are social to the extent that mated pairs hunt together and catr be found together throughout the year and they hunt cooperativeli' r,vhen chasing avian prey. Siblings remain together for some time after becoming independent and hunt together. In Hector's study, birds account for an estirnated 97% of the prey biomass. Most birds are sized witl-r the smallest .J dove to robin being a hummingbird. The most ,-.€' commonly taken birds rvere lvhitc- '* winged doves, great tailed grackles. *.. * groove billed anis and yellorv billed cuckoos. Y had heard and read about I aolomado falcons bul ner er' I to have the op- portunity"lp".,"d to fly one. When I sarl that.|im Nelson, a falconer in Ken- newick, Washington, was breeding them, I thought long and hard about obtaining one. I currentl)' fly a f'emale peregrinc on ducks, pheasants and prairie chickens in Nebraska and I recentll' lost mv I'emale barbary'x merlin to a mptor. I love the stoop but I realll,missed thc pursuit flights at snrall avian quarry/. The advantage o1'{l,ving a "; pursuit falcon is that slips :rt small at,iau quar r)1 are plentifirl through- : r :E:= out the year and it is fiil-r to rvatch. I -.:13'.:::# knerv that purchasine an aplomado rvas going to be expensivc and thel' ilttthor ancl Sgt. Peltpa: Apknnudo lcrrue tlu: n in a hun1. 'I'heir ar celn'ati.on Jnlcons f are at risk of being killed b1' other n standing'slat't ntust lte scen lo be nppredrtted. Pltoto l\ Rolt Pulnter' fion raptors. I decicled to procccd be- cause thcrc are so f'en' bleedcrs. he fbllorving information 3. Fa l co fbnt orulis pir:h irt ch ac Thc and it rnal'bc the only'opportunitr, is from Dean Hector's darkest and largest o1'thc subspe- I lvould ever have to expelience this chapter in llrtndbook o.f cies, distributcd in the higher tvpe o{'bird ancl flight. North Atnericon Bird.sVtlume 5, pages elevations in the Andes. Cauca I spoke toJinr Nelson at lengtl-r 317-322. \ralley of Columbia south to f ierra and decidecl on a n-rale aplomado. Thcre are ?, sr-tbspecics of Aplo- del Fuego. Higher elevation in Tlris bird tyas a I-ak:o Jernoralis pich- mado falcons. northnest Argcntina to sea level inthctt:, and verl' capablc of taking l. Fulco fem oral i.s selttentriort alis'. along the Chilean coast. small birds up to the size of bob- The bird that fonnerl;'nested in Te x- ffllrc avcrag(' rvc'ights ftrr u,hite quail, u'hich is all I rvauted. as, Ne\\,NIexico and Arizona rvhich I rnales ale 208-i105 gram\ In addition. the male rvas qrlite a bit is being introduced in Brorvusr,ille , I (2{'r0 grams) and fe'"males lcss expensivc than the I'emale.Jin-r Texas. Its distribution rvas {r-om tlie are 310-500 grams (407 grams). and I decided that I rvould get thc southern US to Nicaraeua. Aplornados have long accipiter like young fhlcor-r at 32 days of ase. Hc 2. Fuk'o fenornli.s Jbnoralis: The tarsi and lonser tails and rvings than arrived in a czrrrier and I took him smallest and most pale subspe- a peregrine . In ler,el flight the aplo- into the rneu'and opened the door. cies, distributed fiom Costa Rica mado is extremely srvift, capable of Hc camc running out of the crate to Tierra del Fuego (rvhich is thc out flying such species as mourn- and ran all around the men'. His southern tip of Argentina, and ing doves, rock doves and killdeer. legs rve re long and I could see rvhy thus South America) primarily the In addition, it is agile afoot and peoplc compare them to accipiters lowlands. often runs dorvn ground oriented on foot. I named him Sgt. Pepper pue pallDl L11en1ua,ra aH :requeqr umop (e1 tsnfplno^r serxoaruos puz lsoru aqt Suraq .{o-r1gry41 d;:eg'aur eql ur lunb aqt peq (yuo {1en1uana sraplnoqs pue s8al dur uo punor" dlaq ppo,n tuqt sopzrrroldz Eur(g puu ssulreJ ar{t Sur,rual paddors 1 unr 'pzaq ,(ur ot dn ,{g ppon eH eJeM oqM sJeuolleJ Jeqlo o] eur 'ruaq] Jo IIe uaql puz pzd Sururns 'pJrq aql qlnt ,,.