Harpy Eagle Training

I am mostly known for my work with parrots, however I did get my start many years ago working in zoos. I do still consult with zoos on animal training and thought I would share some awesome training done when I was consulting at the Dallas Zoo. This training actually won the 2010 Behavior of the Year: Husbandry Award from the Interantional Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (www.iaate.org) Congrats to the trainers and the Dallas Zoo! Below is the abstract I wrote for the presentation on this training. It helps tell the back story on this video.

The Dallas Zoo is home to 0.1 Harpy Eagles (Harpia harpyja). The mature female hatched in 2002 has been on exhibit since 2004. In September 2007 Keepers initiated a training program to facilitate optimal care of this individual. Initial training included the use of targets to teach hands off behaviors such as moving from point A to point B, shifting into a holding area, stepping onto a scale and flying from perch to perch on cue. Eventually keepers were able to work in the enclosure with the eagle and incorporated these behaviors into educational presentations. As the bird continued to progress, it was decided to train behaviors that would allow the eagle to make appearances outside of the enclosure. This included teaching the bird to wear falconry equipment and sit comfortably on a glove in public areas. Because of the birds role as an exhibit bird it was important to the facility that equipment could be removed completely for when the bird was on display. This challenged keepers to train the eagle to allow daily manipulation of feet, extensive touching to the tarsus while anklets and jesses were attached and removed, and learning to step onto a glove voluntarily. By adhering to a strictly positive reinforcement based training approach staff members were able to successfully achieve their goals and more. This paper will share the triumphs and challenges of using positive reinforcement to train one of the largest and most powerful species of eagles in the world. Read the full paper on my website http://www.goodbirdinc.com/professional-articles-harpy-eagle-training.html

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBIrdInc.com
Copyright Good Bird Inc

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• harpy eagle
• eagle
• eagle training
• raptor training
• falconry
• parrot training
• bird training
• barbara heidenreich

[Cassnet]

incredible bird...but i preffer to see those free

[GoodBirdInc]

@Cassnet she was hatched in captivity

[GoodBirdInc]

thgis particular bird was not for falconry...just display, education programs and eventually breeding. However there are some folks who have done falconry with harpy's : )

[Silvawolf100]

She is Huge. how much does she weigh?

[GoodBirdInc]

@Silvawolf100 she weighs a little over 6kilos.

[iyakabud]

@GoodBirdInc - In your opinion.. Do they really reached up to 9 kg esp those on the wild? probably a captive bird could reached 8-9 kg but a wild reaching 9 kg would probably considered overweight eagle, considering the challenging life in the forest to obtain their food.

[GoodBirdInc]

@iyakabud Hi there. I couldnt say. I have not encountered wild or wild caught Harpy's before. I would imagine the folks at the Peregrine Fund would be able to answer that one. They did have a Harpy project for many years.

[GoodBirdInc]

@blackMEETYOURMAKER I personally dont think it is a good idea to learn how to train an eagle over the internet. My recommendation to you is to find someone locally who has experience with large birds of prey and apprentice under that person. It is in the best interest of the bird and you to learn with an experienced mentor watching your every move.

[GoodBirdInc]

@silverleapers Our goal was to be very sensitive to her body language. By making sure she was comfortable she did not have a reason to foot. As addressed in the paper we also did not micromanage her weight or use large pieces of food which can also contrbute to footing. There was a lot of trust built with her based on positive reinforcement training and empowering her to participate or not.

[telemarker93]

That bird could eat me

[vovadrama]

On 0:26 he's like wazuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!

[DisHammerhand]

Wow such a beautiful bird. I couldn't see one being used for falconry. That's an awful lot of bird to land on your glove.