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A Goshawk
A Hobby
Falconry or hawking is an art or sport which involves the use of trained raptors (birds of prey) to hunt or pursue game for humans. There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk (accipiter). In modern falconry, buteos are now commonly used, and the words "hawking" and "hawker" have become used so much to mean petty travelling traders, so "falconer" and "falconry" now apply to all use of trained birds of prey to catch game.
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Crimean falconer of King John II Casimir (1664)
Traditional view of falconry state that the art started in Mesopotamia. The earliest evidence comes from around the reign of Sargon II (722-705 BC). Falconry was probably introduced to Europe around AD 400, when the Huns and Alans invaded from the East. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen has been noted as one of the early European noblemen to take an interest in falconry. He is believed to have obtained firsthand knowledge of Arabic falconry during wars in the region (between June 1228–June 1229). He obtained a copy of Moamyn\'s manual on falconry and had it translated into Latin by Theodore of Antioch. Frederick himself made corrections to the translation in 1241 resulting in De Arte Venandi cum Avibus (The Art of Hunting with Birds).Egerton, F. 2003. A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 8: Fredrick II of Hohenstaufen: Amateur Avian Ecologist and Behaviorist. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 84(1):40–44. [1]
Historically, falconry was a popular sport, and status symbol, among the nobles of medieval Europe and feudal Japan; in Japan it is called takagari. Eggs and chicks of birds of prey were quite rare and expensive, and since the process of raising and training a hawk or falcon takes a lot of time and money and space, it was more or less restricted to the noble classes. In Japan, there were even strict restrictions on who could hunt which sorts of animals and where, based on rank within the samurai class. In art and in other aspects of culture such as literature, falconry remained a status symbol long after falconry was no longer popularly practiced. Eagles and hawks displayed on the wall could represent the noble himself, metaphorically, as noble and fierce. Woodblock prints or paintings of falcons or falconry scenes could be bought by wealthy commoners, and displayed as the next best thing to partaking in the sport, again representing a certain degree of nobility.
The often-quoted Book of St Albans or Boke of St Albans, first printed in 1486, often attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, provides this hierarchy of hawks and the social ranks for which each bird was supposedly appropriate. The line numbers are not in the original.
1) Emperor: The Eagle, Vulture, and Merloun
2) King: The Ger Falcon and the Tercel of the Ger Falcon
3) Prince: The Falcon Gentle and the Tercel Gentle
4) Duke: The Falcon of the Loch
5) Earl: The Falcon Peregrine
6) Baron: The Bustard
7) Knight: The Sacre and the Sacret
8) Esquire: The Lanere and the Laneret
9) Lady: The Marlyon
10) Young Man: The Hobby
11) Yeoman: The Goshawk
12) Poor Man: The Jercel
13) Priest: The Sparrowhawk
14) Holy Water Clerk: The Musket
15) Knave or Servant: The Kestrel
This list, however, was mistaken in several respects.
1) Vultures are not used for falconry.
3) 4) 5) These are usually said to be different names for the Peregrine Falcon. But there is an opinion that renders 4) as "rock falcon" = a peregrine from remote rocky areas, which would be bigger and stronger than other peregrines.
6) The bustard is not a bird of prey, but a game species that was commonly hunted by falconers; this entry may have been a mistake for buzzard, or for busard which is French for "harrier"; but any of these would be a poor deal for barons; some treat this entry as "bastard hawk", whatever that may be.
7) 8) Sakers and Lanners were imported from abroad and very expensive, and ordinary knights and squires would be unlikely to have them. (But there are old reports of lanners native to England).
10) 15) Hobbies and kestrels are of little use for serious falconry. (The French name for the Hobby is faucon hobereau, hobereau meaning local/country squire. That may be the source of the confusion.)
12) If "Jercel" is misread handwriting for "tercel" (= tiercel), a poor man would not be able to afford one of those. Or "jercel" might have been an old portmanteau of names of two sorts of hawk, used as slang for a non-existent species of hawk, and thus to mean "no hawk", similar to modern expressions such as "a reel of chalk line" and "skyhook".
