Falconry

**Warrior** · 04-02-2004, 09:29 AM

Anyone train falcons or hawks?

I have been working on a Lanner Falcon (wakiri (sp?) from Iran)... wondering if anyone here been down this road - training raptors. So far I have been working on getting her used to me and general manning - as well as basic flights to the glove. I want to hunt with her in the desert this fall...

I don't have any pics of her to post now but here are some of her subspecies (basically what she looks like):

***SV-1*** · 04-02-2004, 09:59 AM

Teach her to snatch bikini tops, then take her to the beach. Don't forget to bring a video camera.

**stack-a-licious** · 04-02-2004, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by SV-1

Teach her to snatch bikini tops, then take her to the beach. Don't forget to bring a video camera.

lol...
seriously, thats pretty neat...never knew anyone that was involved in falcon or eagle training..but i guess someones gotta do it...how would we have a superbowl without one!!
sorry cant help but good luck...

**daman1** · 04-02-2004, 10:51 AM

Ive lived with a mulucan and unbrella cockatoos as well as a greenwing and blue and gold macaw and an african grey and helped house train them a little. Don't know if I could hlep you though.

**BigBoi83** · 04-02-2004, 11:15 AM

warrior thats an awsome idea. my buddys dad used to hunt with a guy who used falcons and would catch a crazy amount of rabitts. we like using farets too. untfourtunatly its all illegal here so u gota be careful where u go

**RJM03** · 04-02-2004, 11:28 AM

Thats awesome, I 've always wondered how one gets into that. I want to teach one to snatch bud lights like in the commercial.

alevok · 04-02-2004, 11:48 AM

Falconry is a traditional sport in Turkey. I used to have two hawks, taught them to cacth quails, it is hard but can be done.
You have a femal falcon which is good, females are bigger than males and better hunters.
You need a thick working gloves, little bells(rings) for the falcon. You know your falcon will hunt for herself not for you and wont retrieve, but since she is used to you she will let you to take her pray.
Yours looks like a peregrine falcon which is very popular and expensive to get. Always feed them with bones and feathers, eggs are ok to occasionally. I used to give them live quail to refresh their hunting and killing abilities.

**Warrior** · 04-02-2004, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by alevok

Falconry is a traditional sport in Turkey. I used to have two hawks, taught them to cacth quails, it is hard but can be done.
You have a femal falcon which is good, females are bigger than males and better hunters.
You need a thick working gloves, little bells(rings) for the falcon. You know your falcon will hunt for herself not for you and wont retrieve, but since she is used to you she will let you to take her pray.
Yours looks like a peregrine falcon which is very popular and expensive to get. Always feed them with bones and feathers, eggs are ok to occasionally. I used to give them live quail to refresh their hunting and killing abilities.

Those pics are not of mine - found them on the Net of someone elses lanner. I bought my bird from an Indian gentelman at a great price since it is the "offseason"... about 150 USD. He said the bird was Wakiri, captured in Iran. I took her to an American Falcon Vet who confirmed her as a Lanner Falcon.

She weighs just under a half kilo so I am assuming "she" may actually be a male... the doc said he could find out for sure later if I wish. Perhaps if she needs to go under next month to remove some lung parasites I'll have him confirm her/his sex then. "She" got a shot the other day to paralyze the lung worms and if she tests positive for them in 4 weeks he will have to make an incision to remove them.

She is doing very well and a quick learner - especially when fed smaller birds and pigeons... a little less submissive when fed beef. In fact, she just got done chowing down on a pigeon about an hour ago and jumped to the glove several times for it. Tomorrow I will feed her only beef for some more manning and then the following day try to get her to fly to the glove for some more pigeon from a much farther distance... not attached to the jesses... but indoors.

I'll try and get some pics of her soon so you can see what "she" actualy looks like... still haven't named her

**Warrior** · 04-02-2004, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by RJM03

Thats awesome, I 've always wondered how one gets into that. I want to teach one to snatch bud lights like in the commercial.

I think there are only 2 states where it is illegal in the US (Hawaii and Conneticut). I am over in Arab land now and there are really no governing laws here... pretty easy to get started. The American Vet said for me to continue with a bird in the US I would need to pay for a permit, take a written test and be sponsered by a registered falconer in the area I live in... a few loops to jump through...

Its a lot of fun actually... but when she does her first free flight - I'm gonna be crossin' my fingers that she catches the prey and returns to me!

One of the local falconers that has helped me considerably has been doing this since he was a boy - and I think he only mentioned maybe one or two that have left AWOL on him. He uses telemetry to keep track of their location though...

alevok · 04-03-2004, 02:22 AM

$150 very good deal, beef not a good choice to feed her since they are used to eat birds and rabbits. Check the pet stores they always have dead birds (small parrakeets, canaries, hamsters) or catch some sparrows&pigeons. A friend of mine used to feed his bird with beef eventually his bird died. Those birds need to eat feathers and small bones, during digestion process they vomit a solid thing containing feathers&bones. You probably noticed that.
Always fly her hungry, when she is full she has no reason to return. The only connection between you and her is the food you provide for her. When outdoors for first flights, fly her with 100mt cordes and jesses attached.
If you fly her in a wooden area, dont forget the bells, she may get out of your vision but you can always hear her bells and spot her.
When they catch a prey they tend to carry their prey away and spread their wings to protect the prey from other predators, but she will let you take her pray. If she caches something too small for her then she can just fly away with her prey and never come back to you. So pigeons, rabbits, quails, doves are good choices.
Did you make a leather helmet for her? When transporting, it calms the bird down.
Whenever I got a new hawk, I leave her hungry for a day or two and I make her perch on my hand for hours, it is boring for both sides but it helps to break down her wild side.
Good luck bro, thats an awesome experince you are going thru.

