Team Members
ADAM CHAVEZ, MBA
The owner of Adam’s Falconry Service has been practicing falconry since 1975. Adam is currently the President for the California Hawking Club, the largest state falconry club in the US with over 200 members. Adam is also the Director-at-Large for the North American Falconers’ Association, which has over 1800 members. Adam has participated in and judged numerous sky trial competitions. Adam is the Chairman of the Abatement Committee for NAFA. To date, Adam has personally trained 24 apprentice falconers. Some of his projects include: resorts, agriculture, HOAs, golf courses, beaches, landfills, transfer stations, retail centers, warehouses, malls, and industrial parks. Adam has a BS in Finance from the University of Nevada Reno. He also has an MBA in Health Care Management from Southern California University. He enjoys going to the gym and mixed martial arts training with his son Dylan.
DYLAN CHAVEZ
A second generation Master Class Falconer who loves all animals and has grown up around raptors. Dylan prefers micro falconry, which is flying the small birds of prey. He used his apprenticeship to work with his Kestrel Apollo before transitioning to his Gyr x Aplo. He is now working full time in the family business in charge of billing and scheduling. Dylan also helps out on weekends with our Falconry Experience in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Dylan enjoys working with kids and is especially talented in building confidence with our younger guests who may need a little extra help during the hands-on portion of the experience. Dylan has his Bachelor's Degree in Communications from CSU San Marcos. In his down time, he is either gaming or can be found in the gym taking mixed martial art classes.
COURTNEY CHAVEZ
Courtney joins her brother in the ranks as a Master Class Falconer. She is currently training a Peregrine Falcon. She runs the desk at our educational events we do at A Stones Throw Winery. She is a graduate from UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor's Degree in Game Design.
RAYMOND GUZMAN
A Master Falconer with over 30 years experience. Raymond is also a 2nd generation falconer learning the art from his father who is still an active falconer to this day. Raymond has flown a variety of raptors that are used in falconry and abatement. Raymond has mainly focused on the Goshawk. He like the challenge of working with this somewhat difficult raptor. The Goshawk seems to give him the most joy to work with, all though he likes them all. Raymond started doing abatement work in the early 2000’s at a hotel keeping Seagulls at bay and a vineyard keeping starlings and other small birds from eating the grapes. We are glad to have such a great and knowledgeable falconer on the team here at Adam’s Falconry Service.
VANG VANG
Vang is a Master Falconer with 10 years experience. He is currently flying a Golden Eagles and a passage Prairie Falcon. He has worked in the abatement field in agriculture as well as at landfills. He is also a pretty good hood maker.
DAVID FELICIANO
David is a Master Class Falconer who has been passionate about animals since he was a young boy. He grew up around large parrots, and took a strong interest in birds and reptiles. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in Geography with an environmental science emphasis. He understands the positive impact nuisance species abatement has on the environment and is excited to learn the art of falconry. David also has volunteer experience in animal husbandry and education at the Aquarium of the Pacific where he developed a passion for educating the public about animals and environmental issues. David has professional experience training dogs and large parrots. He is currently training his American Kestrel, Yeti, and is excited to become a part of the team.
BRIAN BROWN
Brian is a Master Class Falconer and hunting dog trainer with over 35 years' experience hunting with Raptors all over the world. From the US and Canada to Europe and the Middle East, he is always focused on the psychology of accipiters and can usually be found with a goshawk and dog on a back road camping. Brian is a retired Army veteran and has a Masters degree in psychology from University of Georgia.
KENLEY CHRISTENSEN
Kenley Christensen is a Master Class Falconer with 35 years of experience and 20 years of bird abatement experience. He has trained falcons for Middle East exports. Kenley also does field testing for Marshall Radio utilizing their telemetry equipment for tracking falcons.
ALBERTO ARCEO
Alberto is from Mexico City where he got involved with falconry at a young age. He has always been infatuated with animals especially big cats and reptiles. Alberto is a Master Class Falconer. He is a currently breeding Aplomado falcons. He has experience with various birds of prey and a number of different bird abatement jobs, such as protecting blueberries in Washington with Aplomado and Peregrine Falcons. He has experience flying 3 Aplomado falcons together along with my Gyr x Peregrine simultaneously. He is currently working at transfer stations and landfills keeping the seagulls at bay. In Los Angeles, he also works on a number of pigeon projects. Alberto said "I am very happy to be part of Adam’s Falconry. He gave me the opportunity and confidence while working on his team to continue to develop and grow in what is my passion."