It can be seen that the relevance of the "Boke" to practical falconry past or present is extremely tenuous, and veteran British falconer Phillip Glasier dismissed it as "merely a formalised and rather fanciful listing of birds".
There are several categories of raptor that could possibly be used in falconry. They are also classed by falconers as:
The Osprey is a medium-large bird with a worldwide distribution that specializes in eating fish. Generally speaking it does not lend itself to falconry. However the possibility of using a falcon to catch fish remains intriguing. (Some references to "ospreys" in old records mean a mechanical fish-catching device and not the bird.)
Most species of genus Haliaëtus catch and eat fish, some almost exclusively. However, in countries where they are not protected, some have been effectively used in hunting for ground quarry.
The Aquila genus has a nearly worldwide distribution. The more powerful types are used in falconry; for example Golden Eagles have reportedly been used to hunt wolves The last Wolf Hawker: The Eagle Falconry of Friedrich Remmler by Martin Hollinshead, The Fernhill Press 2006 in Kazakhstan, and are now used by the Kazakh eagle hunters to hunt foxes and other large prey. Most are primarily ground-oriented but will occasionally take birds. Eagles are not used as widely in falconry as other birds of prey, due to the lack of versatility in the larger species (they primarily hunt over large open ground), the greater potential danger to other people if hunted in a widely populated area, and the difficulty of training and managing an eagle.
The genus Buteo, known as hawks in North America and not to be confused with vultures, has worldwide distribution but is particularly well represented in North America. The Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, and rarely, the Red-shouldered Hawk are all examples of species from this genus that are used in falconry today. The Red-tailed Hawk is hardy and versatile, taking rabbits, hares, and squirrels; given the right conditions it can catch geese, ducks, pheasants, and even wild turkeys. The Red-Tailed Hawk is also considered a good bird for beginners. The Eurasian or Common Buzzard is also used, although this species requires more perseverance if rabbits are to be hunted.
Parabuteo unicintus is the sole representative of this genus worldwide. Arguably the best rabbit or hare raptor available anywhere, the Harris\' Hawk is also adept at catching birds. Often captive-bred, the Harris\'s Hawk is remarkably popular in the UK because of its temperament and ability. They are gregarious birds, one of the few semi-social raptors. Harris\'s can hunt in groups, a behavior that is a trademark in the wild. This genus is native to the Americas from southern Texas and Arizona to northern South America.
The genus Accipiter is also found worldwide. The hawk expert Mike McDermott once said, "The attack of the accipiters is extremely swift, rapid and violent in every way." They are well known in falconry use both in Europe and North America. The goshawk has been trained for falconry for hundreds of years, taking a variety of birds and mammals.
The genus Falco is found worldwide. Much falconry is concerned with species of this group of birds. Most falcons are oriented towards birds as prey, the Peregrine Falcon almost exclusively so.
Owls are not closely related to hawks or falcons. There is little written in classic falconry that discusses the use of Owls in falconry. However, there are at least two species that have successfully been used, the Eurasian Eagle Owl and the Great Horned Owl. Successful training of owls is much different from the training of hawks and falcons, as they are hearing- rather than sight-oriented (owls can only see black and white, and are long-sighted). This often leads falconers to believe that they are less intelligent, as they are distracted easily by new or unnatural noises and they don\'t respond as readily to food cues. However, if trained successfully, owls show intelligence on the same level as that of hawks and falcons.
Falconry is currently practiced in many countries around the world.
Tangent aspects, such as bird abatement and raptor rehabilitation also employ falconry techniques to accomplish their goals, but are not falconry in the proper sense of the word.
