I am new to the idea of falcon hunting. Though I find it very interesting; must be good for rabbits.
I am curious as to how one goes about aquiring a falcon, let alone training it. Can one train the bird one's self? Are the birds taken from the wild? Or must they be purchased?
I believe this may be an opinionated question, but, if one could aquire a falcon, what would be the best species? Now the same question if one could chose any falcon species in the world. I ask the second question because I don't imagine one could own an endangered falcon.

There are various birds that are used from kestrels to redtails to peregrine.Typically [certainly in NY] the sport is highly regulated. A long time of education and training is necessary before you would be permitted to get a bird.Contact your state widlife agency.There are some falcon hunting websites too,do a search.

falconry is nationally regulated. as for getting a falconers license go to your states wildlife/conservation department website.
for info on training and capturing, and equipment you can go to http://www.n-a-f-a.org/

The ideal bird depends on where you live and what you hunt. If you live in the suburbs like I do, the perfect bird would be a great horned owl so you can lay waste to the golf courses after dark. Lot of rabbits and waterfowl on golf courses. "North of Sixty" makes things difficult. You'd definitely have to check with your local fish and wildlife agency for their take on the subject.

well perfect falcon depends on desired prey. and also there are different levels of the falconers license. firts is novice falconer and in Missouri for instance, a novice falconer can only keep one Red-tailed Hawk or one American Kestrel. those are the 2 most common birds of prey in the state. that will vary depending on where you are. the highest level is Master Falconer. this takes a few years to acquire, but once you have a master falconers license you can keep any bird of prey in the world.
lets assume you are a master falconer in the USA and want the perfect bird...for rabbits and squirrels: Red-tailed Hawk is the most popular. Jackrabbits: Harris's Hawk, Ferruginous/Rough Legged Hawk, Golden Eagle. Grouse, Pheasant, Ducks, Doves, Pigeon: Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, Gyrfalcon. Jackrabbits, Coyote, small Deer: Golden Eagle. sparrows, mice, lizards, small snakes, large insects: American Kestrel
owls are not often kept by falconers due to the fact that they typically hunt at night. however owls areone of the few/only things that hunts skunks, so if you have a skunk problem get an owl, but you'll have a stinky owl. eagles are not kept very often either because of their enormous size, housing requirements, and the fact that many areas of the USA dont have suitable prey for hunting with an eagle.
training is done by yourself. (say a red-tailed hawk) to start off you trap the bird (once you advance your license you can purchase a captive bred bird). to do this you build a small box out of wire, roughly 6 inches by 6 inches, tie a weight on a string to it, tie loops of high test fishing line to the trap (like snares), place a mouse or a few inside the trap, drive down the road till you see a hawk on a tree or telephone pole (this means he/shes hunting) drive slowly under him and drop the trap out the car door, drive away but stay withing sight. after it lands on the trap its feet will get tangled in the nooses. drive back over and throw a blanket or jacket over the bird (it will not struggle very hard then and neither you or the bird will get hurt) hold the bird carefully so as not to hurt it while a friend (your sponsor, sponsor is necassary to get license and keep it at first) removes the nooses from its feet. place a hood on the birds head and then place the bird in a specially made hawking box. go home. once you get home you will spend several days with the bird on your glove and the jesses (leather ankletts it wears) attached to a special loop on the glove. now and then place a small peice of tasty meat on the glove. eventually he will stop trying to fly away from the glove and realize you are not going to hurt him/her. now that it trusts you...place it on a perch and walk away about 10-20 feet. turn your back to the bird and place a small peice of meat between your thumb and fore finger (you'll need a falconry bag to keep the meat in, keep it with you at all times when handling/training/hunting the bird). now turn around, wiggle your thumb to make the meat move and whistle (may need to buy a whistle to get really loud). the bird may not do it at first but will fly to your hand and after a week or 2 will associate your glove with food.
now make a lure (a fake rabbit made out of real rabbit fur with a 10-20 foot line attached to it) place a chunk of meat on the lure and make it move around, and yell something like "ho ho ho". this tells the bird you have spotted a bunny and he will land on it, knowing its food.
after hes trained take him out hunting. take a walking stick and bang it on brush/bushes to scare rabbits out (bird should be in a tree so he can see) when one runs yell "ho ho ho!!!" he will catch the rabbit. run as fast as you can to the kill and make sure it is dead, as occasionally they injure (break ribs etc) a hawk. if its not dead pull out your hunting knife or sewing awle and kill it (best way, want to be fast to avoid the hawk being injured ((injured nird could mean revoked license for life)), is to stab the heart or with an awle is to puncture the back/bottom of the skull) let the bird eat a little, mostly he will be pulling off hair for a few minutes. then after he has eaten a little bit replace the real rabbit with you're training lure which has a bit of meat on it. sounds cruel or atleast unfair but if you allow it to eat its fill it will either fly into a tree and not come down to the glove with any amount of coaxing, or you will take it home and you wont be able to train or hunt for several days, maybe a week or even two. if you ever go more than a week without handling the bird repeat the indoor training with the glove/meat, and the outdoor training with the lure, just to make sure. and since it doesnt get to eat all of its kill you have to feed it every day, but not too much or you get the same effect as if you did allow it to eat its fill.
prey my red-tails have caught: tons of rabbits, lot of squirrels, a calico cat, a garter snake, a black rat snake, a timber rattlesnake, several mice and rats and chipmunks, a mink (hawk got bitten on legs and a few hundred dollars in vet bills later we could hunt again), and to my suprise a ring necked pheasant in flight.
I strongly suggest checking out northwoodsfalconry.com and buying a few books, subscribing to a falconry newsletter, going to the library and reading everything about birds of prey and falconry you possibly can, contacting a falconer in your area and go hunting with them and ask a lot of questions and dont be embarassed to ask anything, they were once in your shoes and asked the same questions (or wish they had asked them), contact your local fish and wilife agency to find out how to aqcuire a license.
good luck!!! its a lot fo hard work and not cheap to get started (you have to buy so much stuff and build an enclosure) but it is a lot of fun!!!

