Proper equipment is the most important and most overlooked aspect of successfully flying a merlin. Merlins have very delicate legs that are easily damaged. To get the most from your bird it needs to be 100% healthy and feather perfect.

  Jesses

I use a standard aylmeri jess system: anklets, jesses, swivel and leash. I use good quality, thin kangaroo or goat hide. I cut the bracelets 1cm wide and attach them with a small "eyelet" grommet. (photo) Because I fly without jesses, I prefer a grommet to a grommet-less bracelet because it makes it easier to replace the jesses after hunting. I cut the jess 4mm wide and the finished product is 6inches long with slits cut in the end to allow the attachment of the swivel; the actual length is probably not important. I use a “small modified Sampo swivel” from Northwoods and a small braided Dacron button-less, or "loop" leash. I don’t use leashes with a button on any of my birds. It takes a few seconds longer to attach a leash without a button, but convenience should never come before safety. Button leashes are more prone to getting tangled.

Leashes

I make very light weight, braided "loop leashes" for merlins. My leashes are braided from very strong, braided Dacron. $10.00

"Y" Swivel Hook-up by Matthew Mullenix

The "Y" swivel hook-up arrangement for tethering a hawk probably began with the use of metal clips, and well before my time. I've seen several versions of this design applied at every scale. The version I prefer for kestrels (and other small hawks) received a decade of natural selection through constant use on birds tethered all the time. It has been whittled down to its bare essentials. It is not the "last word" in leash design, but it works: I guarantee it.

The first principle is that tethering a hawk requires a systematic approach. Your system has to accommodate the nature of the hawk (its shape, mass and behavior), the perch it sits on, the jesses it wears, the length and stiffness of its leash and the means by which the jesses and leash meet. If a perched hawk is an integrated system, every part needs to work.

Kestrels are lightweight and relatively weak in a bate; they are also active on a perch and tend to turn circles in place. Tangling is unavoidable unless your leashing system accounts for every variable. Mine combines the following features: a low bow perch (about 5" high -- not much more than needed to clear the tail) with a shallow angle (ie., 11-12" wide); a large, lightweight leash ring (3" diameter key ring); a small perching surface (a 2" patch of Astroturf affixed to the bow with small cable ties -- this provides ample room for an American kestrel's feet without impeding ring movement); a short, stiff leash (4" long) permanently attached to the ring at one end and to the "Y" swivel hook-up at the other; three barrel-type, ball-bearing swivels with their open ends pointing downward (to discourage fouling by mutes), connected to one another by a small split ring; two strong lanyard hooks (one for each jess); and finally, short jesses on the bird (about 4").

Every component of this arrangement contributes to the smooth operation of the whole. For application to larger hawks, many of the same principles will apply. I have used versions of this system, making changes only to scale, on various hawks and falcons between 80g and 500g in weight.

For hawks larger than 500g (e.g., my male Harris' hawk, who weathers tethered during the day), I use a another system (still a version of the "Y" swivel hook-up) developed by Tom and Jennifer Coulson (see photo). The Coulsons simply scale this version of hook-up to birds from kestrel to eagle-sized and have used it with success on over 100 birds over 30 years. Although different in use and design from the system I use on small hawks, it successfully addresses many of the same points of concern.