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. This section has been tagged since December 2007. |
In the United States, falconry is legal in all states except Hawaii and the District of Columbia. A falconer must have state and federal licenses to practice the sport. Acquiring a falconry license in the US requires an aspiring falconer to a pass a written test, have equipment and facilities inspected, and serve a minimum of two years as an apprentice under a licensed falconer. There are three classes of the falconry license, which is a permit issued jointly by the falconer\'s state of residence and the federal government. The aforementioned Apprentice license matriculates to a General Class license, which allows the falconer to possess no more than two raptors at a time. After a minimum of 5 years at General level, the falconer may apply for his Master Class license, which allows him to keep 3 raptors for falconry. Within the U.S., a state\'s regulations may be more, but not less, restrictive than the federal guidelines. Both state and federal regulations (as well as state hunting laws) must be complied with by the falconer.
Throughout a falconer\'s practices, he must keep several records, make many notifications regarding each bird, including some which are clearly redundant. Some have questioned whether this interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is truly of benefit for the conservation of raptors, or merely to continue the preservation of government official\'s jobs.
Owing to the Migratory Bird Treaty (which is an international agreement between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan and England,) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) was passed into law, to codify and provide domestic law to support that international treaty. Under the Act, no one may possess, kill, or harass any bird appearing on the Migratory Bird list without specific license to do so. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the individual states both claim ownership of raptors which appear on the Migratory Bird list. They extend their claim of ownership to include captive-bred raptors (which may legally be bought, sold, traded or bartered by licensed individuals and companies.)
Many feel captive-bred raptors should reasonably be considered livestock, personal property, as the same international treaty has been interpreted in other countries. This becomes an especially important issue to falconers in the U.S. because the MBTA allows government officials to confiscate raptors without specific cause. Confiscated raptors very often die within a short period of time, and so falconers, who have invested hundreds of hours and hundreds or thousands of dollars (and considerable time and personal involvements) in these birds are understandably upset by the practice. Recent studies show that fewer than half of one percent of all falconers are ever even investigated (let alone tried or convicted) for violations of state or falconry regulations.
The Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) also has a say in matters pertaining to the import and export of certain animals. CITES assign plants and animals to a certain Appendix, and imposes standards amongst the member nations (over 160 at this time). In practice, each nation has its own policies and procedures for issuing the required CITES import/export permits. In nearly all nations, the process takes from a few hours to a two weeks in the worst case, but in the U.S acquiring a CITES permit often takes months. Since CITES is involved in such regulation, further burdensome processes imposed by the USFWS are inappropriate, but that has not yet deterred them.
A 2007 interpretation by the USFWS suggests that Commercial (as pertains to the transfer and breeding of raptors) be defined as any time anyone receives any benefit of any kind. That being the case, even groups like the Peregrine Fund could lose their scientific breeding position, since their projects gain donations and prestige. A member of a CITES approved scientific breeding coop might also be considered Commercial even if there is no profit, by this definition, as he is receiving the bird itself. The interpretation may be further clarified at some future date, or fought in court, as such a carte-blanche gives law enforcement an unchecked tool by which to harass and confiscate as the whim hits them.
The Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA), legislation put into action circa 1993, prohibits importation of any non-native species of bird into the U.S. Though the WBCA was originally intended to lessen the impact of wild parrots being trapped for sale to the pet trade, a supposed oversight puts raptors under this law as well. While the WBCA does have provision for importation, the process requires membership in a CITES-recognized breeding co-op, and renders importation prohibitively difficult and expensive.
NAFA is the primary club in the United States and has a membership from around the world. They are now working with the WRTC (Wild Rator Take Conservtory) to change raptor ownership laws. NAFA is also working with falconry clubs throughout the United States to forge a wild peregrine falcon take, something which hasn`t been seen since the 70s
Most USA states have their own falconry clubs. Although these clubs are primarily social, they also serve to represent falconers within the state in regards to that state\'s wildlife regulations.
