Terminology & Definitions Flashcards
Aba
A cloth wrap that immobilizes a bird to calm her or hold her for examination
Aerie
A raptor’s nesting place, usually high up such as on a cliff.
Alula
Three small, stiff feathers control the flow of air over the wing during flight. The ‘thumb’ feathers
Anklets
The leather strap which goes around the bird’s leg. The jesses are attached to this. Sometimes also called a bracelet.
Austringer
A person who flies short-wing or broad-wing hawks, also called a Shortwinger and sometimes (mostly in jest) “dirt hawker”.
**Aylmeri
Leather anklets and jesses designed by the late Guy Aylmeri; replacement for traditional jesses. Anklets with a hoe or grommet, and jesses that feed through the grommet stopped by a knot or button on the end. Removable
Bal Chatri
A traditional trap used by many raptor banders, rehabilitators, and falconers commonly called a BC. This is one of the safest and simplest traps available. It is a small cage for bait keeping them separate from an attacking bird, then small monofilament nooses over the top that will ensnare the toes.
Band
A plastic or metal identification ring that goes around the bird’s leg. Some states require certain wild taken species to be banded, other states require all wild taken birds to be banded, and other states have no such requirements, however most states require captive bred birds to be banded.
Bate
The action of the bird attempting to fly from a perch or the fist while attached by a leash. The bird may be startled and wanting to leave, may have seen something attractive and curious to fly to it, or may be impatient to be flying or hunting.
Bathe
Getting into a bathpan and soaking her feathers. It is an important part of raptor husbandry to encourage a good soaking.
Beak
The keratin covering of the mouth protecting the tongue and mouth opening.
Bechin
A small tidbit of food.
Bells
Exactly that: small bells attached to the bird’s tarsus, tail, or around the neck. The benefit of this is to be able to hear the bird when she is in trees hidden by leaves or on the ground on quarry hidden by brush.
Bewit
Small strips of leather which attach the bells or other hardware to the bird’s leg. If a different material is used as a bewit, it should not be attached directly to the leg, but rather to the anklet. A cable tie is a great convenience, but must never be attached around the bird’s leg.
Bind
To grab and hold; a bird can bind to quarry, a lure, or the falconer’s hand.
Block Perch
The traditional perch for a falcon.
Blood Feathers/ Blood Quills
Feathers which still are still growing and have blood supplied through the shaft.
Bloom
The healthy sheen to the feathers indicating proper nutrition, management, and waterproofing.
Bob
Up-and-down head movement showing interest; thought to be for judging distance to an object.
Bow Net
A trap that, when set, looks like a circle laying on the ground. When the bird comes in to investigate the bait, the trap is sprung causing the circle to release over the bird creating a semi-circle and a bag of net over the now trapped bird.
Bow Perch
The traditional perch for a hawk.
Bowse
To Drink.
Braces
Leather straps on the hood which open and close it.
Brail
A leather thong used to restrain one wing on a bird to prevent it from bating, especially during manning.
Brancher
An immature bird who can only jump from branch to branch; has developed pin feathers but has not flown.
Break in
To tear into the catch and begin eating.
Button
The folded section of leather that acts as a stopper for the jesses against the anklet, or the braided end of a leash. This may also be called a knurl.
Cadge
A frame serving as a perch used to carry several birds at once.
Cast (3 meanings)
Cast can mean to hold a bird down (in restraint) for examination, as in the phrase “We cast the bird to cope her.” The meaning here is that the bird was held down so that her beak could be trimmed and shaped.
Cast may also mean a group of birds (typically Harris’ Hawks) flown and hunted together like a pack.
The lump of indigestible fur, bone, and other material that a bird casts up. This is usually called a pellet in owls. Casting can also be the behavior of bringing up a cast. (Coughing it up)
Cast Away
To vomit the contents of the stomach and crop. Rarely used term.
Cast Off
With the bird on the fist, this is the action of pushing it to be airborne.
Cere
The smooth, featherless skin just above the beak where it attaches to the forehead. Also called the operculum.
Chaps
Chaps are leg protectors for a bird, primarily used when hunting squirrels as the squirrel teeth can severely damage a bird’s leg or toe.
Choanal Slit
The slit in the roof of the mouth which connects to the bird’s sinuses.
Cloaca
The external opening to expel fecal matter. In birds there is a single opening for intestinal (fecal matter), urinal (urine and urates), and genital tracts.
