Falcon Gets Lesson in Hunting Her Prey

Grace, a 2-month-old prairie falcon, is learning how to be, well, a falcon. Once trained, she’ll be able to hunt ducks, pigeons and pheasants--all on command.

But for now, Grace can only hunt the kind of quail purchased from the market and floating at the end of a line tied to a helium balloon.

Holding a line that anchors the balloon to the ground is 33-year-old Jon Guenther of Thousand Oaks, who is not only the bird’s trainer and surrogate parent but lead keeper at the World of Birds Show at the Los Angeles Zoo.

In the wild and on her own, it would take Grace six months to a year to learn how to swoop down on prey, whether it’s a bird or a rabbit. Her vision is 10 times stronger than a human’s.

Guenther, a licensed falconer, said his way takes only a few months.

Guenther has worked with Grace since June. When he’s not at the L.A. Zoo overseeing six other trainers and 50 birds, including hawks, eagles and falcons, he’s with Grace.

On Wednesday morning, Guenther pulled his Toyota 4-Runner into a field of alfalfa and peppers off Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley. Grace was perched on a mat draped over the seat and had a leather hood over her head.

Guenther filled a balloon with helium from a tank and baited the string with a defrosted quail; he buys them frozen for $1.30 each.

While the balloon drifted to about 200 feet, he took the hood off Grace and raised the bird above his head. Grace flew off over the pepper field, looped around, turned over the alfalfa field and homed in on her target.

In a puff of feathers, she snatched the dead quail out of the sky and landed in the field below to eat.

A problem arose when Guenther headed toward her. Grace flew off over the fields with the quail.

“This is the worst thing that could happen,” Guenther said.

Grace circled the fields again and landed on a hillside at the far end of the alfalfa field. Guenther drove to the hillside where she was tearing at the quail.

He knelt down and held out his gloved hand. Grace looked at him, hopped over and jumped onto his hand.

“Every time you go into a field, it’s a lesson,” he said. “It all takes time.”