{u1d,, puz puoq ol pJJJaJer osle eH'suoJIeJ opeuoydz -uor pu" s,no:"reds aqr Surlpl pauzls Jequuqf, eq] ur aurl puads pue IzJaAes palunq pue pasreJ 'pa;q szq aq tsrg ty'apr,rord ot eru uo 3ur11a-r u^/\{op lrs puu pooJ plo aql a^orrraJ eq asnu)aq ef,Jnosel snopuaruaJl u3q1 reql€J pooJ a^rl aqt arunsuo:) pue .\l.eru arll Jelua plno,{r 1 'nod e se^r uoslap unf 'aurz8 o1 p-rrq aqr puu ilII o] petelrlour aureraq (11e qlr^{ pooJ aturlosse lou plno,,!t pJrq Surralua ro Surpooq'Surpaa; sz:e3 -nlua^a aH 'tulq qll^r uollf€Jalur aql os Jequreqr aqt otur 1r Surrq se lradxa o1 luq^r Mou{ tou prp I ssel eAEq pu? raqu€qr eql ul pooJ no.( uaq.tr pooJ eql relotr ot tseq ll os 'a8e srq] l€:oldzr E pasr"J Janau ssel e^sal ol pauBls osF I elun uI rq8noqr rurf 'paluer* aq s€ qJnru se puq I 'llnp? u3 seuroreq eq uerlM '&:znb rellzrus dq parzpruuur ssal lee o1 ,(Iep urq o1 sszlrel eqt apl^ {1z-rnluu a}zur Ilrr\r eq os sprrq Jaqto aq tqSnu aq teq] Sur4urqr taqur€qf, -o-rd ol penunuof, 1 'sserrzr lenb uo luudrur o] urlq ,\rolle o1 szn Jeu aql ur srnro:-rzds qsrlSug e,rq 1nd osle dn-1ne dypq-rzd e uro4 Surtu e sel* aq -ueru srql ul urlq Sursrergo asodrnd I os 'tuaq] peqrlem lsnf aq ipznb s1,rzp Zgtu prrq aqr pe^rerer I uarl!\ aql'paddrqs Suraq aroJaq s8urlqrs 'aseq:) 'r8g aqt as€qr t,uplp aq'.(11zr1ru1 'ill,ufz:adda4 paag o] s.4\oluds srq qlrl{ pasruJ 'lur:durr 1unp se,r (ueru " o1 Surqlauros eleq plnom aq ul qsq8ug paddal 1 'tuarudolar, prlq sIqI 'rq311dlauartxa szm 8ur (qrlzaq pa{lH lrlttqn prrsdqd puu lf,ultsul -ap e roJ srseq:eln8ar e uo -peo1-Sum srH 'leal euru Jo lq8raq d-rolepa;d s,prlq aql uaq^r teql os .tro;rzds pl$ peal ol sa{rl eq prES Sutlar qtrm looJ ual x taeJ tq8ra sr ,+4.aru aq] ur 1rcnb arul Sunod arreq ,fu:211'rca[o:d Surpaa:q opzuroldz maur d6 'rlreru eql eprsur alDI uele ot aru plo] osle urrf 'tno 1r arn8g srq roJ sasn uoslaN iulfy plnom pue sarur1 Iurales Eurddots o1 q8noua uurus a-re,,(aql esne)aq qrlq^ 'opeuolde Eur,no-# | lnoqll\r Meur eqt punoJ€ Sul{g se,n 'prrq aql tuo:; pooJ aqt aprq o1ft1 aqt pral or lrznb p,(og pzq I aq $lae^r eJou Jo aldnor reUV ue^a l.useop aq 13ql eul plol ,fureg i^u[vH SXNVHJ'o1{tE] 'teal ualas lnoqeJo qr:ad q8rq" aqr 'pooJ eqt 8ur-ra.ror Ia,rol eql enorrr ol r{sza pu€ af,JnosoJ snopueruaJl z ot dn SudU se.\\ eq s(ep aa:ql ulqtlv\ -er plno./!r I ,tteru aqi Uel I uaqlA 'uzru lea:8 e sr .(r-re11 'sanads srql 1nq'panure aq ueqmpunorS aqt;go 'daa1s pu€ raplnoqs de1 {ru uo qlr.,* .{J}unof, Jno ur paruar:adxa o^rt plnof, aq pue "ro taa; lnoq€,(g '(1uo nutlod qoy Q opqd 'aaop Fututnoul, n uo ?mso1t uoqn{ oporuofl.y gg 'S'n aql ul uoJIeJ operuoldy eqt q1^\ EupunH rilt 34 Hunting with the Aplomado falcon in the U.S. Sgt. Pepper a,rul his.first flight at bobuhite quail. Photo by A. Johnson consumed the quail, so I decided the mew, he rvas quiet all day and and kite arvhile and then if I didn't to leave several in there for him to when he heard me or saw me he produce it he n'ould fly around and have at lvill. One day I rvent in to started to call. I introduced the lure back to the perch. I noticed that check on Sgt. Pepper and he had to him while in the mew. I stopped the wind did not bother him. He killed all the quail and consumed puttirlg live quail into the chamber, handled high wind easily and if he just the heads, so I stopped that pro- and substituted a lure rvith a whole flewby me he rvould back up in the gram because it rvas too expensive. quail on it. Within a felv days time, I air using the rvind to accomplish his I gradually increased the size of the could throrv the garnished lure into goal. Sgt. Pepper's flight skills rvere quail to a fully grown bobrvhite. He the chamber and he rvent right to amazing at such a young age. could easily catch and kill the quail it and consumed the fbod. I then never hooded him consrs- and rvould control it by grasping it took Sgt. Pepper up, hooded him, tently, n'hich r'r'as a mistake. by the head. jessed him and put a backpack and I needed to hood him to uring this "isolation" transmitter on.