Falconry is the ancient sport of hunting wild game with trained birds of prey. It is thought to have originated in the Orient about 4,000 years ago, but in Britain it was most popular in the Middle Ages. Falconry is not only practised with falcons. Hawks, Buzzards and even Eagles are also flown. (I've even heard of Cormorants being trained to catch fish, but that's probably another subject.) This website is an introduction to Falconry in the United Kingdom.
Click Here to see a picture of traditional falconry.
Beginning with a new bird, the falconer must get the hawk to perch on his fist, feed it morsels of food from his hand, then encourage the hawk to fly to the falconer's fist to take food. Getting the hawk accustomed to the human environment (called manning) must also be done. Eventually the hawk is trained to fly to 'dummy' then real quarry and to return to the falconer's fist for a reward.
Hawks are predators. That means they instinctively kill to survive. To a hawk, hunting is natural - it has no concept of cruelty. Trained hawks are no more cruel than wild ones. In both cases the contest is fair, and the quarry has a good chance of escape and survival. Even if a flight results in a kill, it is over very quickly, with minimal suffering. So I do not consider that falconry is cruel. In fact, some might argue that falconry is merely an advanced form of bird-watching.
What laws protect hawks and wildlife?
The main difficulty seems to be lack of land to keep / fly a hawk on. Sometimes it's practically impossible if you live in a town or city. Another problem is lack of time. During winter when the days are short, it will be dark before you get home if you work 9 to 5. Falconry requires almost daily effort. Since a hawk can live for up to 20 years or so, it's a long-term commitment. You have to plan your life around the hawk and its demands.
As well as having land and time to practise falconry, you also need to acquire the skills of equipment-making, husbandry (care of the bird) and hunting techniques. Personally, I have been learning by going hunting with experienced falconers, attending a falconry club and listening to their advice. I did this for at least a year before getting a hawk - and even after that, the learning process continues.
Falconry displays are held at Country Fairs throughout the summer. You can see demonstrations of the sport and maybe talk to the organisers afterwards. But this will not usually give you much idea of what's really involved in keeping and flying hawks. Raid your local library for falconry books. See if you can find a falconry club to join or a falconry centre to visit, where you can take an introductory course. There is also some information here on the Web to help get you started. Remember that a lot of it is American and the laws / regulations regarding falconry are very different from those in the UK, but you should still be able to find something useful.
The Falconry Webring
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