I looked into a Falconers license in Alabama for a while, and then decided it was just too much trouble and legal headache/paperwork for my tastes and gave up on the idea.

From what I read, and all the US Government permits and paperwork associated, plus the licensing fees and requirements, plus that lawyers or Government reps can come by your house anytime and basically "regulate" your habitat based on their opinions or discretion, etc., it was just too much politics.

Then, on top of that in Alabama, if you hunt the bird and it kills any game-animal out of season, you have to fill out a special "out-of-season kill" form with the Game Warden or risk standard illegal hunting fines down here. Overall just a legal headache.

Not every state will be as restrictive as Alabama. California has what is likely the most reasonable blend of restrictions and freedoms, mostly because there are a goodly number of falconers here and they have basically co-opted the process. Other places have different outlooks. However, what has to be kept in mind is that falconry is less a "sport" than an obsession. Probably it's worse than Africa. Remember that raptors live a long time and if you imprint one, she's yours for life . . . her life and that could be as long as 50 years!

thats true oldsarge except that 90% of the time if a wild caught bird becomes imprinted it has to be euthanized. a captive bred and raised bird can live a LONGGGG time, and can be relatively safe if imprinted. a wild caught bird often becomes very dangerous if imprinted.

What do you guys mean by wild caught bird becoming imprinted ... like for an area, or for an owner?

And then, is the bird dangerous to it's owner, or only to others if the owner dies or abandons it?

I really would enjoy getting into falconry, and there's a TON of red-tails around here, but the paperwork and Alabama state legislation regarding it is truly challenging to navigate.

Imprinting a wild bird is not something that I am familiar with unless one took it from the nest while its eyes (in the case of a great horned owl) were still blue. With owls this is the preferred condition as once they turn yellow or orange they become savagely untameable.

Redtails are a completely different proposition. Their temperment is mild, dignified and unafraid, even in some cases upon capture! This is the reason that they are considered the ideal beginner's bird. If you can find a copy, I really recommend getting a little booklet called The Falconer's Apprentice: A Guide to Training the Passage Red-Tailed Hawk by William C. Oakes. It should be available from Eagle Wing Publishing, P.O. Box 434, Roy, Utah 84067-0434. Their phone used to be 801 731 7416 and may still be. If there is a better introduction to falconry, especially in as practiced in North America, I'd like to see it! With this book and someone within a couple of hour's drive who has a General or Master's licence, you are good to go.