**shadowman25** · 04-03-2004, 02:48 AM

the best falconry trainer I know is william sanders who is also a master martial artist. I think he has a couple pictures of his falcons at www.cimande.com

**Warrior** · 04-04-2004, 07:06 AM

alevok - yeah man... with todays conversion he/she actually cost $193 USD. I am told the good price was mostly due to the season... around October the prices are much higher - especially for trained birds...

I'll definitly keep that beef thing in mind - I occasionally feed her beef to keep her crop low and when I don't want her spitting a cast...

I am having a problem with her being hood shy... I got her new hood that is a bit looser and she doens't scratch at it like the last one and leaves it alone. The other night she was sleeping with her head dropped to the side and standing on one foot - obviously I sign that she is more comfortable. But she really hates to even see it before I put it on. I think it is because I always put it on her to calm her after eating and she is starting to see the hood as an end of feeding time. Also... last night was the first night she had no hood on the entire night... she spent the whole night in low light... no problems...

Other than the hood - like you said, training her to the glove is going well as long as she is hungry. And she certainly likes birds more than beef... haven't tried rabbit yet... I hear lanner falcons are excellent at catching rabbit so I am sure that would go well with her... I will have to look into getting some rabbit for her. Fortunatly, I can get frozen pigeon, quail and other smaller birds at the grocery store where I am.

I got the 100m cord to fly her with when she is ready... once she flys to the glove without waiting around first... right? She jumps readily when I have some pigeon meat - and deffinitly when she is just starting to eat... but as her crop gets full... she is less and less interested in me

. Like you said - they are trained by there stomach... a little different than a dog that generally just tries to please its master and avoid a spanking...

She is getting more and more use to me and allowing me to rub her frontside without biting...

Here are some pics I took this morning of her

(Lanner Falcon/Wakiri - Iran):

alevok · 04-04-2004, 09:10 AM

I looked at the pics, she/he looks very healthy and beautiful. (the price is still very low, in some arab countries they are worth 5-20K)You do not need the hood at night, make sure the room is full dark, she will sleep. Sleeping the way you described (on one foot, head dropping to side)) shows good health.
Yeah they dont like hood at the beginning, something very new and strange to them, she will adjust it in few weeks, dont worry. You need the hood when she is in the car or before hunting.
They also love chicks, guess you can find frozen chicks in your area. Hard boiled eggs also good once in a while.
When hungry place her 10mt away (indoor first) show the food and call her. Try this everyday and each time place her little far away (additional 5mt each time). She will learn that she depends on you for food. When you think she is ready (you will know) Do the same thing outdoor with cords. After a while you need to place a live animal say 10 mt away (hood on) remove the hood she will notice the prey and get excited and fly her after. When she catches it just wait for a min so she makes the killing. You can approach her when she starts plucking. Gently take the prey away and place her on your hand and feed her.
Repeat this several times with cordes. If you are gonna have a dog for flushing birds make sure the dog is around along the training, she needs to get used to dog.
Say you hunt quails (very easy for them) you want o catch 10 or more quails, after each catch give her a min or two to rest.
Let me know how it goes bro

**Warrior** · 04-04-2004, 09:49 AM

alevok - thanks a lot for your solid info - it is pretty much in line with what I have been reading and learning from people in my area. I have a few Arabs and an American Falcon Vet helping me along... also, both have said I got a really good price for my bird... but also that it reflected the fact that she wouldn't be able to hunt in the wild until October...

BTW - some of the falcons in this area do sell almost for 30,000 USD!

Thats fukin' amazing. Many of them pass unwanted birds along to family members too... the guy I was with last week was giving one of his falcons he said was crazy to his brother

It was a nice lookin' bird though... big and strong... but apparently he had a hard time getting along with the other falcons

...

But I did see one fly the other day, he baited it with a lure and pigeon - but the bird accidently "killed" the lure and not the pigeon... he said, "the pigeon will live another day!"

I was lookin' at the bird thinking about the 20-30k flying in the air! He did use telemetry to keep track of it...

What did you do with your birds? Did you sell them for profit? Are they like investments... once you train them and they become experience hunters for a few seasons their value goes up, up, up?