Among North American raptors, some of the most popular birds used in falconry are the Red-tailed hawk, the Peregrine Falcon, the Prairie Falcon, the Goshawk, and the Harris\'s Hawk. Artificial insemination techniques have allowed hybrid raptors to be made in captive breeding projects. These crosses have become popular both in the U.S. and abroad.
Until recently, nearly all Peregrines used for falconry in the U. S. were captive-bred from the progeny of falcons taken before the U. S. Endangered Species Act was enacted and from those few infusions of wild genes available from Canada and special circumstances. Peregrine Falcons were removed from the United States\' endangered species list in 1999 due largely to the effort and knowledge of falconers. Finally, after years of close work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a limited take of wild Peregrines was allowed in 2004, the first wild Peregrines taken specifically for falconry in over 30 years.
An Environmental Impact report prepared by the US Fish & Wildlife service\'s Brian Milsap and George Allen is expected to be officially released during 2006. This report confirms that falconry has literally no measurable impact on wild populations.
In sharp contrast to the US, in Great Britain falconry is permitted without a special practitioners license, but only using captive-bred birds. In the lengthy, record-breaking debates in Westminster during the passage of the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Bill, efforts were made by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and other lobby groups to have falconry outlawed, but these were successfully resisted. After a centuries-old but informal existence in Britain, the sport of falconry was finally given formal legal status in Great Britain by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which allowed it to continue provided all captive raptors native to the UK were officially ringed and government-registered. DNA-testing was also available to verify birds\' origins. Since 1982 the British government\'s licensing requirements have been overseen by the Chief Wildlife Act Inspector for Great Britain, who is assisted by a panel of unpaid assistant inspectors.
British falconers are entirely reliant upon captive-bred birds for their sport. The taking of raptors from the wild for falconry, although permitted by law under government licence, has not been allowed in recent decades.
Anyone is permitted to possess legally registered or captive-bred raptors, although falconers are anxious to point out that this is not synonymous with falconry, which specifically entails the hunting of live quarry with a trained bird. A raptor kept merely as a pet or possession, although the law may allow it, is not considered to be a falconer\'s bird. Birds may be used for breeding or kept after their hunting days are over, but falconers believe it is preferable that young, fit birds are flown at quarry.
As regards numbers of participants and quantity of quarry bagged, most practical falconry in the UK is done with the Harris\'s Hawk, and to a lesser extent with the Red-tailed Hawk (both native to North America).
Goshawks are excellent hunters, and were once called the \'cook\'s hawk\'; but they can be willful, unpredictable and sometimes hysterical. Rabbits are bolted from their warrens with ferrets, or approached as they lie out. The acceleration of a short-wing from a stand-still, especially the Goshawk, is astonishing and a rabbit surprised at any distance from its burrow has little hope of escape. Short-wings will dive after their quarry into cover, where the tinkling of their bells is vital for locating the bird. In many cases, modern falconers use radio telemetry to track their birds. Game birds in season and a wide range of other quarry can be taken.
Sparrowhawks were formerly used to take a range of small birds, but are really too delicate for serious falconry and have fallen out of favour now that American species are available.
Long-winged falcons usually fly only after birds. Classical game hawking saw a brace of peregrine falcons flown against grouse, or merlins in \'ringing\' flights after skylarks. Rooks and crows are classic game for the larger falcons, and the magpie, making up in cunning what it lacks in flying ability, is another common target. Short-wings can be flown in wooded country, but falcons need large open tracts where the falconer can follow the flight with ease. Medieval falconers often rode horses but this is now rare.
Although it was formerly believed that raptors would not breed in captivity, events during the 1960s proved that it was possible. In western Ireland, veteran falconer Ronald Stevens and the Hon. John Morris put a saker and a peregrine into the same moulting mews for the spring and early summer, and were astonished to find that the two mated and produced viable hybrid offspring. The captive breeding challenge was quickly taken up in Great Britain by Phillip Glasier at his Falconry Centre at Newent, Gloucestershire, and he was successful in obtaining young from more than 20 species of captive raptors. He shared his findings and methodologies with Tom Cade of the USA, who had the funding necessary to develop an extensive raptor breeding programme; and by the mid-1980s it could fairly be said that falconers had become self-sufficient as regards sources of birds to train and fly, in addition to the immensely important raptor conservation benefits conferred by captive breeding.
