I’m studying for my apprentice falconer’s license test right now, and have found someone willing to sponsor me (!)–I’m feeling a bit giddy about it and just wanted to see if there was anyone else around involved in the sport. I’ve got a few questions and just wanted some hawking chat ;).
Good luck! I hovered on the brink of getting involved, but just don’t have the time or the space - decided I’d rather miss out on the chance than risk a buteo jamaicensis (sp? it’s been a while).
I’m interested in hearing about your experiences, at least.
I’m not a falconer, but I have a friend who is. I occasionally trap with him and go out hunting about 6-8 times a year.
He’s a master falconer but says he prefers redtails because they’re easy to get, easy to train and easy to hunt with (rabbits and squirrels). He usually gets a bird at this time of year and releases it in March.
It typically takes about 7 to 10 days from the time he traps a redtail until he first can hunt with it. He has a dog that’s very keen on hunting squirrels and is a real help.
You need a license to own falcon? From the Small Animal Administration? Why? How do you get one?
None of my falcon business anyway, really.
Dude, not “A falcon” or “the falcon”.
You going native?
I looked into it for a while when I was at GT. It’s pretty interesting and I would love to get involved when I’m independently wealthy, but alas I am not now. However I do hope you’ll keep a blog or keep us updated on your progress!!!
– IG
Thanks! You do have to start out with a red tailed hawk, but my real love is the harris hawk. They hunt cooperatively in the wild, like wolves, and make incredible hawking partners because of it.
Oregon is a state where it’s possible as a master falconer, with the proper federal permits and the grace of the gods of course, to trap and hawk a golden eagle, be still my beating heart! Aquila verreauxii is a pretty happening bird, too.
This is something I’ve lusted after for a very long time, getting involved in falconry. It’s going to be a few months yet until I’m set to go, but it seems like everything has been just falling into place in the last couple years to make it possible.
Life is pretty damn good.
Now all I need to make life perfect is to get my business off the ground so I can quit my day job 
Oh that’s AWESOME!!! I personally love the Peregrine Falcon. Oh what a beauty they are.
– IG
Hehe. You do in the US, not so much other places. You get the license from your state department of fish and game, as well as whatever federal permits you need if you’re hawking a protected species. To get the license you fill out applications (several), take a test (lengthy and tricky), have Authority types inspect your facilities, and a few other hoops including many various and sundry fees. You then have to apprentice with a general or master falconer for two years. You need hunting licenses and trapping licenses and you have to fill out more paperwork than I ever thought possible, keeping five or ten sets of everything.
Presumably it’s done this way to keep nearly anybody from being interested in pursuing the sport, which is just fine by me. Most people shouldn’t be trusted with a hamster, much less a wild predator. In the UK you can buy raptors at pet stores, evidently. This horrifies me, and not a little bit.
If you were asking “how do you get a raptor?” as an apprentice you start out by trapping a young wild hawk.
My prospective sponsor flies a Pere, her husband a Gyrfalcon, an unbelievably beautiful bird of prey.
Wow- you have to trap wild birds to train them for falconry? I had no idea.
I assumed people bred them for the sport. Why don’t they?
What an incredible privilege to become acquainted with these birds up close. It seems like people involved are completely aware of the specialness of it, too. That’s very pleasing. Congratulations!
Short answer: they do.
Long answer: Well, they do, but as an apprentice in the US you’re required to trap a passenger (young bird, out of the nest, but not fully fledged, and just learning to hunt on their own) red tailed hawk or American kestrel. Those are the only two species you’re allowed to fly. Partly it’s tradition–everything about this sport is deeply rooted in tradition going back to the middle ages. Partly it’s because they want you hawking with a native species that is just fine getting along on their own in your local environment should it decide to just not come back to you, which is always a potential–even with captive bred birds or birds who’ve been working with you for multiple seasons or years. If they decide it’s more to their liking to not come back to you, there’s absolutely nothing stopping them from doing it. Also, these are allegedly two of the “easiest” or most forgiving species for an apprentice to learn on. Allegedly. I am told kestrels, while fun little critters, are quite easy to kill with a mistake as they’re so small. I have no idea why it made sense for this to be an apprentice’s bird.
People do breed them, some even breed hybrids. Many people fly captive bred birds, especially if it’s an uncommon species, a non-native species that you couldn’t trap in your state, one that’s hard to trap, and so on. Some states and some licenses only allow you a certain number of trapped birds a year, so if you’re likely to trap and release six peregrines in your attempt to trap a gyrfalcon, and your license only allows you to trap two birds in a season, you may choose to buy one. Captive bred birds are expensive, and there are drawbacks to flying captive bred birds. Birds imprinted on humans tend to be more aggressive and potentially dangerous than parent-raised birds. Not all captive bred birds are imprinted, and some folks prefer imprints. There are a lot of subtle differences between training a wild and captive bred bird, and captive bred imprints or CB, parent raised birds. It’s all to the falconer’s taste.
Also, nothing about this sport is easy, so in that regard it absolutely makes sense they’d send you out to pick up a wild hawk the first day you’re licensed. 
All of the above is true for the US as I understand it. As I said before it’s much, much different in other countries.
Oh absolutely. Like I said, there’s absolutely nothing to keep them from just flying away. The fact that someone is able to offer a wild animal a mutually beneficial partnership is amazing to me. Privilege is the right word for it, too. I am sure there are some complete jerks involved with the sport, as with anything, but every interaction I’ve ever had with a falconer or the sport of falconry has been tinted with their deep respect and admiration for the essentially wild animals they walk with. It’s a pretty amazing thing.
And thanks
As Close as I get to a falcon.
(Do falcons fly into bed with you when they are cold?)
My ex was a beginning falconer, so I was there when he went through is apprenticeship. I remember sitting in the car with him and his sponsor, attempting to trap ANYTHING. The red-tailed hawk he finally ended up with was a beauty, such a gorgeous bird. It was amazing watching her hunt, I really miss it. The only thing about said ex that I miss, to tell ya the truth. Im not sure if he is still invovled in the sport, he ended up going away for college so Im not sure where he would have ended up keeping the bird.
Good luck with your falconing, its a wonderfully fufilling sport!
Provided they have enough to eat, they don’t get cold. And they aren’t affectionate. They cooperate with you if you show them that you can help them have success in hunting. But they don’t develop a bond, as would a dog.
This is as close as I get.
Can any of you tell me what kind of bird this is? It was strictly a photo op/dare by my weenie friends. Although I must admit that I was rather concerned that it was viewing my ear as a tasty snack…
I don’t know, but I’d love to find out–it’s beautiful!
Do you mind if I post the photo to a falconry forum and ask?
I am envious - falconry is something I have always been interested in. The vet I worked for was the only licensed wildlife rehab clinic in the county, so I did get to see a few (unfortunately injured) redtails before the Raptor Center at Auburn University came to pick them up for treatment.
My chances of ever being able to get into it are slim as the closest Master is in Central Georgia and I’m in West Georgia.
Good luck and do please keep us posted on how things are going - with pictures!