Michele Losee with Finley, American Kestrel
Founder, Executive Director of IRFC
Photo: Jim Peterson
Love Raptors?
Me too!
That’s why we are
both here…
This is why IRFC was founded
…so I get it.
Just like you, I love raptors and deeply want their world to be safe, whether in the wild or in captivity.
You might have a spiritual connection with raptors, I’m from Sedona* so nothing phases me, and you have a need to experience them up close but realize the problem, it’s not like there are falconers on every main street let alone someone that can let you experience a live raptor up close.
Or you have a fierce passion and want to learn how to work with them as a falconer or an educator. - Boy do I get it. But trying to learn anything about falconry, how to care for or train a raptor is like finding a needle in a haystack and no one will even tell you where the haystack is.
For me, it was all the above. Finding a way to experience them in person or learn anything about being a falconer was extremely limited, especially during a time without Google, YouTube or social media as well as being female in a male dominated field. I tried everything and anything to gain experience and knowledge through old fashioned calling on the phone, reading books with limited ‘how-to’ information and begging to hangout with people to learn while always feeling like I was intruding. I resorted to devouring veterinary textbooks, articles in academic journals and even tapes on VHS; loved every minute of it but desperately wanted more.
Maybe the one true blessing; there were no social media groups packed with people ready to pounce on my ignorance, feed their egos with my willingness to learn, or just ignore me all together. At the time, I certainly wouldn’t have known what was valid information and what wasn’t. I did have my fair share of learning from people, in the end, I realized they might not be the person to learn from. Time to keep looking…
All I knew was that I wanted to make the world a better place for raptors and at the same time be in their presence as much as possible. It was like I needed them…and still do.
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Can you relate?
This is my why, and philosophy, want more of a ‘resume’ style bio? Just scroll down.
I’m going to get a little ‘Sedona’* on you here, I am an empath. I don’t mean in a woo-woo sort of way but physiologically I am wired differently. ...meaning, I was born with more mirror neurons than 80% of the population. This means I can read micro-expressions, collect minute data quickly and then form a model or conclusion that would go undetected by most of the population. Which is a good trait to have when you need to make decisions quickly or spot inconsistencies, and what made me a good paramedic back in my younger life.
*Sedona, AZ is a small town in Northern Arizona that was overrun in the 1960’s by hippies and those searching for spiritual enlightenment. Throughout time it has become well-known for its artists, spiritual and new age residents that practice everyday life in ways that mainstream would consider a bit ‘weird’.
Today, it is an overgrown, crowded tourist town for those that would like to take selfies among the sacred red rocks, crowd the hiking trails, see psychics or terrorize the landscapes on too many ATVs. But to me, Sedona remains my hometown with open minded residents that care about their natural world.
But the downside to being an empath is, I take on the emotions of others, humans and especially animals, and most of the time cannot shut it off. Also, as an empath, those emotions are felt more intensely than felt by the average person. In a nutshell, this makes my life as a falconer intensely good when I see raptors are healthy and happy but the negative emotions are extremely intense when I see or feel their suffering; whether in the wild or in captivity. …and especially intense when one of my own birds is stressed, sick, or dies. You should see me at the vet’s with my birds, neurotic, helicopter moms got nothing. For me, it is overwhelming to see raptors suffering through pain when brought into rehab, or a (potentially) bad living situation with their caregivers. So distressing in fact, that I would do almost anything to make it stop for them ...and me.
What’s the point of this story?
It was these uncomfortable and often intense emotions that compelled me to find a solution to stop the suffering or at least prevent it in more cases through education and safeguarding. A still undecidedly selfish motive by me but the prospective outcome will be a better world to exist for raptors in the wild and captivity. And this is a calling that I can’t seem to squash…I’ve tried (for like a day😉) to do a more ‘responsible’ career; whatever that means. So if you have the same relentless, nagging drive; I get it. I stopped fighting it and just go with it now.
