Falconry Basics

Tony Hall

Description

In this fully revised edition of his classic guide to falconry for beginners, lifelong falconer Tony Hall presents the most comprehensive information available to newcomers to the sport. Falconry Basics is specifically designed for novices and covers the basics, from different types of birds and their individual characteristics, to acquiring the proper equipment and the care and handling of the birds themselves.A Covering all aspects of training, hunting, and maintenance, Falconry Basics addresses every possible scenario a newcom- er may face when training their first raptor, from illness and injury to escaped or overconfident hawks. Hall also provides a wealth of supplementary information for beginners, including notes on anatomy, terminology, and a list of additional resources. Accompanied by diagrams and detailed line illustrations throughout, this book will become a standard manual for future generations of falconers.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: ABRAMS BOOKS
• Date de parution: 11 juillet 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781468314533
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

With 75 b w drawings and 5 photographs
The ancient practice of falconry first gained traction in the United States in the twentieth century, and the U.S. now boasts an ever-growing community of falconers as worldwide demand for American-bred birds of prey increases. In this fully revised edition of his classic guide to falconry, lifelong falconer Tony Hall presents the most comprehensive information available to newcomers to the sport. Updated by American falconer C. Stephen Heying, Falconry Basics is specifically designed for novices and covers the basics, from different types of birds and their individual characteristics, to acquiring the proper equipment and the care and handling of the birds themselves.
Covering all aspects of training, hunting, and maintenance, Falconry Basics addresses every possible scenario a newcomer may face when training their first raptor, from illness and injury to escaped or overconfident hawks. Hall also provides a wealth of supplementary information for beginners, including notes on anatomy, terminology, and a list of additional resources. Heying s updates to this revised edition include the current legal requirements for owning and hunting with a raptor in the United States, the types of hawks native to various regions of North America and the quarry encountered there, and resources for falconry apprenticeship. Accompanied by diagrams and detailed line illustrations throughout, this book will become a standard manual for future generations of falconers.
Copyright
This edition first published in hardcover in the United States in 2017 by The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
N EW Y ORK
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Copyright 2003, 2017 Tony Hall
This edition was revised and updated by C. Stephen Heying
First published in the UK in 2003 by Swan Hill Press, an imprint of Quiller Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
ISBN 978-1-4683-1453-3
CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT
LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
ABOUT THIS BOOK
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
PART 1
Getting Started
Before You Start
Falconry And The Law
Hawks And Falconry
First Birds
Broadwings
Kestrels
PART 2
Nuts and Bolts
Hawk Quarters
Housing Equipment
Hawk Furniture
Training Equipment
Personal Gear
Handling Hawks
Weight And Condition
Hawk Food
Buying A Hawk
Vital Homework
PART 3
Training And Flying
Training: Introduction
Training: First Steps
Training: Up to Free Flight
Training: Flying Free
Car Travel
Entering And Basic Hunting
Missing Hawks
Hunting Aids: Dogs
Hunting Aids: Ferrets
Notes On Quarry
PART 4
Maintenance
Maintaining Fitness
Illness And Injury
Maintaining Beaks And Talons
Repairing Feathers
PART 5
Supplementary Information
Notes On Anatomy: External
Notes On Anatomy: Internal
Falconry Terminology
Checklist Of Equipment
Helpful Literature
References
Useful Addresses
I NDEX
A BOUT THE AUTHOR
Common (or European) buzzard (Buteo buteo)
LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
T HROUGHOUT THIS BOOK THE TERM HAWK IS USED FOR ALL FALCONRY BIRDS . T HIS usage complies with falconry tradition, but not with dictionary-making, which restricts the word to a group of birds known as accipiters (such as Sparrowhawks and Goshawks). Similarly, the term falconry means the training and flying of all kinds, not just falcons such as the Peregrine.
In the sport s very long history many names have been used to distinguish one kind of falconer from another. For example, austringer for a person who trained and flew Goshawks; sparviter for one who flew Sparrowhawks; hawker for one who flew any kind of accipiter; and falconer for one who specialized in flying falcons (meaning the female Peregrine). These days, even falconers don t often use such distinctions, partly because most own and fly several different kinds of hawk, and partly because no-one outside the sport would have the faintest idea what an austringer or a sparviter was and wouldn t be enlightened by consulting any standard dictionary.
