D. Troy Moritz
Harris Hawks Reloaded

Troy Moritz’ lifelong passion for raptors got its start during his pre-teen years as a raptor rehabillitator in the 1980s. He became involved with the Great Lakes Falconer's Association and got his apprentice falconry licence on his 14th birthday.

Troy flew red-tailed hawks for a while and then became the first falconer in the mid-west to concentrate on unlocking the potential of tiercel Harris' Hawks. Over the next 15 years Troy developed many techniques for flying the Harris’ in unconventional ways to catch quarry ranging from sparrows to Canada geese. He experimented with innovative socializing tactics and counter-screaming strategies. Troy's methods for training the Harris' have been published widely and utilized by falconers on four continents. His passion for the Harris' is focused on unlocking and harnessing their "super ego". In addition to his innovative work with Harris' Hawks, Troy has also spent many years working on other esoteric falconry styles including ringing flights on corvids with falcons, waterfowl and starling hawking with Finnish goshawks as well as his current obsession, goose hawking with golden eagles.

Troy is a staunch Harris’ aficionado that believes that Harris’ Hawks are too often under-rated as falconry birds. His talk will cover everything from selection of your Harris Hawk, early training, and developing confidence to escalating slip complexity over time. He will present a fascinating comparative analysis of the Harris to the Goshawk under identical conditions, including differences in training psychology and other topics relevant to shortwingers contemplating a Harris hawk over an accipiter. Troy loves them all and his irreverent analysis will highlight similarities and differences often ignored by the best of falconers.

Harris’ Hawks are as popular in Ontario as anywhere and Troy’s presentation will be a “must see” for those wanting to get the most out of these amazing and versatile birds.