Ironically, over recent years I have been portrayed as an anomaly in how I care for my birds. I always thought everyone took care of their birds like I do. I appreciate that people notice how I take care of my birds, and even inspire them to do the same…But I shouldn’t be the anomaly, I should be the norm because every bird deserves it. This sent me into a different direction than originally planned. In research, we call this ‘a gap in the literature’. There’s a gap in raptor care and management education and access to that education. Time to pivot.
Honestly at times, I remain quite confused and just don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want the best for their birds. However, over time I have realized most just don’t have access to the knowledge base that falconers tend to keep locked in their heads. Or they lack access to quality knowledge either through sponsors passing down misinformation and/or their own lack of knowledge to their apprentices and/or lack the support from the falconry community.
As falconers, we don’t have ‘falconry schools’** or college degrees to learn to be falconers, we learn from those that have gone before us and have to trust that journey.
**[There is no such thing as a true Falconry School in the USA. This is a generalized term used by USFWS permits for falconers/educators that offer experiences. You cannot learn to be falconer in a 1-2 hour experience.] Is it worth the experience? YES! But don’t expect to be a falconer when you are done.
The same consequence seemed to be true for raptor educators/rehabbers reaching out for help from the falconry community as well. They are often met with resistance in various forms, with most just being ignored.
Additionally, falconers and rehabbers generally don’t “like” each other; which is a real shame because it’s a partnership that would be mutually beneficial and extremely beneficial to the birds.
The birds suffer the most in the end when we don’t share our knowledge or create an environment where asking for help is discouraged. This aspect of our community is probably what bothers me the most and the easiest to fix.
I am steadfast and determined that IRFC will remain a place of intellectual integrity for raptor knowledge and deliver professional education programs.
For the public wanting to learn about raptors and falconry, IRFC will be that opportunity and it is vital to helping wild raptors.
The emotional connections made with a live raptor is priceless and without it, it just makes conservation an uphill battle.
IRFC will set the bar and employs ethical practices in falconry and fair training methods as well as providing extraordinary husbandry standards to the IRFC Flying Team.
I hope I can inspire and teach those that want to level up in their raptor care and management as well as provide guidance to those just starting their journey through our educational courses and coaching offerings. I want knowledge and mentorship to accessible to those needing and wanting it.
Falconers are not generally welcoming of outsiders, and there are some valid reasons.
As falconers, at times we are subjected to endless supplies of intrusive, inquisitive people out in the field, even some interactions in the field that can be and have proven to be dangerous for both the falconer and birds. And more often we get the time-wasters that believe they want a ‘pet hawk’.
With that said, under well thought out and controlled situations the interaction between the public and a live raptor is incredibly impactful and valuable.
Which is the mission for IRFC to facilitate such meaningful experiences through our programs and experiences.
Soooo, in a nutshell…
If you are here to learn about raptors or falconry, whether you are ready to take the falconry plunge, a raptor educator/professional or you want to help raptors, then you are in the right place.
Want the more formal stats on Michele and the WHOLE story?
Keep scrolling!
Hey there!
Michele with Quinn, Ferruginous Hawk
Photo: Ted Grussing
I’m Michele, a Master Falconer, Raptor Ecologist, Researcher, Educator, and longtime learning disciple of avian medicine with a partiality for mentoring aspiring falconers, particularly young females wanting to come up through the ranks.
I have a PhD in Environmental Studies with research in Arizona’s Golden Eagles.
I have a MS in Environmental Policy and Management, another MS in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and a BS in Biology.
Doctoral Degree Graduation with my good friend, Dr. Kimberly Craighead, Big Cat biologist and fellow nonprofit founder.
I am a Master Falconer with 22 years experience in raptor management and care and as an educator.
Before all that, I was a Paramedic in both a 911 EMS and neonatal/pediatric critical care team for the local Children’s Hospital’s critical transport. …which seems like a lifetime ago.
