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MischievousRaven β Falconry: What a Journey
Published: 2015-04-17 01:54:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 669; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 4
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Description
This is something I put together recently.
This depicts the birds I've held on my falconry permits since I started in 2007, in order from left to right. Some were kept only a short time, and others were kept longer, but each taught me invaluable lessons. I'm so thankful to have the experiences I do with each of them, and so grateful to learn. <3Please note that I am a licensed falconer in the United States. Falconry is highly regulated here and you must pass an examination and inspection, have the proper facilities, equipment, and licensing to obtain, train, hunt with and otherwise work with these birds of prey. These are not pets; they are wild animals that are utilized for hunting purposes. Falconers in the United States must undergo a two year apprenticeship with a general or master licensed falconer.Β
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Comments: 76
Aww thanks so much Sanity! :3 <3
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your welcome Misch ^.^
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Thank you! I adored her light eyes.Β
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Ahh you're so lucky to be able to interact with these amazing birds *o* <3
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;-; <333 I'm so grateful to!
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Very neat.
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Not at the moment!
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They're all beauties...especially that adorable face of the RT in the first pic! But I do have a soft spot for kestrels. 
The one I have in training atm is a European, so she's a little different to the American ones. She's currently chilling out on my desk as I type this, haha. One of the guys at work hand reared an American one though. Really bouncy little thing!
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Kestrels are fun, aren't they! I love how the Euro ones are a bit bigger and more muted in coloration. Are you a falconer? That's pretty awesome that you get to work with birds of prey too.
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Yeah I'm a falconer c: I'm sure we spoke about it before? Or maybe I'm thinking of someone else haha o:
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Oh gosh well I've met a few falconers on here so I confused people, I'm sorry! Β xD Are you an apprentice?
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It's ok!
Not an apprentice! I'm a full time falconer working in the UK
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Oh, at a centre? :3
Do you all actually hunt or do you fly the birds? 
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Yup!
We fly all of our birds, but only hunt with the hawks and some of our eagles, falcons, and buzzards. ^^ (And we don't hunt with the owls or vultures, lol)
That's our centre anyway, I couldn't tell you about all other centres here though as I only know about how ours runs.
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Ah, I see. ^_^ Here, we only consider falconry as the act of using birds to hunt, anything else is education-related. We have educational birds we used for flying/handling/shows at an internship I participated at in 2013. One of the birds was taught how to recycle and take donations! I'm guessing there isn't a distinction between education birds and falconry birds there? Just curious!
And have you heard of Bovey castle? I do believe I know/knew of a falconer friend that had worked there.Β
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Actually, we only consider 'falconry' hunting here too. It's just not everyone understands what the term really means over here! XD
(At our centre at least - we try to make it very clear what true falconry is! It's amazing how many people don't know...)
Here in the UK, you are given the title of a 'falconer' whether you hunt with birds of prey or just fly them. Not sure how it is elsewhere. o: But you're right, not all 'falconers' in the UK actually hunt with their birds. In our centre we do a mixture of both, if I am honest. ^^
That sounds awesome! What a great internship
Unfortunately I've not heard of that castle. :c Sorry!
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Ah, makes sense. :3 Here, falconers frown on "pet keepers" that only fly birds and don't hunt with them. However, falconers generally uphold educational work conducted with birds of prey, including handling/flying education birds-- but they make a pretty clear distinction that that is not falconry. Interesting juxtaposition, eh?!
And we have abatement work here, where the birds pursue nuisance animals like pigeons but they are only supposed to scare them away, not kill them. And falconers typically make a clear distinction between that and falconry. :3 It's interesting how different places worldwide consider what falconry truly is/ etc. c:
And that's okay!Β
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Neat! Interesting how each side is different! o: As long as the animal is happy, that's all that matters to me. c:
In our shows/visits/handling sessions/etc, we are told by the boss that we must explain that what we are doing is not falconry. The number of people who, when they come to our centre to watch a display, say that they are going to watch a 'falconry display' makes me giggle.
What bugs me most is here in the UK, people can have something like a owl as a 'pet'. They don't legally have to give it any exercise...and since I've been working there, we've rescued two birds which were kept in something no bigger than those tiny cages you see on Harry Potter. :/ One of those is the kestrel I'm working with right now. In a tiny cage for over 4 years. Ugh. Some people make me so cross.
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Yikes, keeping them in cages?! We're required by law to have mews or indoor setups that make sure to give the bird enough room. I do love the Harry Potter series, but I hate that some folks saw the owls and took the opportunity to consider them as pets. D: Here in the US to even legally acquire a native species to use for falconry takes a lot of work and jumping through hoops, but it has deterred a lot of the pet-keepers I think!Β
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The real bummer about the UK is that it's just not...got many laws regarding birds of prey. The natives are protected and that's it. There's a minimum 'suggested' set of requirements and ways to keep a bird, but there's no real laws on who can keep one. Which makes me SO angry. Some horrible person even dumped their hawk in a box outside our front gate one morning. 
The Hawk Board here are so desperately pushing for laws to be put in place...but so far nothing. Makes me so mad. Wish we had the laws that you guys do!
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Yeah, a few UK falconer friends I've talked to wished they had more laws in place to protect the birds. I feel blessed here in America because we have viable populations of birds of prey that we can legally acquire wild raptors from for falconry-- of course, with proper laws in place to protect said populations. I can't believe someone dumped their bird on you all! That's insane!
And hopefully you all will get something in place in the near future that will make your efforts and falconry all the better!Β
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Everything is so much better over there! And as you say, it deters the 'idiots' who want a bird as a pet, or just to say 'I keep a hawk', almost like a status symbol. They're wonderful animals, all of them, but they're not easy to care for and all deserve to be respected. The hawk the man just left with us is now a fab bird. He hunts, flies to public, has great manners, and is very calm. If only that person had the patience....
Yes, I hope so too!
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I'm so glad he turned out to be a grand bird for you all! It really does stink that there aren't laws in place to prevent the average joe from obtaining a bird of prey there though ;-;Β
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Gorgeous and graceful birds.
This would be something I could only dream of doing. <3
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Thank you. <3 And I certainly love falconry; I can't see myself not doing it. ;-;Β
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Oohhh look at their faces they're all adorable ;3;
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Raptors are an amazing group of birds!
These all looks super cute! <3
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They're an awesome group of birds, aren't they?!
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Definitely!
My favorite out of that group would actually have to be the Bateleur Eagle, have you ever heard of them?
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Yes, I've gotten to work with Bateleurs.
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They're just so colorful, I just love one to death when I see one, I will literally stare at it for hours!
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ahhh look at these gorgeous babies omg
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Neato! (I've been thinking about getting a Red-Tail, and I just finished my second year, do you think it would be good for starters?)
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You're a falconer too?! What species have you flown first? What has your sponsor said? :3
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Well, my uncle taught me with his Gyrfalcon. (he named it Billy, no clue why...) As for my sponsor, my uncle handles it (I'm pretty young, and just started) so he handles my sponsor.
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Oh wow! Well then I would recommend you talk to your sponsor/uncle about your next bird.
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Thanks! (what kind are you getting next?)
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You'll see soon!Β
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I love kestrels <3Β Β Recently, I saw a bird that looked like a kestrel, but it was much too big.. do you have any idea what it could have been?
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Possibly a Merlin! They have somewhat of a kestrel appearance but are larger than Kestrels.
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I looked up all of them and the Merlin comes here in the winter, andΒ I saw it inΒ March, so I don't think it was that one. The peregrine also looked like it a lot, and they live here, I guess o-oΒ So it was most likely one of them- Thanks for the help!!Β ^^
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