Many British and US falconers feel aggrieved that their efforts and successes in the captive breeding of raptors since the 1960s have been given scant recognition by the world\'s principal bird conservation organisations, many of which are publicly or tacitly opposed to falconry. Jemima Parry-Jones of the International Centre for Birds of Prey, UK, and Dr. Nick Fox, Director of International Wildlife Consultants (UK) Ltd. of Wales both began their internationally acclaimed involvement with raptor breeding and conservation via many years experience as practising falconers.
A Saker Falcon used for falconry in Qatar
Most of Europe practices falconry, but under differing degrees of regulation.
The falcon is also used for hunting in Arabia, it is still also an important part of the Arab heritage. The UAE reportedly spends over 27 million dollars annually towards the protection and conservation of the wild falcon and has set up several state-of-the-art falcon hospitals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.[2] There are two breeding farms in the Emirates, as well as those in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Every year falcon beauty contests and falconry exhibitions are on display at the ADIHEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, the golden eagle is used, hunting game as large as fox and wolf. [3] It has been reported that a pair (called a cast) of Bergut Golden Eagles (an exceptionally large variant race of the Golden Eagle), equipped with steel sheathings over their talons, has historically been used to hunt tigers.[citation needed].
South Korea allows a tiny number of people (a national total of 4 in 2005) to own raptors and practise falconry as a cultural asset.[citation needed]Japan continues to honor its strong historical links with falconry (Takagari) while adopting some modern techniques and technologies.
In Australia, although falconry is not specifically illegal, it is illegal to keep any type of bird of prey in captivity without the appropriate permits. The only exemption is when the birds are kept for purposes of rehabilitation (for which a licence must still be held), and in such circumstances it may be possible for a competent falconer to teach a bird to hunt and kill wild quarry, as part of its regime of rehabilitation to good health and a fit state to be released into the wild.
Falconers\' birds are inevitably lost on occasion, though most are found again. Records of species becoming established in Britain after escaping or being released include:
After some raptors were wiped out by gamekeepers, shooters, egg collectors, and the effects of environmental toxins such as PCBs and DDT, the numbers of most British species have recovered remarkably well in recent times. The Red Kite, the Goshawk and the White Tailed Sea Eagle have all returned as breeding birds, the peregrine population has risen to around 900 breeding pairs, and the techniques perfected in breeding birds of prey for falconry have abundantly proved their worth.
Falconers sometimes start with a kestrel, but some consider this little falcon too delicate for a beginner\'s hands. Some Europeans think the European Buzzard is useless for taking quarry and believe the bird of choice for a beginner is either Harris\'s Hawk or the more demanding Red-tailed Hawk. Others think that as the Harris\'s Hawk is the only social raptor, it is not a good education in how to deal with the alien mindset of a non-social animal [4]. This leaves people in the UK following suit with the Americans, who most often use the Red-tailed Hawk for their introductory bird. Amongst the attractions are the beauty of these birds, the ease of breeding them in captivity, and that they can be used to take quarry and can easily satisfy a falconer\'s demand for a capable bird in themselves. The Lanner falcon can make a good first long-wing, with a Peregrine, or a hybrid containing Peregrine or Gyr genes often being the next step up.
Falconry is not the preserve of the past, or the lord of the manor. If its simple but inviolable precepts are followed, a well-trained bird can be a delight for many years. Falcons can live into their mid teens, with larger hawks living longer and eagles likely to see out middle-aged owners. Through the captive breeding of rescued birds, the last 30 years have seen a great rebirth of the sport, with a host of innovations; falconry\'s popularity, through lure flying displays at country houses and game fairs, has probably never been higher in the past 300 years.