However! I didn’t always have this long list of ‘expertise’.
I was just a girl obsessed with raptors and veterinary medicine running on raw passion without a clue how to make a difference in their world. All I knew was I wanted to do my best for any bird that came into my life.
My first year as a falconer was nerve-racking! ...and still is at times.
I will never know it all, and I am learning constantly.
With no real plan, then over the next two decades, I read veterinary textbooks for fun, grabbed every single learning opportunity from the most respected people in the raptor world. I collected what little falconry books I could find. I found most books were too general and only covered the surface. This wasn’t enough for me.
People often ask me how I got into this; and this is the longest answer ever.
But it went something like this…
Starting a nonprofit wasn’t my childhood dream; I wanted to be a veterinarian since I was 5-years-old.
What derailed my path?
Marriage to an active duty US Marine. It is difficult to go to vet school when you move every 2-3 years so, I became a paramedic instead. It was medicine and it was intense; the two things I run towards.
This is what changed the trajectory of my life.
April 15, 1997
- Teddy Bear Air Cook Children’s Hospital
Fort Worth, TX
[Just for the record, I hate it when they say ‘ambulance driver’. There is a BIG difference between ‘driving an ambulance’ and being a NATIONALLY REGISTERED PARAMEDIC! ]
As a paramedic, I saved countless lives but my soul was screaming to do something greater.
Well, the universe intervened on the morning of April 15, 1997.
I was a part of a specialized critical care transport team for a children’s hospital and while rushing back to the hospital with an infant, a minivan slammed into the side of the ambulance. The driver was going so fast that it caused my 1-TON MICU to roll!
I remember hanging upside down from my seat belt and watching the glass of the passenger side window disintegrate as we slid across the intersection for what seemed like an eternity.
Afterward, while standing on the curb, wearing my blue flight suit, I looked at my supervisor at the time and said, “I’m done.” I never answered another ‘ring-down’. That week I applied for school to major in biology and never looked back.
At the time, I either wanted to go to law school for environmental law or PhD for research. I couldn’t decide so I thought I would apply to both and let the universe decide.
Well, it did. At the time I was to take my LSAT to get into law school, I had to have my gallbladder removed and missed the LSAT.
The PhD application went through and I was on my PhD journey.
🤔 Still deciding if that was a good thing or not.
I had always loved all animals, especially birds but knew I needed to specialize in a particular species. I went back and forth, overthinking it and then the universe stepped in again.
On May 29, 1997, I was at one of those clichéd renaissance faires with my family. We watched an education program disguised as a Falconry demonstration for King Henry VIII’s court.
Afterward, we went to where the birds were perched for the public; there was a Red-tailed Hawk that I just adored. I can still see her in my mind 25 years later.
I decided at that moment that I would devote the rest of my life to raptors. And I have done exactly that ever since…
So there you have it, the very same educational programs that I do now, is what inspired me to devote my life to the conservation of raptors.
2002 Graduated from Texas Christian University with a BS in Biology
2002 National Zoo doing educational talks in front of their Bald Eagle Exhibit and began doing raptor rehabilitation and education for a Northern Virginia organization
The day I trapped Guinevere, December 11, 2005.
with my sponsor, Liam and his new Red-tailed Hawk
2005 After years of postponing because of constant moving due to duty station changes or deployments, I became a falconer!!
My life has not been the same since.
My sponsor was Liam McGranaghan, a well-respected falconer from Northern Virginia.
My first hawk was a HUGE female Red-tailed Hawk that I named Guinevere.
October 2005 Spent time at The Raptor Center in Minnesota for various workshops and continuing education learning training, raptor husbandry/captive management, and avian medicine.
This was the first workshop they offered. I use what I learned still to this day. Priceless educational value and my birds have received the benefits.
