Currently, the number of people who want to keep feathered predators at home is constantly increasing. They mainly breed small owls, small falcons and hawks. When purchasing such a bird, you need to know: owls, falcons and hawks are not considered poultry, and keeping them at home poses a significant risk to your health. Very important factor keeping such a bird at home is normal nutrition; using beef or poultry as food does not create conditions for normal feeding for your pet. If we consider physiological needs, then for proper operation In the digestive system of birds of prey, components such as wool, feathers, and small bones are important. These “by-products” are indigestible components in the bird’s stomach; they form dense lumps - “pellets”. Bird at good conditions regurgitates pellets as they occur. In the absence of normal nutrition, if the predator does not form pellets (i.e., the food is completely digested), the regurgitation mechanism is disrupted. This subsequently affects peristalsis (contraction) of the entire intestinal tract. Loss of pellets can lead to impaired absorption of vitamins and minerals from the intestinal lumen. For predators, the absorption of calcium and magnesium plays a special role; if they are deficient, this leads to a general systemic disease in the bird.

You need to know one of the main aspects for finding birds of prey at home, this is due to the fact that the droppings spread in the form of a stream and cover a distance of up to two, three meters. Prepare for the fact that the room where you keep the bird will be spoiled, in addition to the bad smell from the remains of parts of the feed.

The biggest problem is that, since birds of prey are not completely tamed and remain constantly wild, it is very difficult for them to overcome their fear of humans. When you try to communicate more closely, they always take a defensive position, and are always ready to use their claws and beak. It is possible to raise raptor chicks, but they remain semi-wild.

If you decide to buy yourself a bird of prey or pick up a sick predator, you definitely need to remember the responsibility that you take on and be aware of its further fate. Most the best option This is to equip an aviary or use a cage, but it is very important that the volume of the cage allows the bird to spread its wings without problems, this will save the bird’s wings and feathers. It is strictly not recommended to keep a wild bird at home without a cage; the first thing that awaits you is repairs, the second is possible bad situations and injuries to the bird. She should walk around the apartment only under your control, and eat and sleep only in a cage or enclosure.

A convenient option for a small owl or a small kestrel would be a spacious cage for large parrots. Alternatively, you can build a cage with your own hands. The approximate parameters of the cage should be: 100x100x150 cm (for owls). It is recommended to place one perch inside the cage as a perch. The diameter of the perch should be such that the bird’s claws dig into the perch, and do not hang down, grasping it. A bird sitting on a perch should be able to flap its wings freely without touching the floor and walls of the cage. A small stump (chock) is placed in the center of the cage; this will be a table. You need to install the perches and stretch a plastic mat (artificial grass) over them. It is also recommended to lay a rug on the stump. This is necessary to prevent pododermatitis (naminitis) from occurring in birds. It is recommended to place the cage in a well-lit place, at the level of your chest, neither higher nor lower. There should always be fresh water in the cage, since the bird can bathe in it; for owls, it is recommended to hang the nest outside so as not to reduce the internal volume of the cage.

If the bird is not kept at home, it is recommended to build an aviary; its dimensions should be much larger than the size of the home cage, approximately three to four times. The perches should be the same as in the cage. So that the bird can withstand bad weather in the enclosure, the walls forming the corner are made solid, the roof must be completely closed. The other sides are covered with lattice or mesh. It is necessary to organize treatment for helminths 2 times a year and to conduct an examination with an ornithologist once a year.

Feeding birds of prey

At home, birds should be fed food that is as natural as possible. Wild poultry and mice and rats can be eaten at home.

If a predator in the wild ate birds, they can be replaced with chickens and quails.

They can be freely purchased at the market and specialized pet stores. Predators can be fed with lean meat (chicken necks, heads, beef tenderloin without veins and fat), but this is not enough, since this meat does not contain the required composition of vitamins, minerals and microelements that the whole carcass of the food item contains.

Birds of prey should not be fed animals caught in the wild: field mice, and other rodents or birds: sparrows, tits, pigeons, jackdaws. With such feeding, there is a high risk of contracting a helminthic infestation, since most helminths use birds as an intermediate host. Helminths can penetrate all tissues and organs.

