There are just some baby birds we hardly ever get to see. They live up in the trees and we don’t really have a chance to interact with them until they grow up and leave the nest, so we never really see it.
For example, baby Falcons. However, on Tuesday, April 8th, we finally got to see one. He doesn’t look at all like we expected, though… Honestly, he kind of looks like dryer lint!
@paigefliesbirdsTeaching baby Cheeto to come to me for food. He was the cutest little storm cloud! ☁️ #aplomadofalcon #babyfalcon #birdtraining
I have a hard time believing that’s a bird and not, like, a dust bunny final boss level. Paige Bucalo is lucky: I would love to pet him! I bet he’s really fluffy!
Paige doesn’t just have birds because having birds is fun; she’s a legitimate bird trainer who specializes in Falconry! This little bird is Cheeto, the newest addition to her Falcon flock.
He’s a little older now than he was in this throwback clip, but he used to look like a cute, fluffy ball of dryer lint! He was doing some training here: she was training him to come to her using little treats and commands.
It’s a very useful trick for when he’s out hunting, which she takes him out to do a lot! They go out into the Southern California Valley mostly looking for quail. He sits on her shoulder or on top of her head, scouts out his prey, and goes after it!
He doesn’t look like a ball of dryer lint anymore, but he’s a gorgeous bird! He looks something like this:
The Aplomado Falcon is native to the Americas, though they’re mostly found in Central/South America. They have beautiful brown and orange feathers and mostly prey on smaller birds and lizards, though they’ll also eat fish and rodents when they can!
Their claws are something else, too: it’s best to make sure your skin is protected. Otherwise, you could get scratched, and those talons are no joke! Luckily, Cheeto is a very sweet boy!
