Feather Movement

Peter Stavrianoudakis often relaxes on his couch after work while an aplomado falcon preens his beard.

"And when I sit down to dinner, he comes up to the table and sits on my shoulder," the Stanislaus County deputy public defender said of the little raptor. "It drives my wife nuts."

Not much taller than a wine glass, the aplomado goes by the name Ares and has been part of the attorney's home for a little more than three years. Although he's been a licensed falconer for nearly four decades, Stavrianoudakis said Ares is the first bird to live indoors with him.

"Part of being a good falconer is really poop control," he explained with a laugh, noting Ares makes use of strategically placed cat litter boxes beneath his perches.

"Hawks can make a huge mess," Stavrianoudakis added, describing larger raptors he's cared for and hunted with in the past. "Those birds would typically be kept outdoors in what we call mews."

Adjusting to a Covid-19 normal -- one in which he works remotely, handling incarcerated client meetings and court hearings over video conference -- Stavrianoudakis said the serenity of time outdoors with Ares remains essential.

"The good news is falconry is by myself," he said, referring to social distancing directives. "I'm in the middle of 100-acre-plus fields when I go, so I've got no contact. ... And quite frankly, it just puts my spirit in a better place when I'm flying my bird."

Raised on a dairy near Hilmar, Stavrianoudakis spent much of his youth outdoors, first working in watermelon fields with his father at about 7 and later sharecropping corn and oats as a teenager. Rifle hunting for dove and pheasant began around 12 with his dad, but Stavrianoudakis said his fascination with nature and wildlife developed far earlier.

"Part of the joy of being outside and working in the fields was getting to watch what nature did," he recalled. "And after the moment I first watched a bird chase another bird, I was all eyes for any kind of feather movement in the sky."

At 16, Stavrianoudakis startled an injured kestrel while working in a walnut orchard and managed to catch the little bird and nurse it back to health over a few weeks. Stavrianoudakis said the kestrel quickly came to rely on him for food, and returned nightly to his backyard for evening snacks for weeks after being set free. That early connection with a wild creature had a transformative impact.

"Once I learned how quickly that bond forms," he said, "I knew I wanted to fly and hawk birds."

Today, those flights frequently feature Stavrianoudakis stirring up birds or rodents from undergrowth in fields free of power lines and fences while Ares circles above, ready to chase after the small game.

"It's absolutely beautiful," said Timothy Snowball, a Sacramento Pacific Legal Foundation attorney who's seen Stavrianoudakis and Ares in action. "You can't help but be impressed with the coordination and the way they communicate."

Snowball is representing Stavrianoudakis along with other falconers in a suit against the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife that claims state and federal licensing regulations violate the plaintiffs' First and Fourth Amendment rights, prohibiting them from making money off falconry while also subjecting them to warrantless searches. The constitutional questions of the case have generated a fair bit of media attention, including news coverage and opinion pieces in the Daily Journal. Stavrianoudakis v. U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife, 1:18-cv-01505-LJO-BAM (E.D. Cal., filed Oct. 30, 2018).

"As a public defender, Peter is an expert in the scope and operation of Fourth Amendment protections," Snowball explained, noting Stavrianoudakis is remarkably dedicated to his clients. "So for his own Fourth Amendment protections to be subject to violation by the state is especially egregious."

Cort Wiegand, a Modesto criminal defense attorney who's known Stavrianoudakis for years and seen the public defender in court, also described him as an attorney with strong sentiment for his clients.

"He gives a shit about his job," Wiegand said. "He may be a public defender, and he may have just been appointed on this particular case, but he cares about doing his job, and he cares about doing it right."

A late comer to the legal profession, Stavrianoudakis didn't enroll at what was then Humphreys College School of Law until his mid 30s after earning a living farming, working as a musician and pilot, and cutting hair for 20 years.

"I had a cosmetology license, a pilot's license, and a high school diploma," he explained, noting he never completed an undergraduate degree. "Now I have a juris doctorate."

Never a fan of bullies, Stavrianoudakis said the chance to stand up for individuals facing injustice changed his life for the better, and he noted with a chuckle that he takes "a little personal glee in catching someone breaking the rules while trying to enforce the rules."

Wiegand, a falconer himself for more than 40 years, was quick to mention Stavrianoudakis isn't shy about passing on his passion for the sport.

"Give Peter a chance to talk about falconry and you can hardly get him to stop," Wiegand said, laughing. "He loves his bird, and he just loves doing it."

Asked why the pursuit holds so much significance for him, Stavrianoudakis said watching Ares hunt encompasses much of what this world is about.

"You're seeing nature, and everything about nature, right then and there," he explained. "Something escapes and lives, or something gets caught, and the creature that caught it gets to live. ... It really grounds and connects me back to the fact that we're creatures -- no different than anything else no matter how evolved we might claim to be."