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inverting hawk skull

Discussion in 'Bird Taxidermy' started by jon_wilhelm, Dec 1, 2014.

  1. Dec 1, 2014 #1
    jon_wilhelm

    jon_wilhelm Member

    62
    23
    Ontario, Canada
    Hey guys,
    I've recently started my first roadkill red-tailed hawk. I live in Canada so I was able to get a permit for him. I decided to use the real skull and inverted it to clean it out. My problem is when I tried to re-invert it, I couldn't get it to slide back up the neck. I don't want to pull too hard and rip the skin. I'm wondering if the disc shaped pieces above each eye are catching on the skin or something. Anyone have any opinions. Thanks in advance.
     
  3. Dec 2, 2014 #2
    alan webfoot

    alan webfoot New Member

    2,821
    2
    make sure the skin is very relaxed and moist to give you stretch ,and another option is skin around the base of the bill rebuild eye detail muscle etc. then reattach like an artificial duck head ,after you've mounted the hawk and everything else is wired pinned and basically rough groomed.
     

  5. Dec 2, 2014 #3
    JL

    JL Taxidermist for 64 years

    2,396
    229
    New Hampshire
    Do what we used to do before repro heads on ducks. Cut behind the skull...invert then an easy job sewing the incision. Good luck....JL
     
  6. Dec 2, 2014 #4
    Museum Man

    Museum Man Well-Known Member

    3,924
    747
    where i've always been
    you can skin it out through the mouth just as if you were using an artificial skull....then after cleaning, build up the skull with clay and glue it as you would have an artificial one...
     
  7. Dec 5, 2014 #5
    kimberly@

    [email protected] Member

    65
    11
    Missoula, Montana
    When I work on any birds with a big skull and sharp beak (in this case an African Ringneck Parakeet) I make two incisions.

    Make one incision like usual from the top of the breast down to the cloaca. Then find a spot underneath the beak that doesn't have many feather tracts to cut through and make a second, smaller incision. Now use the smaller one to invert the head and beak. Once you have the skull cleaned out and eyes installed, reinvert through the smaller incision. Then when you are ready to sew up like usual the anatomy will be easier to keep accurate since you didn't make one HUGE slice from under the beak to cloaca.

    Here is an image to help demonstrate:

    <img src="https://kimberlybunting.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/img_0377.jpg?w=2000&h=">