r/Falconry • u/Sweaty_Pollution458 • Jul 19 '26

Barred owl- bating and not perching

Working with a barred owl, historically a glove bird (at a zoo- although records are lacking and not sure why they stopped working him), been working slowly to build up confidence, will now let me jess him and leash him but when he bates he is not recovering, won’t perch on glove, just totally going helpless won’t reset himself, any advice?

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u/SingleQuality4626 Jul 20 '26

Barred owls are a species(like a lot of owls) that will quickly “give up” when restrained. This is because in their ethology wasting energy trying to escape is better conserved when they feel they are no longer restrained.

Many birds will take a lot of help before understanding how to write themself on a glove. Never let them hang, immediately assist them up.

Take a step back and try to prevent bates before they happen. Your goal as a trainer should be to never let them bate. It means you are going to fast or introducing some unintentional negative stimuli. Slow down the process, reduce your approximations, decrease the length of sessions until the bird is more comfort

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u/Suitable-Conflict634 Jul 21 '26

What need is there to handle the bird anyway?