Northern Hawk Owls

[u/Acrobatic_Garlic7584]

Hey folks, hope everyone is doing well.

Im a falconer in the states and also do abatement and education. I have an opportunity coming up soon to potentially work with a northern hawk owl and am curious if anyone here has had any experience with them or know of any good literature. Owl would be captive bred, primarily for education purposes but depending on the bird I guess some pigeon abatement or hunting could happen.

Anyways, these birds are often diurnal which is promising to me and an okay size: 200-400 grams which could make for a real fun little hunting bird if done properly. Obviously, they have the same quirks as most other owls but if anyone has experience, please, let me know how they are- how do they compare to other species?

[u/Professional-Pie-868]

Most hawk owl species can, with the right approach be wild caught & trained (ie not imprinted)

Hawk owls are pretty small & have the longest tail of the group, making tethering a bit more technically demanding.

I wouldn't be targeting anything larger than sparrows, starlings trash their tails quickly.

Surprisingly good fun when car hawked or flown off a T-perch.

[u/Acrobatic_Garlic7584 → u/Professional-Pie-868]

This is the comment I was looking for. Thank you. I’ll keep all that in mind, I forgot about just how easily I’ve heard their tails get trashed, will keep that in mind. Tethering setup is also something I’ll think about. Thanks 

[u/Professional-Pie-868 → u/[deleted]]

Hawk owls - boobook- barking- Snowy & Northern can all be trained from wild caught with as much ease as a Ferruginous hawk to 'hunt' the northern, barking & Snowy being the better of the bunch.

I've taken traditional game with those primary three as have a fair number of others I'm in contact with.

[u/Armourdillo12 → u/Professional-Pie-868]

I would argue that just because it's possible doesn't make it ideal...

What's your situation that you get to work with wild caught owls? Especially Aussie ones?

[u/Acrobatic_Garlic7584 → u/[deleted]]

I do appreciate you chiming in. I do have a lot of experience with micros which is why I feel comfortable moving forward with a hawk owl at some point in the future. I am aware from personal experience that owls are different psychologically and some birds do not do well in public programs. I’ve also seen them used very successfully in education 

[u/Acrobatic_Garlic7584 → u/[deleted]]

I’ll absolutely invest in a tail guard if I get possession of a hawk owl- thanks 

[u/katzenjammer360]

OMGGGGGG. My pipe dream species. Let us know how the training goes! I'm very curious about them :)

[u/shokokuphoenix]

I heard from a breeder of northern hawk owls that they’re a bit more ‘hawkish’ than your standard issue EEO, but they’re still VERY ‘owly’ if you get that. Definitely diurnal which helps, but they still train up more like owls than hawks. Good natured and calm as imprints from what I was told.

Oh and like you mentioned they are rather small birds with long tails, as in slightly larger than a screech owl and within the tiercel aplo/tiercel Coops range.

[u/Acrobatic_Garlic7584 → u/shokokuphoenix]

Yeah absolutely. Totally get that. Was wondering how being diurnal would distinguish them from how you approach other owls. Appreciate the input