Falconry Anklets and Bewit

Anklets are simply a single piece of leather with a grommet to hold them on. But, I’ve added an extra piece. This idea came to me one day when I lost my bird. Due to a mistake by me, my bird took off. Normally this would have been OK, just call her back right? Well it was during the molt and she was pig fat. I eventually got her back, but it got me to thinking. Every now and again, I hear of someone finding a bird with jesses on. The bird somehow makes it to an animal shelter and the long process of finding the owner begins. Meanwhile, the owners are frantically trying to locate their bird. The process of looking up the band number and locating the owner can take several weeks. Provided they even have a band on them. Some states do not require you band your wild caught red-tail. So, I got to thinking. What does the bird always have on? The anklets. So why not put your phone number right on the anklet? If you loose your bird, and it ends up in the animal shelter, they can contact you right away. Nuff said.You will need tooling kip and number stamps to do this anklet. The stamps can be purchased from Tandy Leather, or Papa John’s Toolbox. Or Google metal number stamps.The actual sizes will vary for your bird. This anklet will fit a female red-tail.1. Cut the top figure (anklet) out of a soft yet sturdy leather. Cut the bottom piece (plate) out of tooling kip.

2. Mark the center line for your stamping. Before you start stamping, wet the leather slightly. You want the leather damp, but not soggy. Allow it to soak in for a few minutes. When the leather looks dry, but is cold, it is ready to stamp. Make sure you use enough force when stamping to make a good deep impression. A few test strikes on some scrap is a good idea. Let it dry. You may want to dye the leather to make the numbers stand out more. Be sure to coat it with a leather sealer to waterproof it.

3. There are two ways to attach the leather plate to the anklet, glue alone or glue and sew it. I find the glue/sewing to be the most durable, but it is a lot more work.

Glue – Place the plate on the anklet and trace out where it will go. Use fresh contact cement and apply it to both the anklet (only where the plate will go) and the plate and allow to dry. Then carefully position it and press it on. As you press it on, form the anklet into a bit of an arch.

Sewing – Sewing requires you to make stitching holes first (after it’s been glued on). Using an awl or a Dremel with a tiny drill bit, make the stitching holes all the way around and through both the plate and the anklet. Using a good leather thread, thread both ends with a needle and insert one needle through the plate and the anklet. Now it’s just a matter of sewing all the way around. Insert the needles from both sides into the same hole shown here. Pull each stitch snug against the leather. When you go all the way around, pull each needle through just one thickness of leather. You now have the thread between the leather pieces. Tie a good strong knot and tighten it so it ends up between the leather pieces. This way you don’t have any knot showing.

METHOD #2
If your using kip for the anklets, then you can stamp your phone number right on the anklet and skip all the sewing.

I like kip for anklets. The leather is strong, yet thin and light. I use leather that is 2 – 3 oz in weight. For larger birds like female red-tails you might want to use 3-4 oz leather.