Raptors have some specific needs to be considered when constructing housing (a mew) and most governing agencies have guidelines or regulations for minimal requirments. Like all construction, starting with a level surface is key to easier and more stable construction. I have prefabricated and stained all the dimentional lumber as well as the wall OSB. The roof will be corrigated steel with a pitch of 1' in 4' to allow for easy snow removal. There will be a center hallway between two mews to provide for a double door safety system and storage of some falconry management equipment.

These photos show the layout of the front and rear walls placed on treated timbers. These two mews are located on a raised bench to the rear of my property, offering the birds a lofty view and some security from the public.

Well as you can see Scirroco is really developing his flight and contour feathers. He now weights 13.5 oz.

I have been busy, while he has been growing, building his mews (enclosure for falconry bird). My next few posts will show the first steps in building the mews and explain why the enclosure design is specific to raptors.

After a week in my care Scirroco's contour and flight feathers are coming in as should be expected. The primaries and secondaries are approximately 2" long and the rectrices are showing about 1" of development accompanied with a thick cream tip band.


Redtails hatch as a semi-altricial with a fine white down covering much of their main body. After about 9 days they start to replace that downy protection with a thicker buff colored 2nd down protection.



The contour and flight feathers grow within a drinking straw like protective sheath of keratin. As the feather reaches full length the sheath breaks down forming a powder and exposing the unfurled feather. While feathers are growing they have a blood supply providing nutrition. Once the feather has reach complete growth that blood supply is pinched off and the feather is now dead.

Despite being known as a Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, hawklets and many juveniles don't show the coloration of tail feathers the species was named for. Often the 2nd year bird will moult in a "red" tail but many don't get this bright plumage until the moult of their 3rd year.


The juveniles tail is a series of dark and light grey/brown bars of coloration.

A common source of food for Redtails in my area is the Columbian Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus columbianus. They are available as prey from April until early August which coincides beautifully with the nesting and rearing season of the buteo. It is also the ground squirrels reproductive season which provided the fledgling Redtails with young, inexperienced prey.

These rodents are mainly herbivores but on occasion take advantage of insects, other small vertebrates and some birds. They are also a true hibernator.

I feed my growing hawklet an almost exclusive diet of harvested Columbian Ground Squirrels.

Many raptor species I have visited at the nest are hosts for several parasite species. Feather lice are not common, in my experience, with down phase eyasses but Blowfly larvae is a different story. These larvae (maggots) tend to holdup in the ear apertures during the daylight hours. They normally are not life threatening themselves but should the eyas already be vulnerable because of other stress causing then the parasite may make the difference between death and survival.

As an example this hawklet had approximately 1 dozen larvae per ear and a few days later I removed 5 much larger larvae pictured above.

The larvae are easily removed by administering mineral oil into the ear aperture which cuts off the air supply causing the larvae to come to the surface. A good indicator of their presence is a dark crusty matter around the rim of the aperture. Because dealing with them is such a simple and non-evasive procedure I recommend any eyas be treated for possible removal. A pair of fine tapered tweezers or forceps is the only tool necessary.

Weighing the raptor is one of the best indicators for training. From the beginning I weigh even the hawklet to condition the bird to this part of what will become a daily routine. At this age I use a spring scale because of the size of the surface the bird can sit upon. Later I will add a perching block for the hawklet to stand upon while being weighed.

This is the nest tree site. The nest itself was at approximately the 60' height. The tree is a Bull Pine located at about 3500' elevation.

There were 3 hawklets in the nest. Because of dimming light conditions and what appeared to be a healthy male well within reach it was decided to harvest the closest bird. I was also concerned about the other hawklets bailing. The bird was placed in a backpack and lowered to the ground. I prefer when possible to do this rather than risk injury while negotiating the decent around the various large limbs.

The adult female spent most of the capture perched nearby screaming. The male showed up as the nest was approached and the pair circled with the female often passing within about 30' of the tree top.

June 16, 2008 I successfully captured a male Redtail eyas. I am naming this hawklet Scirroco. He appears to be approximately 15 days old. One of my goals is to create an imprint I can use for education as well as falconry. As has been my practice in the past I examined his ears for possible fly larvae and removed approximately a dozen small ones from each ear aperture.

May 27, 2008 I was issued a permit to capture up to 2 raptors of specific species (all Class ll species).