When feeding, you should try to feed the birds whole carcasses along with feathers, wool, and bones. This is very important because in the bird’s gastrointestinal tract, pellets are formed from indigestible food debris; this is necessary for the normal functioning of the bird’s digestion. Normally, when feeding, the predator secretes a pellet from undigested wool and bones. This is a normal physiological component for a bird of prey. Do not forget that a predator must be fed with the carcasses of animals and birds, and very rarely, only as a last resort, with meat and nothing else. Adult birds are given food once a day, chicks 3-6 times a day, the number of feedings depends on age. Adult predators need to go on a fasting day once every seven days, but there must be fresh water. Be sure to feed half the diet once a week, and do not forget about fresh water. This is useful and will be a good preventive measure against bird obesity; physiologically it is similar to the natural habitat of a predator in nature. In the wild, a predator cannot always catch prey normally. Therefore, he does not always have food in his diet.

As a rule, birds of prey do not drink in good and moderate weather. And during the heat, they drink a lot of water and love to swim.

There are the following feeding norms for raptors: for the long-eared or short-eared owl, kestrel, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, the norm of food per day is 2-3 mice or chicken, for the gray owl, goshawk 2-3 mice or chicken, or one quail.

When feeding a sick bird, food should be served with a wooden stick approximately 10 cm long. When force-feeding hawks and owls, the meat should be placed on the tip of the stick and pressed firmly against the bird's beak. The bird will open its beak, and you need to carefully push the meat into the beak and turn the stick. The meat that gets into the beak can be slightly pushed, thereby provoking a swallowing reflex in the bird. This is done carefully so as not to scratch the back wall of the pharyngeal mucosa. In this process, you cannot use metal objects; you can injure the bird’s beak.

If the bird is in good condition, food should be placed on a clean board or stump and the bird should be allowed to eat on its own. If the bird is injured, food should be placed behind it on the perch.

When feeding kestrels, you can additionally use crickets and grasshoppers. Osprey is a fish-eating bird, but sometimes it can be fed with beef; this is recommended only in extreme cases. For her, you must have a large tank of water, this is necessary for swimming.

If you have little owlets and you want to teach them to hunt on their own, then you need to place a lamp near the cage and turn it on in the evening. Insects flying into the light will be good prey for owls and nightjars.

A little about owls.

You need to know that almost all owls are very inquisitive and mischievous creatures; when they become pets, you take full responsibility for the life and safety of the owlet. For the most part, owls are conservative; they quickly get used to a new habitat and love that all surrounding objects and furnishings are in their places and nothing has changed. The normal food for owlets is Japanese quail. This bird can be purchased at large grocery supermarkets. The quail carcass is cut into small pieces along with the bones, the bones are crushed as little as possible. Large and sharp bones are removed. When feeding a medium-sized owlet, cut the pieces of food into small pieces about 1 cm by 1 cm. In addition to quails, you can feed mice and day-old chicks chopped into pieces.

In cases where it is not possible to quickly find normal food, you can feed the owlet chicken hearts or pieces of beef heart for 1-2 days. And in as soon as possible you need to find normal and nutritious food.

You should not feed your owl pork, beef or sausage.

Very rarely, you can feed chicken or turkey fillet, rabbit meat, or hammered chicken necks. Additionally, you can use chicken liver, but owlets may be reluctant to peck at it and you don’t need to give it a lot.

Food in the form of small pieces should be given directly to the owlet's beak, especially when he asks to eat by opening his beak. Since he is not yet able to eat on his own.

A medium-sized owlet should consume about 50 grams of food per day.

We should never forget that predatory bird, caught in nature, always remains a predator.

Falcons are the most common bird of prey in the world. Their graceful name comes from the word falx, which means “sickle”. This name is due to the peculiar shape of the wings that they can take during flight. Thanks to such wedge-shaped wings, falcons are able to maneuver deftly and achieve incredible results. high speed in a diving flight.

Scientists have proven that the Falconiformes order contains 12 genera and about 60 species. This order includes the smallest bird of prey called the pygmy falcon (the size of which is from 15 to 19 cm and weight up to 35 grams) and the largest predator - the peregrine falcon. According to experts, this is the fastest living creature in the world. In a diving, rapid flight, the peregrine falcon is capable of reaching speeds of up to 322 km/h. True, in horizontal flight it is inferior in speed to the swift.

Having discovered prey during a hunt, the falcon takes a position above the victim and dives down at a right angle very quickly, while hitting the prey tangentially with its paws pressed to the body with such force that it dies instantly.

Ever since Kievan Rus it was the peregrine falcon that was called the falcon. And only much later did this species acquire a modern, larger-scale meaning. But even now, when talking about falcons, people mean peregrine falcons.

