Birds of Prey in Los Angeles?

Hi there!

Don’t know if this is the right topic to post here my apologizes.

I have a gorgeous 4 MO cinnamon GCC named Monkey that is in the midst of harness and free flight training. We are in the LA/ San Fernando Valley area, and I was wondering if there were any raptors or other general predators to be aware of in this area of Cali? I couldn’t find any information through a google search so I was wondering if anyone here had any knowledge about this.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

I'm in Australia, but I know that peregrine falcons are ubiquitous (ie. are found pretty much everywhere). They're known to forage and even to nest in cities, so I'd be very surprised if they don't occur in Los Angeles and surrounds. Considering peregrines are considered the best of all avian predators, I'd be very careful if I were you.

Do you have a local national parks service? They would have info on all nesting pairs of predators in the area.

Betrisher said:

I'm in Australia, but I know that peregrine falcons are ubiquitous (ie. are found pretty much everywhere). They're known to forage and even to nest in cities, so I'd be very surprised if they don't occur in Los Angeles and surrounds. Considering peregrines are considered the best of all avian predators, I'd be very careful if I were you.

Do you have a local national parks service? They would have info on all nesting pairs of predators in the area.

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I do, I will give them a call when possible to find out more info. Thank you for the help!

Remember! Any wild bird can become territorial! And since your little one doesn’t know the rules of the road, she can easily offend someone!

With the end of using DDT and other inspect killing agents, raptors or other general predators have been slowing coming back and spreading out over historical ranges across North America.

Free flight requires extensive flight and recall training in one's home prior to being outside. Without the proper guidelines in place, the likelihood of loosing one Parrot is very high.

IMHO, harness training /use is far safer for outside time.

I mean, hawks are all over the US...owls too (but they are nocturnal). Pretty sure there are falcons too, and kestrels (they sometimes eat small birds).
Remember, just because you are in LA doesn't mean that a bird from a less urban area wouldn't pass through (you aren't far from Anaheim etc and there are mountain lions etc in that area, so I imagine that the avian wildlife is also probably extensive).

I’d implore you NOT to free flight your conure. Their small size makes them very poor candidates for free flight. It leaves them far more vulnerable to predation and makes retrieving a flyaway significantly less likely. It’s generally not a good idea to free flight anything smaller than an Amazon/medium sized birds.

chris-md said:

I’d implore you NOT to free flight your conure. Their small size makes them very poor candidates for free flight. It leaves them far more vulnerable to predation and makes retrieving a flyaway significantly less likely. It’s generally not a good idea to free flight anything smaller than an Amazon/medium sized birds.

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I would disagree! While its definitely lower risk to fly something larger, people have successfully flown even budgies. It's all about risk management. If you are looking out for all of the reasons to not fly your bird that day, then you're being a good parront!

Absolutely. There are aerial predators pretty much everywhere you go. Like I said in the above post, risk management is extremely important with free flying small birds (or any bird really). I'm guessing you're learning from a professional - if not, you're going to miss a LOT of information that will for sure put your bird in danger.

I would suggest talking to local falconers and ask them when they take their birds out to hunt. They fly by their natural schedules, so if you do the opposite of those you're already doing a lot to help your bird. For example, predators love to hunt right before a storm because they don't know when the next time they can get a meal will be, so never fly before a storm. Never fly a young bird in over level 1 winds for a while. Also, predators love routine, so if you go fly at the same park on the same day at the same time each week, they will start to understand when you are coming and prepare to hunt.

Hope this was helpful!

KitKatPlus said:

chris-md said:

I’d implore you NOT to free flight your conure. Their small size makes them very poor candidates for free flight. It leaves them far more vulnerable to predation and makes retrieving a flyaway significantly less likely. It’s generally not a good idea to free flight anything smaller than an Amazon/medium sized birds.

Click to expand...

I would disagree! While its definitely lower risk to fly something larger, people have successfully flown even budgies. It's all about risk management. If you are looking out for all of the reasons to not fly your bird that day, then you're being a good parront!

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I don’t dispute that people have done it successfully, that wasn’t the point. You’re welcome to disagree - everyone always has their opinion on such things - but you’re on an island with a small minority. This would fall under the category of “just because they have doesn’t mean they should”. Many in the free flight community and those in the know believe the risk to be too great to be reasonably managed for the aforementioned reasons. Risk management IS key, I’m with you there - I have zero problems using bleach when my bird isn’t around - it’s just TOO risky with smaller animals.

Perfect topic placement, and yes, L.A County and environs are rife with raptors. Link to birds of San Fernando Valley; scroll down a bit for variety of hawks: https://www.sfvaudubon.org/sfv-backyard-bird-identification/

I'm your neighbor a bit to the south in San Diego. Though I'd dearly love to expose my flock to the great outdoors, the risk/reward ratio is untenable imo. Documented stories abound of dive-bombing raptors plucking hapless beloved pets from free-flights, stands, and even human shoulders. The specter of outdoor activities with exception of secure cages or Pak-O-Bird modules is irrevocably forbidden for my beloved fids.

I live in between Simi Valley and Chatsworth. There are plenty of falcons, Hawks owls and buzzards. I grew up in the valley same deal. Be careful.
We have falcons that pick off little house birds in our front yard. Maybe build an aviary ?

Hi,
I live in valley, last year I found pigeons's head in my yard, feather all over the place, and I look up and there it is, huge hawk looking down on me from neighbors tree!
It was scary! this is why I never let my dogs go out alone in the yard.