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Rodney Stotts on Becoming a Falconer
A Black falconer forges his own path.
© Greg Kahn
Rodney Stotts decided to become a falconer after years of working with injured raptors and teaching young people about wildlife. When he reached out to potential mentors, some couldn’t picture him, a Black man, as a falconer. But Rodney eventually found a mentor and began training and handling birds of prey. Now a certified master falconer himself, he introduces kids from the Washington, DC, area and beyond to the majesty of raptors.
BirdNote®
Rodney Stotts on Becoming a Falconer
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[music: “Dirty Wallpaper,” Blue Dot Sessions]
Rodney Stotts decided to become a falconer after years of working with injured raptors and teaching young people about wildlife. There's a long process of training and licensing involved in becoming a falconer. An additional hurdle? He didn't see anyone like him doing it.
Rodney Stotts: And people looked at me and I guess it was funny to them, because Black falconer — it just didn’t go together. And then once I got my foot in the door, that was it. You couldn’t slam the door anymore.
Rodney eventually found a mentor and began training and handling birds of prey. Now a certified master falconer himself, he introduces kids from the Washington, DC, area and beyond to the majesty of raptors.
Rodney Stotts: First of all just to see them smile. I pull this bird out, and their eyes light up. And the excitement in them, that to me is a blessing. Because whatever you were going through, for that split second, you felt better.
[Red-tailed Hawk call, ML 229578, 0:12-0:14]
He hopes his programs help students imagine more possibilities for themselves.
Rodney Stotts: To have somebody when I was in the 4th grade or 5th grade and come in and bring a bird and tell me I can do these things may have changed the whole course of my life. Who knows!
Learn more in Rodney’s new book with Kate Pipkin, Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife.
Find a link on our website, BirdNote DOT org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
[Red-tailed Hawk call, ML 229578, 0:12-0:14]
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Red-tailed Hawk ML229578 recorded by D. McCartt.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote March 2022 Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# stottsr-01-2022-02-04 stottsr-01
Conor Gearin
Writer
Ariana Remmel
NarratorSights & Sounds