GIAVANNA CAPUTO
Gia is a General Class Falconer that has experience as a Rehabilitation Technician. She is trained in wound management and rescue and transport of wild animals. She is efficient at drawing and reading blood samples. She also has prior experience in proper handling of raptors, aquatic birds, song birds, mammals and reptiles. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).
CHELSEY STEPHENSON
Chelsy is a General Class Falconer. Following in the footsteps of her older sister Jennifer Stephenson, a Master Class Falconer. Growing up Chelsy always had a huge heart for animals. After finding a love for the sport of falconry, She is now continuing her dream to work with wild animals. She is flying her Harris Hawk Sophira, to aid in eco-friendly pest control for Adam's falconry Service.
DANNY DUQUE (AKA BRUNO MARS)
Danny is a General Class Falconer who is learning the ropes from his mentor Tim Browne. He is flying a Gyr x Peregrine and works on various projects: transfer stations, HOA’s, landfills, and resorts. He also likes to ride his motorcycle and has taken a cross-country trip recently.
CHRISTIAN KARAPETIAN
Christian gained an interest in birds after living near a nature preserve during most of his teenage years. After some time spent observing birds of prey in the wild, he became a licensed falconer in 2014 and has been a part of Adam's Falconry Service since then. He also flies ... planes that is. He is a pilot and has served in the US Air Force. When he is not participating in falconry, he also enjoys motocross, skateboarding, and surfing.
"SLEEPY" MIKE ORTMAN
Mike, who is a General Class Falconer, decided he would also join the ranks as a falconer after being introduced to falconry by his good friend Christian. He enjoys sleeping hence the nickname "Sleepy Mike" and riding his motorcycle cross country.
LUKE DELOYE
Luke is a General Class Falconer who was exposed to falconry at the age of 9 when he attended his first falconry meet. He is currently flying a male Harris Hawk. Luke is a few classes short of getting his degree in Business Analytics. Luke spends the majority of his free time surfing.
KATI ALCARAZ
Katie is a General Class falconer. She has experience working with aquatic animals through 6 years of summer internships at Sea World San Diego. She is now continuing her love for working with animas through falconry. Kati has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from San Diego State University. She currently is hunting with her Redtail Ozzie.
ALEX CONWAY
With over a decade of experience as a dog trainer, Alex took to falconry quickly, and as a general Licensed falconer has been flying hawks, and more recently medium-small longwings, for the last few years. When flying birds or training dogs, you can find him training in various martial arts and getting ready for competitions.
NATALIE GAROFANO
Description pending.
ELI WINSTON
Elizabeth is a Master Falconer that has been working in Bird Abatement since 2022. Born in Washington, she specializes in micro birds and has a team of Harris Hawks for Falconry Based Bird Control. She spends her off time making falconry equipment and hoods for the falconry community.
CHRIS ALLEN
A Master Falconer with over 30 years of experience. Chris is one of our netting specialists (birds inside of stores). Chris has participated in our water quality improvement project at the beach. By removing the nuisance seagulls we were able to restore the water quality to acceptable levels as well as improve the public’s health and safety at this location. Chris is well known as one of the premiere small birds of prey falconers.
PETER MARINO
A Master Falconer who has worked at several landfills and has experience with Saker Falcons and Harris Hawks. Peter was instrumental at reducing a flock of 5000 gulls down to a very manageable flock of several hundred. This was accomplished at one of the most difficult landfills to work in Southern California due to its proximity to the coast which attracts fresh groups of gulls throughout the day coming in from different locations to try and find a snack.
JAMES YU
James is a Master Class Falconer with a passion for dirt hawking. He started his career in falconry after rehabbing a Western Screech Owl in 2012. Since that faithful day, James has dedicated himself to the pursuit of falconry and the rehabilitation of injured raptors. A Monterey County, SPCA Wildlife Rehab volunteer since 2013, he’s rehabilitated Red-shoulder Hawks, American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Cooper’s Hawks and assisted with the Golden Eagles and Ferruginous Hawks. For the past two years, he has concentrated on flying and hunting his Harris Hawk, Gotham and his Goshawk, Bruce. James is proud to be joining the Team and starting a new chapter in with Falconry Based Abatement. James has a degree in Psychology from UCSB.
OUR BIRDS
Our birds are highly trained for all the right jobs. They are on special diets and treated by Raptor specialists in Southern California.
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