A trained Harris’s hawk with leather jesses on its legs is photographed inside dog crate after it escaped from its falconer in Tucson and was recaptured by an east-side couple on May 14.

 photos Courtesy of Stephanie Pirro

Therese May and George Reel see plenty of wildlife at their east-side home near Saguaro National Park, but the visitor that dropped in on Mother’s Day was something new.

At first, it seemed like any other Harris’s hawk. Except this bird of prey decided to perch on their front gate and didn’t fly away when May moved in to take its picture.

That’s when May noticed the leather straps wrapped around the hawk’s legs. One of the straps, known as a jess in the falconry world, had a small bell strung through it.

The hawk eventually flew off, but it showed back up later in the day, this time on their back patio. When May went out for a closer look, the bird gazed back at her intently.

β€œThen she flew right at me, and I ducked,” May said with a laugh. β€œIt wasn’t an attack thing. She almost flew at me like β€˜Are you my mother?’ or whatever.”

After its flyby, the hawk perched in a nearby tree and continued to stare at May. It flew at her twice more after that, but she dodged it each time.

Finally, the bird settled onto the back of a patio chair less than five feet from where May was standing. β€œI thought, β€˜I bet her handler is a female,’” she said.

With the help of their granddaughters, May and Reel grabbed a dog crate from their garage and set it up on the patio with the door open. Then May tried to lure the bird inside by pretending to drop food though the top of the cage.

The gesture seemed to catch the hawk’s attention.

β€œThe bird walked into the crate, and my husband shut the door. It was as simple as that,” May said. β€œIt was a well-behaved hawk.”

Tucson resident Therese May and her granddaughters, from left, Vivian, Mallory and Jocelyn, pose with the trained Harris’s hawk they caught after it showed up at May’s east-side home near Saguaro National Park on May 14.

With their visitor finally in hand, they called around in search of help. They also posted a picture of the caged bird β€” with the caption β€œWho’s missing their hawk?” β€” in a Facebook group for desert wildlife enthusiasts.

Through it all, the hawk sat calmly inside the crate.

β€œIt didn’t look stressed. It looked curious,” May said. β€œIt wasn’t flapping around, but I’m sure it was ready to go home.”

Flight risk

Less than an hour later, May and her husband delivered the caged bird to the nearby Tucson Wildlife Center, which returned the young female Harris’s hawk to the licensed falconer who had lost it.

According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, which regulates falconry in the state, there had been other reports of a hawk with jesses on its legs flying free in the area for the past week or so. On May 13, a woman who lives less than a quarter of a mile from May and Reel posted pictures in a Facebook wildlife group after the hawk landed in her backyard.

Game and Fish spokesman Mark Hart said the owner of the bird, whose name was not released, told the Tucson Wildlife Center that the hawk had been frightened off by something and did not return.

β€œThat is something that does happen, but I’d say it’s infrequent,” said Kenneth Jacobson, raptor management coordinator for Game and Fish. β€œOnce a year or so, we get a call about a hawk with jesses that’s flying around Phoenix or Tucson.”

Falconers are required to fit their birds with numbered leg bands that can be used to trace them back to their owners, but they don’t have to report a missing bird until it has been gone for at least 30 days, Jacobson said.

Agency records show 139 licensed falconers statewide and 37 in Game and Fish’s Region 5, which includes Tucson and the rest of Southeastern Arizona.

It is not a pastime one enters into casually, Jacobson said. There are well-defined skill classes based on experience, and it can take years for an apprentice to become a general falconer and for a general falconer to become a master.

All falconers, regardless of skill level, must be licensed by the state.

Jacobson said an apprentice falconer has to be sponsored for a license by someone with general- or master-class certification. Then they must score at least an 80% on the state’s written test for falconry and have their hawk holding facility, known as a mews, inspected before they are allowed to keep a bird of prey.

For the birds

Raptors used for falconry are either trapped in the wild or obtained through captive-breeding programs. Jacobson said falconers are required to maintain an up-to-date inventory with the state, reporting any new additions or birds that die or escape.

Falconers in Arizona are only allowed to capture two wild birds a year, he said, and there are additional limitations based on the species of the raptor.

Jinx the Harris's hawk isΒ an Arizona Game and Fish Department animal ambassador. A rough start to life left the bird with injuries that kept him from returning to the wild, but now he's an important part of the agency's ambassador team.

Harris’s hawks and red-tail hawks are among the most popular species used for falconry in the state, but Jacobson said people train a whole host of other birds from small American kestrels to giant golden eagles, which are extremely difficult to obtain and require advanced certification.

β€œIt definitely takes a lot of effort and dedication to become a falconer,” he said. β€œIt’s a daily commitment. You can’t take a break from caring for this wild animal.”

Falconry dates back thousands of years and generally involves training a captive raptor to hunt small game. Professional falconers are still used today to control pest birds and animals at commercial buildings, airports, landfills and other urban settings.

Some hobbyists will keep their birds for years, while others prefer to catch a newly fledged hawk each year, train it to hunt and then set it free to use its skills to survive on its own in the wild.

Jacobson said it was fortunate that May and Reel were able to get the lost hawk back to its owner. The bird easily could have died had it gotten its jesses caught on something or been unable to find its own food.

Though trying to capture the hawk themselves might not have been the best idea, he said the couple did everything else right β€” from calling around once they spotted the bird to quickly delivering it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator instead of trying to care for it themselves.

In the rare event that you encounter someone’s lost falconry bird, Jacobson recommends calling Game and Fish at 623-236-7201 and providing the agency with an exact location and a photo if possible. He said that information will be relayed to falconers in the area, so anyone who might be missing a bird will know where to look for it.

Therese May has one more piece of advice: β€œBe prepared to duck,” she said.

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Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@tucson.com or 573-4283. On Twitter: @RefriedBrean