I like owls but they are not used for Falconry because they have poor lateral thinking (Owl knows how to jump to the glove inside, take them outside owl knows nothing) and because we have to follow all hunting laws (can't hunt after dark). But for people who can hunt after dark, using an owl sucks because it's dark and you can't see anything that happens. Most falconers just love to watch their birds fly and it's hard to see them fly in the dark!

Harris's hawks are one of the smartest hawk species but I'm sure ravens are smarter. I think they've gotten HHs to use a simple tool but they are not as proficient as ravens. But in my observations it only takes one single bad experience for most raptors to never want that experience to happen again. And on the flip side, if they get rewarded doing something once they will remember that for a long time

Technically the US government owns the birds, but two of these are mine and one is my wife's who is also a licensed falconer. We purchased them from licensed breeders. They are from, left to right, Nevada, Washington, Louisiana. They were shipped to us on an airplane and we picked them up at the airport.

Most of the rabbit goes back into feeding them over the summer when they are molting their feathers. I do make 2-3 rabbit dishes a year though. Last year I made sausage which was pretty good.