Types of birds of prey

Diurnal predators belonging to falcons are conventionally divided into several ethnic groups:

• kestrels- small reddish birds with a dark pattern;
• Hobbies- well-built large birds with dark gray plumage;
• large falcons- in some cases their size is comparable to the size of a hawk.

Habitats and nesting sites

The peregrine falcon is capable of flying all over the globe, so you can find these feathered predators almost everywhere. Typically, this bird chooses places to live where there is very little influence from human activity. Rocky shores of various bodies of water are considered favorite habitats.

In central Russia, the peregrine falcon can most often be found in steppes and semi-deserts, as well as on peat bogs. In Central Europe, these birds of prey make nests on steep cliffs. The peregrine falcon prefers to use the nests of other birds of prey to furnish its home. They correct such a nest and make it spacious so that parents and chicks can live in it. And if a falcon has to build a nest on rocks or on the ground, they mostly make only a primitive bedding from branches and large feathers. A high-quality nest located in a good location can support several generations of this bird of prey. Moreover, each pair has several spare nests, in case the main one is destroyed.

Appearance of a falcon

It is noteworthy that the female is larger than the male. The weight of an adult female is 0.9–1.3 kg, while an adult male weighs 0.65–0.8 kg. The peregrine falcon's body length is 40–50 cm, with a wingspan reaching 90–120 cm.

The predator has a strong physique, which is characteristic of active birds of prey. The main distinguishing features of the falcon are its wide chest with convex and hard muscles, strong fingers with steeply bent and sharp claws, and a curved sickle-shaped beak. The tail, rounded at the end, is narrow and relatively long. The eyes are bulging, large, around which there is a yellowish ring of bare skin. Eye color – dark brown.

The color of the falcon bird is dark gray. The ends of the wings are black. But the abdominal part of the body has a light color, which, depending on the habitat, can look in different tones (from grayish-white to pinkish). The lower part of the tail is black and has a white stripe.

Nutrition

The falcon feeds mainly on small and medium-sized birds. The most popular menu of this bird of prey:

• blackbirds;
• starlings;
• sparrows;
• pigeons;
• ducks

The diet varies depending on the birds and mammals living in the area. A large falcon is capable of hunting not only a flying prey, it is capable of catching and neutralizing even an animal sitting on the ground.

If a falcon bird is kept in a nursery, it must be constantly supplied with real game. Other food may be harmful to the health of the predator. If you decide to start breeding these birds, you will need to seriously think about the question of how to feed your bird the appropriate food.

The bird's diet must be balanced. Optimal nutrition perhaps if the falcon periodically receives either lean meat or game meat. Provided they follow such a diet, they are able to reproduce in captivity.

Reproduction

Falcons are considered monogamous birds, so pairs remain together for many years of life. Falcon breeding season begins in April or May. Birds of northern species begin to breed a little later.

The male, calling for a female, spins in a spiral, performs various aerial pirouettes, and suddenly somersaults or dives. And if the female crouches at a short distance, it is considered that the pair has been formed. And also during courtship, the male falcon can feed the female on the fly, passing her his prey.

During the nesting season falcons are very aggressive towards strangers. Even with a high density of birds, the distance between neighboring nests can exceed 1 km, more often it is 2–6 km. Birds need such a large territory to provide sufficient food for their offspring. Within one such territory, a family of falcons sets up up to seven nesting sites, which they use alternately for several seasons.

When defending its nests, the falcon becomes very aggressive and can attack a larger predator. If a falcon senses the approach of a person, it gives an alarm signal and begins to worry already at a distance of 200–300 m from the nests.

The female lays eggs once a year. But if the first eggs were lost for some reason, the female can lay them again. The female usually lays 3 eggs (much less often 2–5) with an interval of 48 hours.

Shedding in the falcon it occurs like in other bird species. Shedding begins in June and ends in October.

Despite the fact that the falcon is considered a dangerous bird of prey, its influence on the population of other birds is quite insignificant, because only one attack out of 10 is successful for the predator.

Worsening ecological situation and the threat from poachers have led to a gradual decline in falcon populations worldwide. And even listing the majority of falcon species in the Red Book cannot yet solve the problems of the development of these birds of prey.

The falcon is a bird of prey that can attack and get food while in flight. Long wings, sharp claws and a keen gaze help him in this. In a few seconds it reaches the victim and carries it away in its claws.

Falcon diet

Under natural conditions, the falcon feeds on birds that reach an average size; sometimes it hunts mammals, but only in rare cases.