Another long-standing protocol is that all falconry birds-whatever their sex-are referred to as she or her when speaking in general terms. Female hawks are usually larger and more powerful than males. Centuries ago this probably made them more desirable, and therefore more prominent. But falconers learned long ago that males and females are just different, and each sex has its own special attributes. But the protocol is well established, and in this book I have respected it. Similarly, when I write he -meaning the falconer or his dog-no sexism is intended. It simply makes things clearer, especially when she is the hawk.
On a more general level, all known forms of life have a scientific as well as a common name. Each scientific name is unique and recognized worldwide. Scientific names are given firstly to describe each organism s relationship (taxonomy) with other life forms, and secondly to avoid confusion. For example, taxonomically, all falcons have something in common with each other, as do all hawks and all buzzards. Also, Britain, North America, and Australasia all have hovering falcons called Kestrels, but each bird is a different species. Having a scientific name for each makes it clear which one is being talked about.
There are several levels of taxonomic classification (Orders, Sub-orders, Families, and so on) but the two lowest levels, the genus and species -which provide the most precise description-are the ones we are interested in. The generic and specific names are usually all that is necessary to identify each life form uniquely, and it is customary to begin with a capital letter and to write the name in italics, as in Homo sapiens (human beings). The specific name often refers to some characteristic of the species- sapiens , for example, means wise -and occasionally a second specific name is added to identify a recognizable sub-species or race. One of the many examples of this in the bird world is Falco peregrinus anatum , a race of Peregrine falcons originating in Canada and North America. Another useful convention when quoting a sub-species is to write only the initial letters of the nominate species, provided it is clear which you are referring to-for example: F.p. anatum .
Scientific terminology has also been used, where appropriate, throughout this book.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
I ACQUIRED MY FIRST BIRD OF PREY IN 1958 WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD . S HE WAS a young Tawny Owl, and I blundered across her at the foot of a tree. She was only half-fledged, and had somehow tumbled out of her nest. Knowing no better, I picked her up and took her home.
After a bitter battle with my parents (who were fed up with me bringing wild animals into the house), I kept her in my bedroom and sustained her with rats, mice or voles which our two cats brought in. If supplies from this quarter failed, I went out and caught my own. If I failed too, I thieved scraps of meat from the larder. One way or another, I kept her alive until she was fully-fledged. Then I took her out into a field bordering the woods where I d found her, threw her up into the air, and let her fly. Released from my grasp, she glided gracefully into the woods and I saw her for the very last time.
I sincerely believed I d saved her life. I know now that I probably condemned her to a slow death through starvation, and this probability has haunted me for many years. Although I didn t know any better at the time, that doesn t provide much comfort and I doubt that I will ever really forgive myself.
At the foot of a tree she was vulnerable, but her parents were probably nearby and still actively feeding her. Exposed as she was, close cover was all around and she was perfectly capable of reaching it. Had she done so, it would have provided some protection from foxes and other predators (including me). Once fully-fledged and able to fly, her parents were programmed to teach her how and what to hunt, and perhaps even assist in this process until she developed the skills and experience to do it alone. My intervention, however well meaning, had deprived her of this vital life-saving education.
But, provoked by the sense of virtue this incident gave me and now completely hooked on birds of prey, I went on to interfere in more of their lives. I must admit, I was also inspired by a word I d picked up from somewhere- Falconry . Kestrels, Sparrowhawks, and more Tawny Owls suffered my adolescent attentions. Some of these were also collected off the ground, but most were taken as fledglings from their nests.
Whilst they were in my care, I can honestly say I never killed any of them-but that was simply down to the fact that I fed them as much as they wanted because I knew nothing about the first principal of falconry-weight control. Indeed, I knew nothing about falconry. I d heard of it, but I knew no one who did it. One or two books had been published, but it was such a rare and specialized activity that even the best of libraries didn t stock them as a matter of course. To obtain one you needed to know the author, book title, publisher and preferably the ISBN or similar reference. All of this was way beyond my nous, as well as my available travel and communication facilities.
So these birds and I had a bad start and believe me, I grieved over every one of them. They all seized the first opportunity presented to them to claim their independence, and rightly