There are few things more striking than the face of a raptor.

The eyes – five times more powerful than human eyes – are penetrating, detecting with pinpoint accuracy the slightest movement. The subtle, angular shape of the head combines with quick incremental scanning movement to function as a targeting mechanism. The curved beak is perfect for snatching small pieces of meat from a carcass.

When launching from a perch, raptors transition to flight in a split second. Once gaining a proper attack altitude, the bird descends quickly, at the last second extending powerful talons to grasp and dispatch their prey. Often the prey animal never sees or senses impending death. 

Little wonder that so many raptors are named as sporting mascots. The raptors represent precision and lethality. They encapsulate nature. 

As local falconer Heath Kinder explained, “That bird knows how to hunt; falconry is training the bird to allow you to participate in the hunt.”

It sounds like a simple premise, but reaching that stage, whereby a raptor allows a human to participate in the hunt, comes at the end of a very long process. 

Kinder has delved into the world of falconry from his recently acquired acreage outside of Hainesville – appropriately, near the highest elevation in the county. 

A former active-duty Marine, with 21 years of active service, Kinder is accustomed to thoroughly pursuing his interests, paying great attention to detail, and meeting standards which are set just a bit higher than required.  

Those characteristics are perfect for pursuing falconry. 

Having grown up in Gun Barrel City, Kinder knew he would always be a Marine.

“My mom still has my paper from the second grade where I listed U.S. Marine as my chosen profession.” 

He came to realize that intention when, at the age of 17, he enlisted. With his eye set on becoming a canine handler in the corps, Kinder obtained detailing to the military police. When a spot as a canine handler suddenly became open, he jumped at it. 

It began a lifelong preoccupation with training animals.

Kinder excelled at the task. At one point he was the youngest sergeant in the Marine Corps. In addition to the skills honed as an animal trainer, Kinder also lived the values of the corps. 

While in San Diego, he met his future wife, Heather. With six years in the corps, he told Heather, “Either we accept discharge or we are in for 20” – 20 years of service. 

A full career followed, including obtaining a commission, commanding a company and completing a tour in Afghanistan. As retirement neared, Kinder began an expanding-square search based in Canton for some acreage. The search ended with the purchase of some heavily wooded acreage northeast of Hainesville. That was in 2019. 

He spent some time busying himself with having a house built and clearing some land, when he suddenly thought to himself, “Now what?” It was Heather who reminded him of the interest which he always had in birds of prey.

In one of those strange twists of fate, at just about the same time, he received a call from Chuck Harris of Chuck’s Concrete.

“Chuck called me because he had a client who was one of the oldest falconers in Texas, and Chuck advised that he was looking for someone to  pass some falconry knowledge on.”

The timing of the events made the decision easy for Kinder.

Six days after that phone call, Kinder was a novice on a falconry trip to Lubbock.

“I was the guy that did all the less desirable jobs – handling the traps, the bait, etc. – but I loved every minute of it.”

Raptors – otherwise known as birds of prey – have been used as hunting partners for man for at least 2,000 years. In fact, the tradition of falconry is so dated that its origins are unknown. Kinder noted, “I think that falconry had its origins in the Asian steppes, when warrior-kings like Genghis Khan moved large armies over huge distances. They would have been able to use trained raptors to secure food for the army on the march.”

Conceptually, falconry has not changed much from its origins. In 2023, however, it is one of the most highly-regulated undertakings of animal husbandry.

Last month, Kinder became one of 400 General Falconers in Texas. That designation came after extensive work with veteran falconers Don Johnson and Tom Lyon. It also required considerable study, passing of a state certification and inspection of his mews by a state game warden. It also required recommendations from registered falconers and came only after considerable time spent as an official apprentice. 

Kinder described the hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of information which must be digested when starting down the falconry road. 

There are hundreds of birds classified as raptors (meat-eating). In Texas, however, there are 24 which are the most common. They range from eagles and falcons to hawks and owls.  

Falconry, today, is a conservation effort. Kinder advised that the mortality rate for raptors before they reach adulthood is 80-90%. The two greatest dangers are electrocution and impacts with automobiles. 

Falconry involves trapping an adolescent bird, known as a passage bird. Then, by training the bird to hunt by using a system of strict conventions, the bird is nurtured to adulthood and eventual release. 

Among the many unique characteristics of this undertaking are “manning the bird,” which is training the bird that the handler is not a threat.

There is also a daily monitoring of the bird’s weight to ensure that the bird remains healthy but yet hungry, in order to facilitate training. 

Another unique aspect is monitoring the bird to “cast its pellet” which is when the bird empties undigestible food back up through its throat – a pre-training requirement.

“Each bird develops its own personality,” Kinder admitted, “and one must adjust the training accordingly.”

At present, Kinder is training a Harris Hawk, whom he named ‘Hades.’

Hades is yet being trained on a tether, although it is the final objective of a falconer to train a raptor to hunt untethered, in free flight.   

Kinder relishes the training time. It features repetition and much, much patience. However, the awe which these birds inspire is a reward all to itself. 

Reflecting on the training of such naturally effective predators, Kinder noted, “They remind us that life is violent, that predators must kill, that there is nothing ugly about it, and that there are very narrow margins of error in the life and death of the natural world.”