Commissure
The delicate corner of the mouth, also called the commissural point.
Coping
To re-shape the bird’s beak into its optimal form; to trim the growth and shape it up.
Coverts
Row of feathers which run down the wing above the primaries and secondaries. This is the generally referred to feathers when somebody says “coverts”. There are other covert feathers over the body such as those on the tail and over the alulas.
Crab
To fight or tussle over a catch; two birds of a cast may crab each trying to gain control and break in to the catch.
Creance
A long line or cord attached to the bird while training. Ten yards is going to work for most situations, but for free flights to verify that your bird is ready to be taken from the creance, many recommend 50 yards in length.
Crines
The short hair-like feathers around the cere and beak.
Crop
The crop of the bird is like a pouch along the esophagus. It is where food is initially placed before it moves into the stomach. Food comes here for quick storage and to soften it and to separate out the digestibles from the indigestibles. It is useful to note that owls have no crop.
Crouch
The action of lowering the body and extending the wings slightly in anticipation of leaping into flight.
Crural
The feathers that cover the leg from the upper leg to the abdomen. In some species the crural feathers cover the leg to the top of the foot.
Deck
The two center tail feathers in the train.
Dho-gazza
A trap consisting of a net suspended between a bird and bait. The bird flies into the net and the net collapses around the bird entangling her. This can be more stressful than some other traps as the bird must be sorted out from the netting.
Draw the braces
To pull the braces of a hood such that they tighten and close.
Enseam
To bring a hawk out of her moult by nutritional management, weight management, and exercise, sometimes also called reclaim when there is manning to be done after the moult as well.
Enter
To introduce a bird to a particular quarry while hunting with her falconer. The bird may well have taken particular game while in the wild, but she is still entered when she first experiences this with her handler.
**Eyass
A downy baby raptor; no pin feathers started. This can also refer to a bird taken from a nest as a downy chick.
Feak
The action of rubbing the beak against a surface to clean it; sign of content bird.
Fledgling
An immature bird who has flown at least once, but is still not in control and under the care of adult birds.
Foot
To grab something with the foot and talons; this action is done to a lure or quarry to subdue or kill it. (“I got taloned/grabbed by my bird” = “I got footed by my bird”)
Free-loft
A management technique where the bird is allowed the full roam of her mews without being tethered. Some birds do not acclimate to this well and some situations are not set up for this to be safe.
Fret Marks
(Stress bars) A line across feathers created when a bird is starved or diseased while she was growing the feather. Also called stress marks, stress bars, shock marks, hunger streaks, or hunger traces.
Full summed
Referring to the end of the moult when a bird has grown in the full set of the new feathers.
Gape
Referring to the breadth of the bird’s mouth opening from corner to corner. Sometimes people use this term to mean the opening of the mouth in general, but it specifically is referring to the opening across the delicate corners of the mouth, the gap. Often used with comments about how a particular hood is fitting.
Gauntlet
The glove worn by the falconer, traditionally on the left hand.
Glottis
The valve at the base of the tongue that closes the trachea to food or liquid.
Gorge
To fully feed a bird as much as she wants to eat in a meal, typically as a reward for a significant effort or forward step in training.
**Hack
To allow a bird complete freedom to come and go as she pleases (temporary release), however usually the falconer still provides food and shelter. This is most typically done with immature birds who are being raised without imprinting. The falconer will then capture these birds just before they would take off for migration or to hunt on their own. Hacking is also done when transitioning birds back into the wild as a soft release. It may also be done with birds during the summer months when the falconer has, for all intents and purposes, released a bird to the wild, but the bird continues to return on her own. It serves as a soft-release.
Haggard
A wild bird in her adult plumage over one year old.
Hallux
The toe which faces backwards on most raptors. In hawks, this is the talon most responsible for puncturing the vitals of prey. Technically, this is labeled toe #1.
Halsband
The German term for a strap of leather looped around the bird’s neck and then hung down to help propel the bird (mainly Accipiters). Also called a jangoli.
Hard penned
Referring to the shaft of the feather after the blood supply has rescinded. While the feather is growing the base of the feather shaft is blue from the blood supply. Once the feather has hardened and the base turned white, the blood supply is no longer flowing to the feather and the bird is referred to as hard penned.
Giant hood / Hawk box
The ventilated box used to contain a bird for travel.
