Find the government department with jurisdiction over falconry licensing in your state at https://www. fws. gov/offices/statelinks. html. To find a licensed falconer, search online for your state’s falconry organization. In the U. S. , apprentices are usually only allowed to own and train red-tailed hawks or American kestrels. After your 2-year apprenticeship, you’ll be able to obtain a general falconer’s license and keep falcons.
Spend as much time as possible with your bird during the acclimation period so it becomes used to your presence. When exposing it to new stimuli, observe its behavior. If it freezes or appears agitated, place the hood over its head to calm it. When it’s not hooded, look for signs that your falcon is starting to relax, such as pruning or bathing. During the manning process, tether your bird on a short creance, which is like a leash for raptors. Your mentor, or the falconer you’re apprenticing with, can guide you through manning and show you how to handle and hood your bird.
Allow your hawk or falcon to step onto you glove and eat. Continue practicing for about 30 minutes so it gets comfortable eating in front of you. As it steps up reliably, try asking it come to your glove from gradually greater distances. Never take away food from your bird, especially when you’re first training it to come to your glove. Your bird will think you’re stealing from it and lose trust in you.
Some falconers continue to feed their birds on the glove. However, if you’re training your hawk or falcon for hunting, teaching it to associate your glove with food could make the bird dependent on you. Tossing food onto the floor teaches the bird that your arm is a good place from which to hunt, not that your arm is where it gets a handout.
You should be ready to begin lure training within the first few days of bringing home your bird. The bird will be ready once it starts to trust you and exhibits calm behavior, such as preening.
The small pieces of meat should help encourage it to attack the lure. The part of the lure that looks like a prey animal is attached to a stick by a long string. Shake the stick to make the lure wiggle; don’t hold the lure itself in your hands.
Remember to call your bird to the glove after it attacks the lure. That way, when you’re on the hunt, it’ll be trained to withdraw after it’s caught prey.
Baiting the lure gets the bird’s attention in the beginning stages. Once it knows to attack the lure, teach it that it’ll be rewarded if it withdraws from the prey it catches and goes to your glove.
Remember to call your bird to your glove and reward it with a small piece of raw meat after it attacks the lure.
Depending on your bird’s temperament, it should be ready for its first free flight after 1 to 3 weeks of training.
Your bird will bind to the lure or food with its talons and brings it to the ground. When it does so, call it back to your gloved arm and toss a small piece of meat onto the ground to reward it. Some falconers even use drones to train their birds. This method of training is especially helpful if you’re hunting quail or duck. It’ll help expand your bird’s range and get it used to aerial hunting.