Red-Tails are versatile, powerful, eager hunters and capable of taking everything from quail up to at least cock pheasant and maybe young turkey. On ground game they are the best! Even small raccoon aren't safe from them. What is especially nice is that if you take a passage (first year) redtail, you can man her, fly her through the fall, winter and early spring and then release her to migrate back north and spend your summer fishing with no worries about your bird getting out of condition. Then the next fall you can start over. I'm looking forward to being retired out in the country so I can try it!

imprinting is pretty uncommon. for one reason, its because most falconers catch a wild bird in the fall, hunt all winter, and release it in the spring. imprinting is when a bird (or any animal) begins to think it is human, or that you are a bird, whichever way you want to look at it. when you are talking about a dog or a horse, its a good thing. they are more sociable, easier to train, and easier to handle. in an animal such as a raptor (all birds of prey, not the jurassic park type of raptor) this imprinting transfers into mate. they become very dangerous to their handler/keeper because when birds of prey mate, actually in the courting games, they seem to be attacking each other. so if a bird becomes imprinted it will try to court you, and you will get tallons in the face, chest, and the back of your head. they will also become very defensive of their territory and attack just about anything or anyone that invades it. they cant be released because they will not associate with others of their kind, because they think humans are their kind.
Im not sure why but this is a lot less common with captive bred birds. but like I said, its not common anyway due to the fact that most falconers (atleast during their first several years) catch wild birds and release them the following spring.

Arctic Gun -

I have several friends that are licensed falconers. The most experienced has both a Red-tailed and a Harris Hawk which he uses for rabbit hunting in conjunction with his Jack Russel terrier.

I must forewarn you that beyond the cost, paperwork and regulation that falconers face is the time commitment. I would dare say that they require much more dedicated time per day than your average dog or cat. You must maintain a strict diet for the bird and monitor it's weight (to the oz. or gram) constantly during the hunting season if you expect it to hunt for you.

In addition, you cannot simply have the neighbor feed it while you go away on vacation. You must have an excellent vet if it becomes ill. To sum it up, you must be 100% dedicated to your bird and the sport of falconry if you want to do it right.

I would highly recommend contacting your state wildlife agency to see if you can locate a falconer in your area that you could visit and perhaps accompany on a hunt - you will gain a much better appreciation for the work that goes into a successful hunt using birds of prey.

Good luck.

I worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a year. One evening we went to an outdoor festival, and there was a gentleman there with his falcon. He allowed us to touch it and ask questions. Physically the bird was a marvel, only weighed about 7lbs., tops. As I stroked his body I couldn't help but notice it was like steel, but the feathers were silky smooth. That bird kept his eyes on me the whole time. His feet and claws were almost as large as my hands. What a marvelous speciman. He said a fully trained hunting falcon would sell for about $30,000. The owners hunt in the desert in open cars, actually converted vans with sofas for rear seats. I didn't see one, but it must be quite a rig. I'd love to see one of these birds in action. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Bulldog,
The first thing you need to do is get a copy of the falconry regs from the Calif DFG. You will see that a beginner isn't allowed a true falcon but must, after passing the test, building a mews, and acquiring a sponser, livetrap either a little kestral or a redtail hawk. For the hunting falconer, the latter is preferred. In fact, there is an experienced body of opinion that if you really want to hunt with the bird rather than just fly one, stick to redtails. Read lots of the "beginner" books available at http://www.northwoodsfalconry.com to get a better idea of the process. Falconry is lots of work . . . lots of work. That's why I don't intend to start until I'm retired!

quote:

Originally posted by bradfran:

Thanks for taking the time to wrote that all up; learned from it and a lot of my questions were answered.

Cheers,

KG

This looks very interesting. Wish I had the time to devote to this kind of hobby. maybe one day I will try it.

Thank You Bradford!