How do I get a falconry falcon?

What do you need to be a falconer?

To be a falconer, you must have hunting land on which to exercise your bird and practice your sport. This can’t be just any land — in fact, nearly all urban and suburban land will be unsuitable for falconry. This land must have the appropriate type and quantity of game available for hunting.

How do I get Started with falconry?

Falconry is a rewarding sport, but owning and training a hawk or falcon is a major commitment. If you have the patience and willingness to learn, obtain an apprentice license and find an experienced falconer to mentor you. Get your first bird acclimated to your home, teach it to step up onto your glove,…

What does an Falconer do?

Falconers who work for wildlife centres exhibiting birds work mainly outside during bird shows but will also work inside centres where the birds are kept in order to maintain the bird houses and cages.

Can I have a Falconer as a pet?

Falconry raptors are not pets and you must hunt with your birds, participating in nature up close. Be 12 years old or older (you may work with a falconer prior to your 12th birthday).

How do I get Started in falconry?

Contact your state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and ask for their falconry packet. Most states have a list of falconers who are available as sponsors. Contacting a potential sponsor and finding out if they are receptive to a tag-along in the field gets you the best introduction.

How do you approach a falconer carrying a bird?

Keeping a respectful distance from the bird until the falconer invites you closer will help her acclimate to you. Walk on the side opposite to the one falconer has the bird on. Typically the falconer will carry the bird on his left fist, so stay to the falconer’s right hand side. Raptors don’t like strangers near them or behind their back.

Should I join the falconry lists?

It may take tradeoffs, and falconers are nothing if not excellent at managing tradeoffs. But falconry needs just as many supporters as it can get. If you are not able to be a falconer now, joining the falconry lists will educate you over time and introduce you to many in the falconry community.

How long does it take to become a falconer?

An apprenticeship is a two year commitment at a minimum. You want to be a good student. You also want to get familiar with falconry laws both federal and state. The THA has links to both the state and federal falconry regulations.

How do you carry a falconer’s bird?

Keeping a respectful distance from the bird until the falconer invites you closer will help her acclimate to you. Walk on the side opposite to the one falconer has the bird on. Typically the falconer will carry the bird on his left fist, so stay to the falconer’s right hand side.

When do falconers take a bird from the wild?

When a falconer takes a flighted bird from the wild, it is always under one year of age. Many times these birds have been found to have disease or parasites that make them less fit.

What happens if a falconer weighs a bird?

Even the jesses lying on the scale can change the reading, so the falconer has to be careful to lift them up while the bird is being weighed. Above that range of weight, the bird will be unresponsive in the field, lacking in motivation to hunt or return to the falconer in timely fashion.

How do falconers practice falconry?

One of the traditional ways that falconers practice falconry is to take a bird during its first migration and employ that bird as a falconry bird for only a year or two. At the end of that time the bird goes back in the wild. The first year survival rate of birds of prey is very very low.

What is a falconer?

A falconer is someone who practises the sport of pursuing live prey with a raptor, such as a hawk, falcon or eagle.

Can you legally own a peregrine falcon?

Disposition of a bird whose legal possession cannot be determined will be at the discretion of the State, tribe, or territory. (v) You may take any raptor that you are authorized to possess from the wild if the bird is banded with a Federal Bird Banding Laboratory aluminum bandexcept that you may not take a banded peregrine falcon from the wild.

Can a falconer help rehabilitate a bird?

If your State, tribe, or territory allows you to do so, and if you are a General or Master Falconer, you may assist a permitted migratory bird rehabilitator to condition raptors in preparation for their release to the wild. You may keep a bird you are helping to rehabilitate in your facilities.

Is it legal to keep a falcon as a pet?

In general, attempting to keep any bird of prey is highly illegal and a bad idea—birds of prey are notoriously hard to care for. However, the sport of Falconry is one that many individuals engage in and enjoy. The Falcons used in the sport are bred in captivity and go through rigorous training.

Do you have the temperament for falconry?

Make sure you have the temperament for falconry. Simply put, falconry isn’t for everyone. While it can be an immensely rewarding, enriching experience, being a falconer involves doing things that some people may find objectionable or unpalatable. These include: Killing animals. Most falconers use their raptors for hunting animals in some way.

How do you pick up a falconer’s bird?

Walk on the side opposite to the one falconer has the bird on. Typically the falconer will carry the bird on his left fist, so stay to the falconer’s right hand side. Raptors don’t like strangers near them or behind their back.

How hard is it to get a falconry license?

Next let’s talk about obtaining a falconry license. It’s not easy, but it’s that way to protect the birds and the sport from abuse. First you take a written test on biology, training, and veterinary aspects of raptors, to pass you must score at least 80%. Next you have to find a sponsor to train you. Click herefor more information.

What side do Falconers carry their prey on?

Typically the falconer will carry the bird on his left fist, so stay to the falconer’s right hand side. Raptors don’t like strangers near them or behind their back. Avoid making loud noises or a lot of movement near the bird unless you are trying to flush quarry. These are sensitive animals and they prefer strangers to keep a distance from them.