Falconry is one of the oldest sports in the world. Falconry is the training of falcons to chase and kill the prey for the falconer. The basic principle of falconry is to use the natural hunting skills of the falcons for the falconer's purposes. The falconers catch falcons from the wild or the captive bred ones. They are made familiar to human presence, teaching them how to feed from the falconer's gloves, ways to chase the artificial prey called lures. Thus they are taught to chase and capture wild prey and returning to the falconer.

Here the normal prey-predator relationship of killing and being killed takes place but in the presence of human beings!

There are 61 species of falcons.

Smallest : African pygmy falcon
Largest : Gyr falcon

Others

Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolis
Lanner falcon Falco biarmicus
Merlin Falco columbarius
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus
Saker falcon Falco cherrug
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
AplomadoFalcon Falco femoralis
Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus
Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides
European Hobby Falco subbuteo

Peregrine falcon (Peregrine means a wanderer or traveler). Diving peregrines move at a speed greater than 200 mph, making them the fastest birds in the world.

Peregrine Falcons were listed as endangered in 1970 but were removed from the endangered species list in 1999 as a result of major captive breeding programs.

The female falcon is called the falcon; the male is called the tercel (from the German word terzel, which means one-third, since the male is roughly one-third the size of the female).


The art of falconry was believed to have established in the Middle and Far East by 2000 BC. It is now widely practiced in England, Germany, USA, Canada and UAE. The best wild falcons come from Pakistan , Iran and Yemen.

Time Scale

Country Period (BC/AC)
Assyria 700 BC
China 680 BC
Japan 720 AD
Mediterranean 400 AD
Germany 600 AD
Western Europe & England 875 AD

The period of 500 A.D. to 1600 A.D. saw the peak of interest in falconry. It is said that the first falconer was a king of Persia , who watched a wild falcon take a passing bird. He was captivated by the grace and beauty of the bird and ordered his men to capture the raptor. According to tradition, the king kept the bird at his side at all times and learned many good lessons from the bird, perhaps most importantly changing from a violent king to a wiser, calmer ruler.

The Golden Age of falconry ended several centuries ago. With the discovery of firearms falconry started declining in popularity. However in many countries in the Middle East and parts of Asia falconry remains a popular sport.

Today captive bred falcons are used for hunting birds. Captive breeding programmes have resulted in a variety of falcon hybrids.

and now

The 3 best falcons for Falconry


GYR


Peregrine


Saker

some pictures

a suberb GYR female


a peregrine takes the bait


my favourite, the magnificent and loyal Saker. The best falcon for desert hunting

a saker takes off


Immature peregrine under training


the regal gyr

the Saker. Man, if this thing was a human, I would have had sex with it by now


A hooded Peregrine,


The largest falcon, GYR

the prey. A Houbara bustard or Tilore



The reward

Interested in Falconry, this is what you need to start:


Gloves
Western Styled leather gloves which are used for carrying a falcon on the arm


Mangalah
These are Gloves used to carry the falcon. It protects the hand of the trainer from the falcon's sharp claws (talons).


Al Burga or the hood is a piece of decorated leather used as a mask which is placed over the falcon’s head to cover the eyes. This is to prevent the falcon from seeing so it won’t be scared and make vigorous moves.


Tilwah
Wings of a houbara tied to a string and used for training the falcon.


Waker
This is the falcon’s perch, where they settle on. It is a long, ornamented, upright wooden stand, on top of which lies a flat padded surface for the falcons sharp claws to rest on.


Mirsal
Another type of Mirsal, this is also a leather string which ties the falcon on its chair or on the Mangalah.

eyes look big compared to body (proportion looks off)
best looking falcon to me

so what happens if it flies away?

great....

so can u train falcons to attack the enemy in a war??
just wondering hehe...could give them a big big surprise..

"o bhain chod PAF falcons" hahaha

Beautiful birds. My favorite. I've heard when they dive down to attack prey they can break 200km/h!!! I read this from a book but Paguma since your the animal expert here is that true. IF it is then wow....its one of Allahs miracles.

a little off topic.. but anyone here into "kabootar flying"??thats a pretty cool game too...

WOW Talons!!

bonded claws....make me saD...

Beautiful creatures
BTW paguma,,,,u said that u get these from pak,,,,just wonderin how much do they cost.
Saker looks really beautiful,,,and peregerine is really a bird to be marvled at.

Thanks for the info Paguma..Yaar but I hear theres a massive illegal trade on these falcons in Pakistan. A frikkin shame.

What breeds of Falcons are most common to Pakistan???

raptors are divided into different categories:

Vultures (Gidh in urdu)
Eagles (Ooqab in urdu)
Osprey (a fish hawk)
Hawks (Bazz)
Kites (Cheel)
Harriers
Falcons

Here mamoo, all of them at one place. Excellent source

http://edu.iucnp.org/newbirds/cont.htm

Falcons are truelly my favourite animals, their soo beautiful, and sharp looking... I've seen lots of Falconers in Qatar, and QEAF Qatari Pilots also have Falcons, and they show them off in Sheraton Hotel. Besides, even the QEAF Insignia has an Big Fat Eagle (Oqaab)

This is cruelty on animals. I dont understand how human beings can kill animals for entertainment. Then, we become no different than the barbarians

Sorry, I dont mean to be rude here