Most often, the predator chooses partridges, seabirds, which are located in bird markets, it is easier to catch the victim there. The falcon can also choose auks (puffins, guillemots, loons), long-tailed ducks, gulls (glaucous, three-toed, silver), waders, sandpipers, and stoats.

Falcons, whose habitat is forest, choose forest birds such as black grouse, ptarmigan, hawk owls, sparrow and great-footed owl, and teal. The main food for such falcons is white partridges.

Sometimes these predators can also hunt mammals - hares, squirrels and lemmings. The falcon can attack ducks, grouse and domestic pigeons.

The falcons' diet also depends on the changing seasons. What does a falcon eat in winter? During this period, white partridges become the main and almost only food; when living near non-freezing water, they can also hunt aquatic birds.

Features of hunting and nutrition

Every day a falcon eats about 200 grams, but it all depends on the living conditions, sometimes the volume can be more. If the predator is well-fed and has a sufficient amount of food, then it will only eat large muscles from the victim. This bird does not eat the prey immediately; first it brings it to a place where it plucks and butchers it. If there are chicks, the male brings the prey, and the female cuts it up and feeds it.

The falcon is an excellent hunter; it only catches flying birds with its beak, and then breaks the neck and back of the head. It is thanks to these qualities of birds that since ancient times people have been organizing falconry, which is still popular today.

Small daytime predators in the house The common kestrel is a very common predator. It is his ringing cry “kli-kli-kli-kli” that is heard in the spring at the edge of the forest. It is the kestrel that we see so often over the field, trembling in one place, as if suspended by an invisible thread. The bird is the size of a pigeon. It is beautifully colored in red tones, the males are especially beautiful. Chicks taken from the nest adapt perfectly to captivity and quickly become completely tame.

The kestrel is one of our most useful birds. Our kestrels, brought as chicks from the Stalingrad region, remained in our memory for a long time as cheerful and pleasant birds. We fed them mainly meat. They ate it clearly more readily than the red-footed falcon. When the chicks grew up, they lived together in a separate enclosure. The young birds loved to play. Among the enclosure was a tree trunk. Using it, the kestrels started a game of hide and seek. One was hiding behind him, clinging to the bark, and peeking out. Another pretended to be looking for her friend. Then she suddenly rushed at her: a chase and a fight began. Sometimes one of the birds got tired of the game and the kestrel left it, while the other continued to have fun: it grabbed a fir cone or stick on the floor of the enclosure, threw it into the air, and tried to catch it with its beak. All this was done with unusual antics and jumps for a bird. Captivated by the example, the calmed bird also took up the same game. The two of them started fussing again. And, really, at these moments the kestrels looked more like playing kittens than birds. When getting yourself a kestrel, do not forget that this is one of our useful birds - exterminators of rodents in the fields.

The steppe kestrel was kept by zoologist M.N. Kishkin. She appeared in a house from the outskirts of Kustanai as a small downy chick. She was fed meat (most often lamb) and large insects (mostly orthoptera and beetles). The bird's favorite food was spurge hawk moth pupae, which were given in winter. In addition to the above, the kestrel ate much more.

The visual acuity of predators can be judged from the story of the owner of this kestrel. One day, a bird, sitting near the ceiling of the room, noticed a fruit fly crawling across the table. This insect is hardly larger than a flea. The kestrel flew down and crushed the fly with its paw, or rather with its fingers folded into a fist.

The kestrel loved to bathe in a plate of water. In connection with. This caused a scandalous incident. A completely bald professor came to visit her owner. Seeing the shiny surface, the bird instantly flew onto the guest's head and began to squat and shake its wings, as it did while swimming. The kestrel had many different habits. One of the most unpleasant was that the bird would snatch pencils, pens, brushes from my hands or look for them in the room. She stacked everything stolen on the ledge near the ceiling. M. N. Kishkin considered the kestrel an excellent “barometer”. 3-4 hours before the weather change she became drowsy: she closed her eyes, dozed off and “nodded off.”

This kestrel lived in captivity, flying freely around the room, for more than four years. The bird was completely tame and, of course, everyone’s favorite. She died from a completely unusual reason - she ate too much sour cream, which she loved very much. An autopsy showed that the bird died due to intestinal obstruction, in which the sour cream formed a hard plug.

