Falconry is set up really well in the US and several foreign countries clubs are petitioning their government to emulate us.
- It’s difficult to get into on purpose. This reduces impulse buys of raptors by completely inexperienced people which reduces raptor harm.
- Self regulated for the most part through an apprentice / sponsor system.
- Clearly defined as a hunting sport with “pet keepers” kept to a minimum as they can lose their license for not hunting. Raptors make shit pets and need to fly and hunt for their mental well being.
- Wild take of raptors. This is a huge one, pretty much no other country that actually has wildlife protections allows this. Falconry in the US is basically built off of wild take as an exclusion to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- Very difficult to monetize. A falconer cannot use their license to make money. Educational programs can be done but they can’t be paid more than gas money and if they are doing more programs than hunting they can lose their license. Doing abatement (using a raptor to chase off pests at an airport for example) is a separate license which requires 7 years as a falconer minimum.
- Each state has their own club that works with their state government and then there is a national club that works with the feds and other countries.
It’s difficult to get into on purpose.
Had to read this a few times until it clicked that it doesn’t mean as opposed to getting into accidentally.
Can you actually buy raptors? I was under the impression they were all caught wild, and then had to be released after a certain time period.
I did see though when I looked up “wild take” that means removing pre-fledged birds from the nest. They can’t be sold though.
The state regulations I pulled up said out of state birds could be brought in, but not released. Do people just import birds from other countries with poor rules?
Wild take is mostly only for juvenile raptors (only exceptions are Kestrels and Great Horned Owls as they are almost impossible to determine their age by plumage). There is a fledgling season where a chick can be taken from a nest, and a normal season where the bird is trapped while it’s on its own.
A fledgling will be imprinted onto humans and cannot be released back into the wild ever. It is way too accustomed to people and can be a nuisance at best and a danger at worst to the public if released.
A wild trapped juvenile is a normal bird that is trained to hunt cooperatively. They can be released at any time or kept their entire 20+ year life.
Wild birds can not be sold, but they can be transferred to other licensed individuals. Any tit for tat stuff can lead to trouble with this.
If wild raptors are kept for a certain number of years, they can be bred and their offspring sold to other falconers or licensed individuals. These captive bred birds cannot be released into the wild but they in turn can be bred too. They have a seamless band put on their legs when they are chicks to differentiate them from wild birds.
Importing birds from other countries is extremely expensive because as far as I know they need to stay in government quarantine for 30 days or so.
My 3 Harris Hawks, all captive bred. Their native range is the American Southwest and Mexico but mine are from Seattle, Los Vegas, and Baton Rouge: https://falconry.party/post/13676
Very interesting. There seems to be a lot of rules, but they all at least make good sense and look after the birds.
What do you do with what they catch? Is it mainly rodent and birds, or do they catch stuff like rabbits or squirrels that people eat?
