This post's guest blogger is Veronica. She has some falconry photographs posted elsewhere, but wanted to provide an explanation of her chosen sport. Please keep comments respectful, even if you disagree with falconry. - Amy
Before you view these photos, I would like to add a brief and much edited explanation about falconry and the ‘trapping’ process as some of these pictures might appear to cause some concern in certain individuals. Please be assured that the stress these hawks go through while being trapped is kept to a minimum. Ultimately it is their choice, (once they’ve been ‘manned’) to either fly free and return to the wild or stay with their keeper (falconer) resulting in co-operative hunting.
> Veronica's Falconry Photos
"Why would anybody in their right mind want to do this?"
Falconry is the pursuit of wild game with a trained bird of prey. Any other form of possessing a hawk is illegal and certainly not falconry. It is a strictly monitored Federal and State controlled sport. In a detailed sense, falconry consists of trapping a wild hawk or falcon and modifying its natural fear of man into a feeling of trust and security. Once this trust is established, the falconer takes the hawk to the field and flushes quarry (wild game) suitable for the species of the hawk they are flying. Most falconers, much less individuals who consider becoming falconers, cannot answer the question above easily. People who become falconers do so out of an appreciation for the nature of predation and predatory birds. A deep, abiding affection and respect for your hawk is an absolute prerequisite for you to become a falconer of merit. A poorly known fact is that a high percentage (75%) of all wild-hatched hawks and falcons die before becoming adults. In the case of Red Tailed hawks, the mortality rate is as high as nine out of ten. In the state of California an apprentice is only allowed to trap either a Red Tailed hawk or Kestrel.
Consequently, because falconers take immature birds before the winter die-offs, there is actually no impact at all on wild populations. There are two sides (or more) about taking birds from the wild. Those opposed to falconry say, ' for every bird held in captivity there is one less bird in the wild". In point of fact, since falconers take only immature birds from the wild, raise them to maturity and eventually release them back to the wild, there is an actual INCREASE in the overall population. The federal government has documented and verified that many wild hawks in captivity are released or lost back to the wild, where their chances of survival are good, since they are proficient hunters (thanks to their falconers) and survived through the first year - the year with the highest mortality rate. As the Federal Environmental Impact Report quotes
...fifty years of falconry in the United States have shown absolutely no adverse impact on the wild population due to falconry...
- Veronica
Before you view these photos, I would like to add a brief and much edited explanation about falconry and the ‘trapping’ process as some of these pictures might appear to cause some concern in certain individuals. Please be assured that the stress these hawks go through while being trapped is kept to a minimum. Ultimately it is their choice, (once they’ve been ‘manned’) to either fly free and return to the wild or stay with their keeper (falconer) resulting in co-operative hunting.
> Veronica's Falconry Photos
"Why would anybody in their right mind want to do this?"
Falconry is the pursuit of wild game with a trained bird of prey. Any other form of possessing a hawk is illegal and certainly not falconry. It is a strictly monitored Federal and State controlled sport. In a detailed sense, falconry consists of trapping a wild hawk or falcon and modifying its natural fear of man into a feeling of trust and security. Once this trust is established, the falconer takes the hawk to the field and flushes quarry (wild game) suitable for the species of the hawk they are flying. Most falconers, much less individuals who consider becoming falconers, cannot answer the question above easily. People who become falconers do so out of an appreciation for the nature of predation and predatory birds. A deep, abiding affection and respect for your hawk is an absolute prerequisite for you to become a falconer of merit. A poorly known fact is that a high percentage (75%) of all wild-hatched hawks and falcons die before becoming adults. In the case of Red Tailed hawks, the mortality rate is as high as nine out of ten. In the state of California an apprentice is only allowed to trap either a Red Tailed hawk or Kestrel.
Consequently, because falconers take immature birds before the winter die-offs, there is actually no impact at all on wild populations. There are two sides (or more) about taking birds from the wild. Those opposed to falconry say, ' for every bird held in captivity there is one less bird in the wild". In point of fact, since falconers take only immature birds from the wild, raise them to maturity and eventually release them back to the wild, there is an actual INCREASE in the overall population. The federal government has documented and verified that many wild hawks in captivity are released or lost back to the wild, where their chances of survival are good, since they are proficient hunters (thanks to their falconers) and survived through the first year - the year with the highest mortality rate. As the Federal Environmental Impact Report quotes
...fifty years of falconry in the United States have shown absolutely no adverse impact on the wild population due to falconry...
- Veronica
1 Comments:
Nery nice explanation, Veronica. I was not aware of the very high mortality rate of young hawks.
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