The falcon is the smallest, most beautiful and, perhaps, our most useful falcon. The male is slate gray with bright red paws and beak cere. Female - with streaks on the chest, dark gray above; young ones are almost the same color, but lighter. Falcons diligently catch mice when there are a lot of them. But the main and common food is large insects. These falcons, having an easy and fast flight, catch them in the air or peck (locusts, beetles) from the ears of corn in the field, right in flight. Falcons are widespread in our country, but are numerous only in the steppe South. Here they do not make their own nest, but use old ones, most often magpie ones. However, magpie nests in the south also replace hollows for other hollow nesters: forest owls and scops owls, kestrels, etc. I once had to take about two dozen falcons from the banks of the Ilovlya (a tributary of the Don), from the Stalingrad region, to Moscow. They were needed for work on studying flight. In addition, I wanted to release them in the Moscow region. Maybe they would settle here.

Many falcons lived in magpie nests. But only chicks were selected - downy ones or those that began to dress with feathers (later it turned out that the former became incomparably more tame than the latter).

The chicks were placed in groups of 3-4 in special long boxes with a metal mesh on one side. They were seated not by belonging to the same family, but by age. The main food for falcons was raw meat, which they were not very willing to consume. I had to use a net to kill insects for them: they ate locusts greedily. The sparrows helped us out - we made observations on their agricultural importance and dissected many chicks, on some days - several dozen. At this time, our red falcons, of course, were not starving. Occasionally, crushed eggshells were included in the meat. Despite such a monotonous diet, our birds grew and developed normally. We fed them three times a day. The grown chicks were released from the boxes where they lived to go for a walk. They were given the opportunity to run and then fly. So that they get used to people better, they carry them on their hands.

The red falcons were delivered to the Bolshevo Biological Station. The difficulty of transportation was that, when hungry, the chicks screamed at the top of their lungs. They were echoed by the other birds we were carrying. As soon as feeding began, the screaming intensified. Since it lasted several minutes, we had to keep the chicks in the heating room of the carriage. They couldn't be heard from there.

At the Bolshevskaya Biological Station, red falcons appeared in the most unusual way. We arrived from the expedition on the day and hour of its anniversary celebration. The birds were so tame that I decided to use them for a little hoax. When the director finished his speech, I appeared in front of the ceremonial table, wrapped in a black curtain, on my shoulders, head and arms - hawks sat everywhere. You can imagine the noise that arose at the table. But the falcons were unperturbed - one of them was cleaning himself, another started a game with a neighbor and tried to grab him by the beak, the third, the eldest, noticing something worthy of attention on the table, flew down, knocked over a bottle of wine, broke a plate and, frightened, he returned to his shoulder. The whole company, including two kestrels and three black-headed gulls, was housed in a large enclosure.

Our birds, without a doubt, distinguished from other people the woman who brought food and stayed with them for a long time. Already in winter, one of the falcons, living in her apartment, was indifferent to all the people who entered the room, although he took food from their hands. But as soon as the owner came home from work, the bird transformed and flew. to her, sat on her shoulder and expressed joy with all her behavior: she screamed, pressed her cheek. The falcon sat on the woman's shoulder for hours, traveling with her from room to room. Red falcons living at the biological station were often allowed out for a walk. They flew excellently, flashing like lightning near the house, but they were cowardly and did not move away from the biological station. One day, a frightened falcon came rushing from the direction of the village. He flew into the crown of a tree above the enclosure and hid there: a killer whale swallow was chasing him. The behavior of the red falcons was very strange when, having swooped in, they returned home for dinner. The birds sat on the trees near the aviary and began to scream - asking for food. They never wanted to fly down, even if they were shown the most delicious treats from the ground. I had to put a ladder up to the tree and climb behind each falcon. At the top, he immediately jumped from a twig to a person’s shoulder or head, descended with him to the ground and greedily pounced on the food.

The favorite food of falcons in captivity is large beetles, and any, for example, bronze birds, which no other bird seems to eat. The falcon takes the beetle in his fist, without bending, brings it to his beak and first tears off its head, then the elytra and wings. After this, the bird begins to stroke the insect from the inside and after a minute throws away the cleanly eaten chitin like an empty shell. The falcon takes any food into its fist, and this makes the feeding process very funny.

Autumn has come. Several red falcons were taken to Moscow, to the laboratory, to continue working with them, others were released into the wild. Actually, they were already free; they had just stopped feeding them. For a long time afterwards the falcons flew to the house. They screamed, called people, sat by the window and knocked on the glass with their beaks, trying to get into the room, which they managed so easily in the summer, when the windows were wide open. The red falcons visited us less and less, and then disappeared completely. We knew the fate of only one of them - he was shot (thought to be a hawk!) by some “hunter”.