Falconry, once the sport of kings is "the taking of wild quarry in it's natural state and habitat by the means of a trained raptor".


Hi I'm Terry, I'm 25 years old and live in Surrey. I am a self employed removals man, but my passion lies in falconry. When I have enough experience I hope to one day earn my keep from my interest, so that I can fly these birds as much as possible. After much research I am about to embark on the practicalities of falconry, please join me along my way.



I have had an interest in Hawks since childhood, over the years this has grown to an extreme. Having recently been given the long awaited opportunity to train a bird of prey I have decided to document my venture to others interested in the skilful art of falconry. All going to plan in a couple of weeks I will be taking on a Harris Hawk as my first bird. I will let you know the ins, the outs, the highs, the lows, the joys and the pitfalls, of the patient time consuming art.


Harris Hawk

Harris Hawk

The History of Falconry

Falconry, said to be the oldest sport in the world is: the training of birds of prey to chase and kill wild quarry (prey) for the falconer (trainer). Birds of prey include raptors and owls. The word 'raptor' comes from the Latin word meaning 'to seize'. There are 290 species of raptor throughout the world and they can be divided into eight different groups: buzzards, eagles, falcons, harriers, hawks, kites, osprey and vultures. There are also over 160 species of owl.

Falconry is believed to have begun in China as early as 2000BC. In Japan, Persia, India and other Asian countries it begun to develop around 600BC. More famously, some of the oldest Egyptian wall paintings feature an array of birds of prey.







The Romans brought Falconry to Europe and it eventually came to England in the second half of the Ninth Century. It's popularity in England really began to grow shortly after the Norman conquest of 1066. At this time, the species of raptor a person owned marked their status within society. A King would carry a Gyr Falcon, an Earl a Peregrine Falcon, a Yeoman a Goshwak, a Priest a Sparrowhawk, and a Servant a Kestrel. The Knights of the Middle Ages were permitted to fly Saker Falcons, a senior Squire would carry a Lanner Falcon, and a younger Squire a Hobby. In this period trained raptors were highly valuable and often used for ransoms, fines and rent. Falconry was taken so seriously that the penalties for stealing a bird were extremely severe. During the reign of Edward III, the theft of a raptor was punished by death. A Law passed by Henry VII, declared anyone who stole a bird from a nest or another person would be sentenced to one year and one day of imprisonment.



                 A Peregrine Falcon- 'falco peregrineus'

Many of these customs have been lost in time, however falconry is still widely practised using many of the original methods and techniques, such as leathercraft, fieldcraft and butchery. Birds are now bred in captivity all around the world, rather than taken from the nest, which enables us to acquire many different breeds not known to ancient British falconers. Modern falconry has also seen the production of hybrid falcons (a cross breeding of two different species) this enables a customisation of the bird to it's surroundings, i.e- the speed of a Peregrine teamed with the agility of a Lanner, as different birds of prey will fly better on different terrain. The terrain that is available where I live is most suited to Hawks, and Buzzards. To fly a bird such as an Eagle you would need a vast area of land, with an abundance of thermals, the hills of Scotland would be perfect. Although I will mainly be documenting the Harris Hawk I have interest in all Birds of Prey and the blog will also document my many trips around the country to different Bird of Prey events.




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