The butcher bird
My first solo falconry attempt
The first bird I trained and flew as a novice with no supervision was a Southern Fiscal Shrike (Lanius Collaris), better known as a Butcherbird. Shrikes are not considered raptors, but considering their predatory behaviour they instinctively behave like a raptors. One of the reasons shrikes are not classified as raptors their feet are not structured as those of raptors and they do not seize or kill their prey with their feet as their feet are not considered talons.
My shrike took insects, mice, and birds. It developed a particular skill to take cape sparrows. There is no difference between flushing a locust for a shrike and flushing a francolin for an African Goshawk, what follows is the same pattern.
This journey with the journey with shrikes lay the foundation for the raptors that followed in my falconry journey.
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