2011 Started out as an exciting time. After nearly 25 years, my ‘then’ husband was retiring from the US Marine Corps. After I had sacrificed my own dreams for the sake of the mission, we were returning to my hometown of Sedona, AZ.
It was going to be MY TURN.
However, he decided that I was better off without him, though at the time I didn’t believe him, it turns out he was right.
My strategy to cope? Run away to England! Some join the circus, I went to the International Centre for Birds of Prey in Newent, Gloucestershire, UK.
I learned more there than all my years of falconry to date. ICBP is the oldest and the best bird of prey centers on the planet. ICBP is lucky to have the legendary Jemima Parry-Jones at the helm.
And she signed my divorce papers, my new life!
2012 Earned my MS in Environmental Policy and Management
2013 Back to Sedona, AZ from the UK and then Flagstaff, AZ.
Doing a school program UK - 2012
2014 June - Coral arrives from the UK to AZ!!
She was my bird in UK and I brought her back to America with me. Because I knew no one else would put up with her charming personality.
2014 July - Moved to New Hampshire to wait for a job in VT and to work my PhD
2015 May - Moved to Woodstock, VT to run a falconry center for a Massachusetts falconer. Just a side note; I also learned why there are very few falconers in Vermont, because the falconry in Vermont is horrible! I did not see a single rabbit and squirrels were only seen in the middle of town.
2016 - Back to my hometown, Sedona, AZ but later moved to Flagstaff, AZ.
July- 2017 - Founded the International Raptor and Falconry Center!! I worked hard to gain our 501(c)3 in record time (less than 3 months), designed our logo, website up and running in a couple of weeks.
2018 - Teaching Global Environmental Issues at Coconino College
2018 – Earned MS #2! Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies
2019 – Earned Ph.D. Environmental Studies
Dissertation: Habitat characteristics and nesting ecology of Golden Eagles in Arizona
To my knowledge, I am one of the very few individuals that is a master falconer, researcher holding a Ph.D., rehabilitator, and educator. Although you can be one without the other, I set out to be an interdisciplinary expert that intertwines all expertise to provide me with unique insight.
World Falconry Day with Quinn, the Ferruginous Hawk in Sedona.
Photo was part of an article in Red Rock News to celebrate World Falconry Day 2019 and falconers doing conservation.
Photo: David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers
IRFC was a 10+-year-old aspiration of having a Center that represents a true clearinghouse of knowledge of ‘all things raptor’. A place of knowledge through research, a place of helping the injured and sick through rehabilitation and state of the art avian medicine and a place of learning through education.
My falconry culture is incredibly important to me. Due to the lack of access for those who want to learn about falconry, I really want IRFC to play a vital role in providing education and experiences in falconry. Additionally, I want IRFC to be a place of understanding even for those who might misunderstand falconry.
As a researcher, Dr. Losee, that’s me, believes research is essential to the conservation of raptors. Without the knowledge gained from research, there are no data for education. We cannot educate what we do not know and, thereby, conserve what we love.
Research is really considered a conversation, over time researchers add to the conversation with newly collected data and the conversation confirms the story is still valid, changes direction or tells a better story.
Adding to the conversation of science through research and education allows us to apply what we know; both are vital to making the world a better place for raptors.
There have been (still) moments I have wanted to give up. However, I believe in what this could mean for the raptors of Northern Arizona and even globally so, I dig in with more grit. The need for proper medical care for sick/injured raptors alone keeps me motivated.
My drive to make this vision a reality seems to be stronger than any setbacks; and there have been many.
My ultimate vision for the Center is to be a specialty center devoted to raptor species from all over the world for the public to visit and enjoy.
And a center for people to learn about falconry and a place for falconers to learn their new skills. Hence the name International = I did not want to pigeon hole the center into a specific locale or narrowed collection of species. Raptor = raptor conservation/education/husbandry. Falconry = learn about falconry and a place to learn for falconers. Center = a place to do all the above. …once we get some land to build.
And that is where I will leave it.