Harris Hawking: A Short Film 

Thanks glad you enjoyed! No the leather Jesses ln his legs don't hinder the bird when he's flying at all as they have no slits of holes in them that may catch on something. They work in a similar way to the collar on a dog by providing something to secure and handle the bird should it be necessary

Glad you enjoyed! even though voles and mice are not really ideal game he seems to find loads of them anyway when out so a catch is a catch-he does take larger game though. Harris Hawks are generally smart and social raptors and he is quite bonded to me though more in a way linked to the plentiful food and hunting/flying opportunities provided rather than anything affectionate like a dog or some cats for example.

For sure these are all very big and powerful birds (especially Harpy eagles in terms of talon size and raw power) and wedge tailed eagles have apparently been seen attacking Emus and they hunt larger kangaroos and wallabies in the wild. However, these birds still aren't anywhere near as heavy or large as Haast's eagle which had the size advantage and psychological hunting instinct specialised towards hunting large birds like Moa. Smaller Moa species could definitely by taken down by modern eagles if they somehow crossed paths (not that they would as New Zealand has n big eagles alive today) but probably not the largest Moa individuals/species.