A FALCONRY THREAD!!!

[ExBattChicks]

Yowza!! In that first crow photo, it looks like the crow has a double hold on one of the hawk's legs....aie!!! Yes, I love crows...they are funny and smart birds, but boy, ya better not mess with them (especially if you are a bird of prey)!!

 

[Talithahorse]

Here is a picture of Nugget.

 

[Free Feather]

What is falconry?
I really love birds of prey, but I like seeing them free. I am not comfortable with people confining or training them.

 

[TheBantyCoop]

I would do some research on it if you are curious, and keep an open mind. Falconry is a sport in which people hunt with birds of prey. It is quite interesting, and the birds get to go out to hunt live prey in the field. It is a type of relationship, and birds in falconry tend to enjoy their lives. If they were unhappy they would fly away! People who partake in falconry are usually very passionate and take good care of their birds!

Falconers are also helpful in many ways. Some help organic farmers by scaring pests out of their fields, and others work with threatened species to enrich their lives during captive breeding programs.

I was at first a little uncomfortable with the idea of captive birds of prey as well, but in learning more about it I have come to appreciate how the birds become domesticated. Like I said it is a relationship and the birds need to be content, or it doesn't work!

Thanks for commenting,
El

 

[TheBantyCoop]

ExBattChicks,

Glad that you enjoyed the post! I agree with your opinions on man and nature wholeheartedly, I wish that everyone could feel that way. Sigh...

The place where you live sounds beautiful beyond words! The owls must be amazing, I rarely hear one where I live if ever. I sometimes hear deep who's when I walk in the forest, but they could just be pigeons. We have a lot of those!

Good luck with your cats. Depending the species of hawk the cats might be too big for them, but even if not cats seem to have a miraculous way of taking care of themselves. Really amazing creatures, very independent.

Sorry for being all over the place, I just had so much to say!

-El

 

[rides2far]

I taught 6th grade for 20 years & one of our core lit books was My Side of the Mountain. In it, a young boys trains a peregrine falcon to hunt for him. The kids were really interested in it. They did a lot of research on falcons, falconry, & living off the land. A good education for city kids

 

[Free Feather]

The leucistic hawk is unusual indeed. For the first 15 or so years that we lived at our home a 50% white female redtail would winter in this area. She would spend a large part of each day in an ash tree across the road. Then several years ago a melanistic redtail wintered in the same area.

You seem to know a lot about wild birds from what you have said in previous posts. Do you do a lot of reading, or how did you learn?

 

[TheBantyCoop]

Rides2far,

Glad to hear good feedback regarding My Side of the Mountain! I have been wanting to read it of a while now, but first I am going to finish H is for Hawk and some other books I am working on.
It is also great to hear that the book inspired the children to do more research in falconry, it is not quite so popular as it once was. It's always fantastic to see children taking interest in anything regarding the natural world!

-El

 

[TheBantyCoop]

Sourland,

Thats incredible! What a wonderfully rare experience! I see a whole lot of red tails where I live, but I have never seen a white one. Quite rare indeed! Do you have any photos?

-El

 

[TheBantyCoop]

HeritageGoose13,

Yeah falconry is an old practice, and it has defiantly ingrained its way into several cultures.

Thanks for the comments

-El