Falconry Centres or Birds of Prey Centres house these raptors, are often used to provide demonstrations and to train or teach the public how to care for and handle, fly, train and care for the birds, safely. They are responsible for many aspects of Bird of Prey Conservation (through keeping the birds for education and breeding) and are also popular with visitors throughout the UK and worldwide.
Many provide Falconry Courses, Hawk Walks, Displays and experiences with these raptors - see links at bottom of page for details.
Falcons are more closely related than many suspected, the heavy northern Gyrfalcon and Asiatic Saker being especially closely related, so that they may interbreed naturally to create the so called \'Altay\' (or Altai Saker) falcon.
Artificial hybrid falcons have been available since the late 1970s, and enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in the UK in the 1990s. Originally \'created\' to remove suspicions of having nest-robbed wild peregrines (by demonstrating without doubt that they were captive-bred), hybrids have assumed an important but controversial role in falconry worldwide. Some combinations appear to lend themselves to certain styles of flight, for example:
But hybrid falcons are not the panacea that some breeders would have customers believe. Proponents of hybrids often cite \'hybrid vigour\' as the reason that these birds seem to do so well, despite the fact that crossing two non-inbred lines is more likely to lead to outbreeding depression (i.e., a negative effect), and could never prompt hybrid vigour, a phenomenon that boosts genetic integrity and heterogeneity in lines that have been too heavily inbred by judicious selection.
Some believe that no species of raptor have been in captivity long enough to have undergone successful selective breeding for desired traits. Captive breeding of raptors over several generations tends to result, either deliberately, or inevitably as a result of captivity, in selection for certain traits, including:
Since earliest of times, the hunt in Western Europe has been a privilege reserved exclusively for the rich and noble classes, as Van Ginneken (1914) clearly points out in his research on the origins of the hunting language in The Netherlands. However, those were the days when the upper classes still employed beaters and bearers and as a result, members of the lower ranks were also partly introduced to the specific hunting jargon and techniques commonly used in those days. As the lower classes were forbidden to hunt, they had no other choice than to turn to poaching, but for the most part, the wealthier knights and nobles managed to keep their specific hunting jargon to themselves and continued as a hidden language. In the 13th, 14th and even up to the 20th century, professional hunters and falconers became organised in mighty guilds, particularly in Holland, Germany and France. Following the invention of gunpowder and the introduction of the ‘German hunt’ (Deutsche Jagd), which required a far more demanding level of skills and knowledge from their members, the hunting and falconry guilds pulled their ranks closer together in an attempt to preserve their own ‘language’ and hunting techniques.
Furthermore, every new member to the guild and apprentice of this ‘hidden’ language had to serve for three years under a ‘tutor-prince’, as if they were being inaugurated to a new Kingdom. The novices were even left which such little freedom of speech that an official corporal punishment was installed and used on numerous occasions for when the young apprentice had mistakenly misused or even mutilated the honourable falconry terminology.
Van Gennep (1909), points out in his book Les Rites de Passage that such initiations have been (and sometimes still are, as is the case with students) common in all the civilised and lesser civilised countries, and can be traced back to the birth of civilisation, while the origins of hunting and falconry are even earlier. In most cases, these ancient induction rituals were meant as a ceremonial transition from boy to manhood, a passage from one group of humans to the other. The rituals were intended to be a ‘release’ from the old group that the apprentice had belonged to while also partly liberating him from his old language; from that moment on, he would not be not allowed to use it anymore. Then, after fulfilling a whole series of tasks and duties, the apprentice would be ´reborn´ into the guild. Before embarking on the adventure of the new life that lay before him, the young falconer apprentice had to learn a complete new secret language that would be the key that would allow him to enter the hidden world of falconry. Of these aged traditions, albeit in a very mild form, only the exclusive falconry language is all that remains.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
http://art-of-falconry.blogspot.com/ Has a little information I found helpful.
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