09-07-2004, 04:42 PM
Having worked with live eagles before, they can be some of the most dangerous birds to work with. Not only do they have razor-sharp beaks and talons, the bigger ones have enough strength in their feet to easily break a man's arm. Personally, I think falconers that fly golden eagles are slightly insane. I've only done some work with a rehabbed bald eagle. You get a different perspective on life when you have a 3-foot tall bird sitting on your arm. Heck, even a red-tailed hawk which is about half that size commands respect. Little kestrels, which are about pigeon size, really want to be respected but you just can't take them seriously. They're so cute!<br>
<br>
Here's a page on eagle species: www.hawk-conservancy.org/...gles.shtml<br>
<br>
The Imperial eagle, the Bonelli's eagle, the golden eagle, and the short-toed eagle are all found in Italy.<br>
<br>
It would be interesting to see if there was research on what kind of eagle the standard was based on or if it was just a "generic" type of eagle. My thinking is that it was a generic eagle or based on the golden eagle, which is common in Europe as well as here in America.<br>
<br>
But back to the original point, using a live eagle on the standard or at least as a unit mascot would require a specially trained falconer who took care of the bird. I'll have to look back in my falconry books but the art goes back many hundreds, if not thousands of years in the Middle East and India. I've been meaning to research whether or not the Romans had falconers as the Egyptians did. At any rate, training birds of prey is a delicate art and many birds are trained from the moment they are hatched. Being mainly solitary animals, they don't really bond to you like a dog or a horse so you have to use straight classical conditioning techniques instead of rewards and punishments. ("Bad bird, no no!" does not work on birds of prey.<br>
<br>
Secondly, you really can't march around with a bird of prey on a perch. It will try and fly away if it gets scared or if it sees a tasty morsel it wants to go after. Most falconers use hoods on their birds when they are transporting them to keep them calm and tied leather straps called "jesses" to their legs to hold on to them. The birds on the standard and in the cages obviously don't have hoods on them nor do they have jesses. A screeching, pissy bird in a cage or tied to a standard just isn't cool. Plus you have the added bonus of an irate or scared bird lunging for your face. It's all fun and games until you loose an eye, literally!<br>
<br>
Now live birds of prey have been used as symbols of power for centuries in many cultures. But they are usually taken care of by trained falconers and only taken out for hunting or sat on perches in the throne room, not taken out on the battlefield. So I don't think the Romans would go to the trouble of having a live bird with them on the march. Maybe for parades but then you'd have to deal with the men behind the bird getting hit with bird poop (fondly known as "slice" or "chalk".) Raptors shoot out, not drop straight down so the guys behind the standard would get whitewashed. Not good for an overall impression. But it would be interesting to see if the Romans did use live eagles or other birds of prey for any ceremonial purposes.<br>
<br>
Deb <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Here's a page on eagle species: www.hawk-conservancy.org/...gles.shtml<br>
<br>
The Imperial eagle, the Bonelli's eagle, the golden eagle, and the short-toed eagle are all found in Italy.<br>
<br>
It would be interesting to see if there was research on what kind of eagle the standard was based on or if it was just a "generic" type of eagle. My thinking is that it was a generic eagle or based on the golden eagle, which is common in Europe as well as here in America.<br>
<br>
But back to the original point, using a live eagle on the standard or at least as a unit mascot would require a specially trained falconer who took care of the bird. I'll have to look back in my falconry books but the art goes back many hundreds, if not thousands of years in the Middle East and India. I've been meaning to research whether or not the Romans had falconers as the Egyptians did. At any rate, training birds of prey is a delicate art and many birds are trained from the moment they are hatched. Being mainly solitary animals, they don't really bond to you like a dog or a horse so you have to use straight classical conditioning techniques instead of rewards and punishments. ("Bad bird, no no!" does not work on birds of prey.<br>
<br>
Secondly, you really can't march around with a bird of prey on a perch. It will try and fly away if it gets scared or if it sees a tasty morsel it wants to go after. Most falconers use hoods on their birds when they are transporting them to keep them calm and tied leather straps called "jesses" to their legs to hold on to them. The birds on the standard and in the cages obviously don't have hoods on them nor do they have jesses. A screeching, pissy bird in a cage or tied to a standard just isn't cool. Plus you have the added bonus of an irate or scared bird lunging for your face. It's all fun and games until you loose an eye, literally!<br>
<br>
Now live birds of prey have been used as symbols of power for centuries in many cultures. But they are usually taken care of by trained falconers and only taken out for hunting or sat on perches in the throne room, not taken out on the battlefield. So I don't think the Romans would go to the trouble of having a live bird with them on the march. Maybe for parades but then you'd have to deal with the men behind the bird getting hit with bird poop (fondly known as "slice" or "chalk".) Raptors shoot out, not drop straight down so the guys behind the standard would get whitewashed. Not good for an overall impression. But it would be interesting to see if the Romans did use live eagles or other birds of prey for any ceremonial purposes.<br>
<br>
Deb <p></p><i></i>
----------
Deb
Sulpicia Lepdinia
Legio XX
Deb
Sulpicia Lepdinia
Legio XX
