Falconry is the least understood of all field sports. The Washington Falconers Association is dedicated to the advancement of the highest standards of falconry as well as to the welfare of all raptors, trained and wild, so we sometimes find ourselves in a position to educate interested (or sometimes, irritated) people who see us with our birds.

Most people are fascinated. Quite often we hear "I didn't think people did that kind of thing anymore." And that's usually just the first question...

1. What the heck is THAT? (A frequent question when people realize it's not a parrot.)
   "That" is a raptor; a bird of prey that captures and/or kills its food with its feet. Certain species of raptors are particularly suited to hunting with a human companion: the sport of falconry.
   
   

2. What's that thing on the bird's head? Does it prevent it from attacking you?
   The "helmet" thing on the bird's head is called a hood. Its only purpose is to keep the bird calm, just like blinkers on horses. Raptors, like any animal, can hurt themselves if they panic. They are so visually oriented that if it can't see anything scary, it won't be scared. Each hood is custom-made for its bird so that it fits properly without any danger of touching the eyes or ruffling feathers.
   
   

3. I didn't think that was legal (anymore).
   Falconry is very much a legal sport. It certainly does have an air of antiquity about it, since nobody knows when it actually began, although it was certainly popular in the Middle Ages. There are archeological artifacts that suggest it might have been practiced as early as 1700 BC. ¹ Falconry is commonly referred to as "the most regulated sport in the world" because there are so many legal requirements.
   
   

4. Where did you get it? Did you buy it?
   That depends. Some raptors are caught from the wild during their first year of life; some are purchased from other falconers. For the birds' own protection, it is illegal to buy or sell wild native raptors. Raptors born in captivity, however, can be sold. See below for other questions brought up about this issue.
   
   

5. What do you do with it?
   We accustom it to hunting with a human companion and then we go hunting. Trained raptors do not retrieve preys. If they are successful, we either allow them to eat the catch or trade them off for another reward and eat it ourselves or put it in the freezer for later. In reality, it's more like "what does it do with us". The rest of the time we feed it, exercise it, water it, clean up after it, make new equipment for it... and on and on.
   
   

6. What prevents it from just flying away?
   Absolutely nothing. It wants to stay. It has learned that its human companion will provide it with food, safety, and ample opportunity to exercise its natural instincts. Raptors can reach extremely advanced age in a good falconer's care; Harris hawks have been known to live to be over 30 years old; the big owls can reach 40.

Not everyone thinks falconry is a good idea, though, so we do have to field more hostile questions sometimes, too.

1. How can you justify taking something like that from the wild?
   * First, most falconry birds aren't taken from the wild at all.
   Less than a thousand raptors of all species in the entire country are estimated to be taken legally each year, with about one-third of them being the widespread and abundant red-tailed hawk.² Red-tails are the hawks you can see circling over the freeways nearly every day.
   * Second, we're not hurting the wild populations.
   About 70 - 90% of all wild raptors hatched each year die during their first winter. Thus, any birds taken by the falconers during trapping season have a much greater chance of surviving than they would in the wild and there are still more birds than there is suitable habitat. The take of raptors from the wild by falconers is completely inconsequential to raptor populations.³
   * Third, many falconers are involved in breeding raptors for release to increase wild populations in areas where they have declined.
   Many people know that the peregrine falcon population was devastated in the early 1970's by DDT, but there are over 150 nesting pairs now. Where did all those birds come from in the past 30 years if there weren't any left in the wild? The birds that repopulated the wild peregrine population were bred from falconers' birds in the USA and Canada.
   * Fourth, but probably most important, we devote a good portion of our time and income to making the individual bird a very happy creature. There is nothing preventing a bird that doesn't want to stay from simply flying off for good. Rather than having a 9 out of 10 chance of dying before age one, a falconry bird can reach advanced old age. It is not a pet. It is a partner.
   
   

2. How do you make it do what you want? Do you starve them to make them hunt?
   We don't make them do anything. We work hard to provide them with excellent opportunities to do what they have evolved to do: hunt. Training is pure positive reinforcement. You cannot "punish" a falcon. They have no pack instinct and no "desire to please". If they don't want to be around you anymore, they're gone.
   Falconry birds are never starved for any reason. This hateful rumor simply doesn't make any sense. Would a trainer starve Olympic athletes to make them run faster? Of course not. Would you starve anything you care for? We maintain our birds in peak condition by proper diet and exercise. During the hunting season, they eat less; during the moult they eat more. Warm weather means less food; cold weather, more. It also depends on species; a peregrine can require up to four times the food of a Harris hawk. Out-of-shape birds get lower-calorie food and more exercise, just like out-of-shape people. Remember, a falconer's facilities must be available, by federal law, for official inspection at any and all times. If you ever hear this rumor, please help us stop it.
   
   

3. Why hunt with a raptor?
   1) It's not wasteful.
   Even the smallest game can be fed to the bird itself if it doesn't end up on the falconer's table.
   2) It's a fair contest and a naturally-occurring event.
   Prey species have had millions of years of evolution to adapt to their natural predators. Rabbits evade foxes; ducks evade peregrines. In the rare case that a catch doesn't end in a quick kill, the falconer is right there to prevent any suffering.
   3) It's a different mindset.
   The "trophy" is the beautiful, awesome creature already on the fist. The thrill of the flight is what the falconer is seeking on a day's outing, not reaching some bag limit. A dozen ducks in an entire season is a good year.
   
   

4. Why do you want to do this?
   If you have to ask...
   Seriously, most falconers will give you more than one answer. They enjoy sharing the personal space of a wild animal; they enjoy the beauty of the flight and thrill of the chase. It's a challenge. But, above all, it's a joy.

1 Phillip Glasier, Falconry and Hawking, Overlook Press; ISBN: 0879518723; 3rd edition (October 1998)

3 Final Environmental Assessment -Falconry and Raptor Propagation Regulations, United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, July, 1988