**Warrior** · 04-05-2004, 11:30 AM

Are there any falconry/hawking forums on the Net? Preferrably vBulletin software...

alevok · 04-06-2004, 03:28 AM

I did not keep my hawks more than one hunting season. I had bought my bird in August and kept it till Spring. Set her free in Spring so that she could find a mate for reproduction. Did the same thing for both birds. It is good for the future of the specie. Some people do the way I do and I believe setting them free and catching them back(not necessarily very same bird) when hunting season is on again guarantees next generations.
Many birds of prey die in wrong hands, hunters shoot them, pesticides threat their natural environment, some species (golden eagle for example) are near extinction. They are beautiful birds you know, we must love and protect them. So after having a one good hunting season I dont mind setting them free. If the bird is a juvenile one can keep her till she reaches maturity.

**Warrior** · 04-06-2004, 06:13 AM

Honestly I hadn't even thought of that - but that would certainly be an option out here. I wouldn't release a trained falcon in the US for fear that it would approach someone and they might think it was attacking them. If I can't find a suitable caretaker for her when I leave the Middle East I will let her fly back to live on her own in the Spring.

She is doing well - however, I am kind of worried about the lung parasites she was diagnosed with. She got a shot to paralyze them (31 Mar) and the doc said to wait 4 weeks to see if eggs still showed up in her fecal. If they do then she will need to be put under so they can be pulled out through an incision. But last night during training she was breathing kind of heavy (mouth open/wheezing). The doc said it isn't life threatening but would limit her ability to get a high pitch while flying if they are still in her. I am thinking about going ahead with the operation to have them manually removed... do you think the shot to paralyze the parasites will work? I wanted to wait to see so she wouldn't have to go through the operation if she didn't absolutly have to - but watching her breath hard after some short flights and jumping around yesterday concerned me... what do you think... I hear the lung parasites are pretty common when keeping multiple birds... like how she was being kept when I purchased her...

**Shortyrock13** · 04-06-2004, 07:07 AM

You will always be the falcon.... and I.... the falconer!

seriously though that sounds like pretty cool stuff. Good luck with it.

alevok · 04-06-2004, 09:37 AM

it could be due to hot weather, I remember my hawk breathing deep mouth wide open in hot days. I never gave her any medicins but that parasite medicine should solve the problem if there is any.
Falco biarmicus is the latin name, there are 150-200 pairs left in europe, so take good care of her bro

**Warrior** · 04-06-2004, 10:27 AM

She is in good hands... I got some good help and a great Vet - I would like to find an Internet vBulletin with other falcon/hawk owners though... doesn't seem to be any good ones out there...

alevok · 04-07-2004, 03:01 AM

yes I checked that too, have not found a solid forum on falconary, let u know if I come across

**Warrior** · 04-10-2004, 08:36 AM

alevok - day 11, she is flying pretty fast to the glove... the entire distance of my flat... she seems willing to do just about anything for some pigeon

Seems nearly ready to move on to longer distances outdoors...

Deffinitly a smart bird that is very aware and curious about everything going on around her...

**Spoon** · 04-10-2004, 08:40 AM

Saw a program awhile back in Discovery channel about training birds of prey. Check out their archives and i am sure you can come up with info on training facilities and the like. good luck.

Spoon

alevok · 04-10-2004, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Warrior

alevok - day 11, she is flying pretty fast to the glove... the entire distance of my flat... she seems willing to do just about anything for some pigeon

Seems nearly ready to move on to longer distances outdoors...

Deffinitly a smart bird that is very aware and curious about everything going on around her...

wow very good, lucky you have fast learner bird, your affords are paying back, update me when you take her to hunt.

**Warrior** · 05-25-2004, 12:40 AM

This thread got butchered form the server loss last week - check your PM alevok

**Elliot** · 05-25-2004, 04:01 PM

intresting thread.. bump it up before it gets lost..

**Warrior** · 05-26-2004, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by Elliot

intresting thread.. bump it up before it gets lost..

It pretty much already is lost - like if you look on the page where you view all the threads, it says there are 56 posts. But including this one - only 27 remain.

But I can't let it die without the photos of her biting through the rabbits head and then afterwards - licking her chops... priceless!

alevok · 05-26-2004, 05:05 AM

hey bro I just checked the link, great site, eventually it will grow.
How is your bird doing? Did you take her to hunt?

**Warrior** · 05-26-2004, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by alevok

hey bro I just checked the link, great site, eventually it will grow.
How is your bird doing? Did you take her to hunt?

Aside form some quarry I get at the market... no. She went to the doc last week to treat a wound from the jesses on her "right hand" - she does everything with that hand

It healed up great - but now she has bandages with Vitamin E to loosen up some calluses on the bottom of her feet. The doc said that in 7 days they should peel right off.

The Doc also advised, no flying until she has finished dropping her wings. I don't like this because she needs exercise... and in the wild she wouldn't stop flying for a month or so... she has to hunt. What you think? She has dropped about 4 primaries so far...

Much of the training has been to help her learn to follow on. I am trying to get her to follow me by ignoring her when she flys toward me while I walk away from her (not raising the glove or anything) and then call her back to the fist after she perched elsewhere... not sure if following on is normally taught to longwings - but I like the results of such training...

I have been training with her for quite some time and it is really showing lately - she is very eager to see me (getting vocal and like she wants to be held) and allowing me to easily pick at her beak and head to clean her up. Doing really well...