dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) (01/29/91)
I received some mail in which a number of questions were put forth;
as I imagine that there are others who may wish to know the answers,
I shall post them.
-- Where do the birds come from? Are they mature or immature when they
are aquired?
That is the point that probably creates the most uproar, unfortunately.
Sometimes the birds are taken as eggs from nests; this, however, gives
you an imprinted bird, which won't have very much hunting experience,
and will have to be taught. Most falconers trap their birds as adults.
Oh, I can hear the voices being raised already about this being a
cruel thing to do. Opinions vary on this point. Just bear in mind
that the birds are not trapped indiscriminately; they are carefully
chosen by licensed professionals who are very careful to see that no harm
comes to them. Also, if the bird cannot be "manned", it is released. There
is no point in trying to get a hawk to do something that it doesn't
want to do, and falconers are aware of this.
-- How many falconers are there in the US?
I haven't the foggiest, and couldn't even hazard a guess. Lots, in
those states where the sport is legal.
-- Is this (falconry) how people hunt?
Yes, it is. You could call it "recreational" in that I am certain the
falconer enjoys the sport, although it is first and foremost a hunting
technique that goes back at least 3000 years. Traditionally, a dog
would be sent out to flush the game; the falcon would then be released
to strike it down, and then the man would retrieve the kill and
reward both animals. If he didn't have a dog, he could use a convenient
peasant. I find it interesting that in the old folk songs that I enjoy so
much, the proper nobleman always has three things: a hound, a hawk,
and a lady fair. Note the order with which they're usually presented!
-- How long does it take from when the bird is aquired until the bird
has a chance to be released unrestrained?
This varies, from several weeks to several months, depending on how
amenable the bird is to having the man around. Once again, if it
becoms clear that the bird simply doesn't want the job, it is released
again. Hawks are very singleminded; if it doesn't want to do it, it
ain't gonna do it no way no how. Once the bird accepts the man, he
will begin "training", meaning he'll try to entice the bird to take
food from his hand. Once that is accomplished, he will either begin
flying it indoors, or on a line outside. Most hawks stay with their
falconer for a good long time before they decide that it's time to
head off on their own, and the falconer must then obtain a new bird.
-- How is the bird usually tracked once it is released?
Traditionally, bells would be tied to the bird's tail with a thin
string. Hawks, particularly the accipiters, shake their tails quite
often, so the bells would ring and let the man know where the bird
has gone, if he has lost sight of it. This doesn't work if he's
out of earshot, though, and after a while, through preening, the
bird will lose the bells anyway. These days, particularly rich
falconers use a tiny radio transmitter attached to the hawk; again,
this has a range, and once out of that range, it's the hawk's
decision whether he wants to return or not.
-- Is there anything on the legs?
The traditional "jess" was a leather thong tied around the hawk's
leg. This might or might not get in the way if they hawk escaped,
though. Today, the Almeyrie (gads, how DO you spell that??) jess is
used. It is a single leather loop with a metal ring set in it that
goes around the bird's leg; a leash is then attached to it. This
way, if the bird gets away, it only has a little leather bracelet,
which it can show off to the lady-birds at sleazy avian bars. These
are used during training, and also while travelling to keep the
hawk from falling off the man's arm. (hey, try to keep your balance
if you're hooded!)
-- Once you find the (escaped) bird, how do you try to get it back?
You either trap it, if it's dumb enough to fall for that again, or
you write it off. If the hawk doesn't want to come back to you, it
isn't going to.
-- Are there problems with people selling birds to each other, or
other people/countries, and if so, is this legal or not?
There is a problem with this, and it is highly, HIGHLY illegal!
No bird of prey can be sold, no matter what the circumstances, to
ANYONE, and if anyone is doing it, you'd better hope the Feds
find you before I do! *calming down* There is still a problem
with the illegal sale of peregrine falcons, which still are very
much endangered in this country, to foreigners, particularly in
the Middle East. "Falcon Gate", as it is being called by some, was
recently lauched by USFWS, and resulted in the arrest of a very
prominent American falconer and well-known author on the subject,
who sold an immature peregrine to an undercover agent posing as
an Arab prince.
Remember...even if you, like myself, can't abide seeing a healthy
bird kept in captivity, just bear in mind that the bird kept by
a falconer is kept mostly of its own will, and is given many
opportunities to head back to the wild...which, eventually, most
of them do take. Falconers are probably the most capable people
for the job, too. It is in their own best interest to see to it
that the bird gets the best of everything, so have no fear that
the hawks are mistreated.
