Beauford Rides Again!

During my time working for World Bird Sanctuary I have worked with birds in many different situations.  Whether a standard outdoor zoo show program (WBS presents educational programs with our birds at zoos around the nation), a four thousand seat indoor amphitheater where I flew a bird from spotlight to spotlight, or performing behaviors for TV news spots, I have done a variety of venues.  It’s a good thing, too, since all of these different circumstances benefited me when it came time to prepare for “The Hunt”.

Beauford waiting for his cue (photo: Leah Tyndall)

“The Hunt” is a documentary that focuses on the relationship between predator and prey, featuring footage of wild birds of prey.  Unfortunately wild birds of prey are not terribly keen on being filmed up close and personal with a filming crew.  This makes it very difficult to get those close-up and detailed shots that help the audience to truly appreciate these magnificent animals.  This is where WBS comes in.  Using a trained bird of prey allows filmmakers to get those trickier shots which not only help their production to look better, but it also helps to educate the audience.

Beauford, our Bald Eagle was the bird tapped for this exciting adventure, and I do mean exciting!  Since it was for a documentary and we wanted to blend Beauford in as seamlessly as possible, we flew him off of equipment.  That means no anklets or jesses which are the pieces of leather we usually hold onto to keep the bird safe.  The only piece of artificial equipment was a transmitter on his leg so that we could track him if needed.

This was not the first time I had flown a bird with no equipment.  We flew Diablo, our Tawny Eagle, without jesses for a few years at our Milwaukee County Zoo bird show because he kept eating the jesses.  Luckily he grew out of that habit because it was very nerve wracking to fly him with no jesses to hold onto.  We flew Diablo from a release box to a catch box.  When release, flights and catch went smoothly, there were no worries.  Occasionally, though, he got spooked or blown by wind out of the theater, so we had to cue him to our gloved arm and then put the jesses on while he was sitting on the glove—with nothing to hold onto!  During these times his feet looked extra strong and talons extra sharp.

Beauford wore special removable jesses (Photo:  Leah Tyndall)

Terrifying right?  Well remember how I said no anklets or jesses for Beauford?  This scenario was even more terrifying than Daiblo’s because Beauford’s feet are bigger and even stronger.  We made special removable anklets for Beauford that could be taken off before he went into the crate.  I spent several weeks reinforcing the appeal of the crate for Beauford.  Into the crate, out of the crate, back in the crate, sit in the crate; over and over again, always with a tasty food reward…mice! 

Going into the crate meant a special treat (Photo: Leah Tyndall)

The day of filming would begin around seven.  First Beauford would be weighed, then his anklets and jesses removed by trainer Mike Cerutti.  I then called him to a carpet square and had him walk into the crate for his mouse.  Then I prepared his food and we were off to a day of shooting…or waiting…it all depended on the light.

Unfortunately the weather was not terribly cooperative during our stretch of filming, but Beauford was terrific.  He flew to his perches, branches and gloves and even sat nicely on his “home” perch while equipment was being moved around.  Most importantly though, he went into his crate!  He was also a gentleman while his equipment was being removed and reapplied, more curious as to why his jesses kept disappearing.

I have trained birds for many situations, but none quite as challenging as this documentary.  It was an amazing experience to be a part of and one that I will never forget.  This Beauford performance, in combination with his flying at Silver Dollar City and his flights for North Carolina Central University in early November, truly made 2014 the “Autumn of Beauford”…not too bad for a second year flier.

At this point in time we are not sure when or on which channel this documentary will air (possibly as much as a year from now), but you can bet we’ll let you know when our young “star” can be seen on nationwide TV.

Submitted by Leah Tyndall, World Bird Sanctuary behind the scenes area supervisor 

Beauford the Great!

Beauford the Bald Eagle is amazing!  Sorry, I normally have a more cohesive introduction for you, but I really just want to tell you how awesome Beauford was in Branson, Missouri, this season.  Spoiler alert: he was very awesome!

Beauford the Great (photo: Leah Tyndall)

Allow me to backtrack. This fall Beauford and I were lucky enough to represent World Bird Sanctuary at Silver Dollar City for the Harvest Festival as a part of the NEW Wild West show.  For those readers not familiar with the Branson, Missouri, entertainment industry, Silver Dollar City is an 1880s theme park that is one of the cornerstones of the Branson area.

Beauford flew perfectly during the salute to America and our troops. This may not sound terribly exciting, but let me set the scene for you.  Beauford flew from his crate at the top of the stands down to my glove on the top of the riing.  Oh yes…I forgot to mention…he basically did this in the dark!  There was a spotlight illuminating his crate and take off perch, and a second spotlight on me, but otherwise Beauford flew pretty much in the dark indoors.

The audience didn’t know that he was in the show, which led to some fantastic crowd reactions as they felt him fly overhead and then realized what had happened once he landed onstage.  For the 2 months we were there, Beauford only had one “fumble” when he grabbed his crate carpet before taking off.  Not to worry; he just brought it with him when he landed on my glove!  Being a professional myself, I posed and pretended that the green carpet represented the environment--it was a very artistic statement that Beauford and I totally meant to make.

Beauford in his weathering area between shows (photo: Leah Tyndall)

Being a Wild West show, trick riders were a requirement, and we had some of the best!  Of course trick riders mean horses and Beauford is not used to horses.  Based on his fear of cows that we discovered last year when he flew at the Milwaukee County Zoo, it was likely that he would be fearful of horses.  Since the horses came into the ring just after Beauford’s flight, and Beauford landed on the glove while I stood on the ring, I had to make sure Buford never saw the horses in the ring.  This meant coordinating with the riders and having many contingency plans.

I had five different ways to enter and exit the building to avoid horse/eagle interaction and these came in handy once the show closed and the entertainment department began putting together a new stage for a new show.  Did I mention that in building a stage they were using cherry pickers, forklifts and scissor lifts?  All the activity required use of my secret pathways, including cutting through the bathrooms, which was pretty surreal.   No one was there that early in the morning, but it was still strange to take a male bald eagle through the ladies’ room. The things we do so that our birds will fly well.

Beauford had his very own "dressing room" (photo: Leah Tyndall)

Fantastic flying wasn’t Beauford’s only job.  He also led the parade of veterans for the opening flag ceremony every morning for the last two weeks of the festival.  Being so important he had a six-person security team to escort him, and was chauffeured to and from the ceremony.  As a show star he had deluxe accommodations: his own dressing room and private outdoor perching area for relaxing away from his adoring public.

Beauford in his weathering area for one (photo: Leah Tyndall)

After the Wild West Show closed, Beauford and I did outdoor presentations to teach people all about Bald Eagles and Beauford in particular.  These were a huge success!  Even though there were benches provided in the courtyard for spectators, there were often people standing, and even peering around trees and planters, to get a better view.

Buford and I loved every minute of our time down in Silver Dollar City.  He flew fabulously, educated thousands about our national symbol, and paid respect to our veterans.  I learned several secret pathways, how to utilize space efficiently, trained a Bald Eagle to fly spotlight to spotlight and of course did my favorite part of the job--help teach people about our amazing national symbol.

Submitted by Leah Tyndall, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Trainer