--
Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have?
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties
Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft
Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape?miken@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Mike Nickerson) (01/30/91)
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) writes about falconry. Again I agree with most of what Sam writes. However, I have a few comments on this also. > -- Where do the birds come from? Are they mature or immature when they > are aquired? > > That is the point that probably creates the most uproar, unfortunately. > Sometimes the birds are taken as eggs from nests; this, however, gives > you an imprinted bird, which won't have very much hunting experience, > and will have to be taught. Most falconers trap their birds as adults. > Oh, I can hear the voices being raised already about this being a > cruel thing to do. Opinions vary on this point. Just bear in mind > that the birds are not trapped indiscriminately; they are carefully > chosen by licensed professionals who are very careful to see that no harm > comes to them. Also, if the bird cannot be "manned", it is released. There > is no point in trying to get a hawk to do something that it doesn't > want to do, and falconers are aware of this. > In general, each state has a time period ("season" if you will) when falconers are allowed to trap birds in the wild. In Idaho, this season is specifically determined so that birds may not be taken until they have been out of the nest for a few weeks. This keeps nests safe. It is possible to obtain a permit to get a bird from a nest. However, these are usually hard to get. In Idaho, a falconer may only trap birds which are immature (less than one year old). Almost every raptor (American Kestrel one exception) has some sort of identifiable change from immature to mature plumage. Therefore, the falconer can tell if the bird has gone through its first moult (feather change). If it has, the bird has to be released. Another source of birds is rehabiliation. My wife has been working with birds for seven years and has never trapped one in the wild. She works with birds brought in sick or injured and flies the ones which are capable. They are then released if possible. > -- Are there problems with people selling birds to each other, or > other people/countries, and if so, is this legal or not? > > There is a problem with this, and it is highly, HIGHLY illegal! > No bird of prey can be sold, no matter what the circumstances, to > ANYONE, and if anyone is doing it, you'd better hope the Feds > find you before I do! *calming down* There is still a problem > with the illegal sale of peregrine falcons, which still are very > much endangered in this country, to foreigners, particularly in > the Middle East. "Falcon Gate", as it is being called by some, was > recently lauched by USFWS, and resulted in the arrest of a very > prominent American falconer and well-known author on the subject, > who sold an immature peregrine to an undercover agent posing as > an Arab prince. This is almost but not quite true. If a person has a valid raptor breeding permit, they are allowed to breed birds in captivity. This requires more permits and yearly reports. Birds which are raised in captivity are marked with a sealed band which may only be placed on the bird when very young. Birds raised in captivity may be sold to other falconers with a valid permit to keep the bird. There is a good market for hybrids as well as some species. In the case of peregrines, I think you have to be able to trace the lineage of your breeding pair back to before the laws were passed. (In other words, you couldn't go get some peregrines from the wild and try breeding them. It is illegal to trap peregrines from the wild anyway since they are endangered.) If all the above rules are followed, it is legal to buy and sell raptors. Many falconers use captive bred birds for various reasons. Some people want hybrids such as gyrfalcon-peregrine, gyrfalcon-praire, peregrine-praire. > Remember...even if you, like myself, can't abide seeing a healthy > bird kept in captivity, just bear in mind that the bird kept by > a falconer is kept mostly of its own will, and is given many > opportunities to head back to the wild...which, eventually, most > of them do take. Falconers are probably the most capable people > for the job, too. It is in their own best interest to see to it > that the bird gets the best of everything, so have no fear that > the hawks are mistreated. This might make you feel a little better. Most of the knowledge of raptors is concentrated with falconers and raptor rehabilitators. This knowledge has been used to save the birds in the past. For example, when peregrines were threatened with DDT, it was falconers who first noted their decline. When the captive breeding program was started at Cornell University, it was started by falconers. The peregrines used as stock for the breeding program came from falconers, zoos and rehabilitators. (This captive breeding project eventually became the Peregrine Fund). I think it could be argued that the Peregrine Falcon wouldn't have been saved as a species if a relatively large number of falcons hadn't been preserved because they were in captivity. > -- > Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? > dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties > Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft > Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape? > ---------- Mike Nickerson miken@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com Hewlett-Packard Boise, ID