The History of Falconry

According to historical records birds of prey, especially falcons, have been used by man for hunting since ancient times. As early as circa 400 B.C. the Indians trained these birds, especially saker falcons, and there is an account of falcons being used for hunting by the men of Thrace in the year 75 A.D. Falconry in Rome dates from 480 A.D. The new sport soon became widespread and even Church dignitaries began to show an interest in it. About 800 A.D. Charlemagne issued a decree pertaining to trained hawks and falcons, and the following excerpt shows the high regard in which these birds were held: 'Whoever steals or traps a goshawk that hunts cranes must return same plus six shillings, and three shillings for a falcon that catches birds on the wing. Whoever steals or kills a sparrow hawk or other bird of prey borne on the wrist, must replace it in kind and pay one shilling'. At the courts of emperors, kings and feudal lords, countless falconers were employed, and many a chief falconer was raised to the ranks of the nobility for his services. In many countries, there were schools of falconry that gained a worldwide reputation. Falcons trained there were often more highly prized than gold or other treasures, as the following example indicates. At the Battle of Nicopolis, in 1396, the Turkish Sultan Baiasid I captured the Duke of Nevers and many other nobles, refusing to accept ransom of any kind. However, when the Duke of Burgundy, the father of the Duke of Nevers, sent a gift of twelve white falcons, the Sultan released all his French prisoners. Many rulers issued strict laws for the protection of birds of prey. Thus, Edward III of England even made the theft of a goshawk punishable by death, and the sentence for anyone who stole the eggs from a goshawk's nest was imprisonment for a year and a day. At that time goshawks still nested in England, but today nesting birds are no longer found there. In other countries, too, maximum punishments were laid down by law for the protection of falcons. In Iceland, for example, until 1752 the punishment for killing a falcon was death. Falconer's guilds and schools of falconry thrived. Falken-werth in Flanders, as its name suggests, was a centre of falconry which maintained a considerable reputation for centuries. Its falconers journeyed to Norway and Iceland in search of white falcons, but in Iceland, only the local inhabitants were allowed to hunt these birds, and, even then, only by special permit. All captured birds had to be delivered to the 'grand' falconer of the King of Denmark. The Dutch, too, famous for their mastery in catching and training falcons, played an important part in the history of falconry and Charles V founded a falconers' guild in Holland in 1539. The white falcon of Iceland, Norway and northern Siberia was a very highly valued bird. It was generally shipped by boat from Iceland to Copenhagen, being fed en route with the flesh of rams, taken aboard especially for this purpose. Russia, too, had its schools of falconry. In the fourteenth century, when this sport became very widespread, falconers journeyed as far as the Pechora River and Novaya Zemlya to hunt falcons. In the sixteenth century, the annual catch often comprised about a hundred of these birds, many of which served as diplomatic gifts. Regular shipments of hunting birds were sent to England, Poland, Denmark, Turkey, the Crimea and Persia. The Shahs of Persia considered hunting falcons as gifts of such great value that, in return, they often promised to provide Russian princes with military aid against their adversaries. Records of falconry in the Orient, dating back even further in time than those in Europe, are worthy of note. In fact, falconry probably had its origins in Asia, for falconers are known to have existed more than 3,600 years ago in Babylonia, as shown by sculptured reliefs at the ruins of Chorsabad. In China, falconry was known as early as 2,205 B.C. The sport was also very popular in Persia where, in the year 1681, the Shah had at his court more than eight hundred falcons trained to hunt geese, cranes and herons, as well as foxes, antelopes and wild boars. The Mongols, Kirghizes and Bashkirs even trained the golden eagle and lesser spotted eagle to hunt foxes and wolves, and hunting on horseback with large eagles remains a popular sport of native hunters to this day. In the nineteenth century, the popularity of falconry began to wane, though it continued in England, Holland and to some extent also in France, Germany and Russia. Today England, Holland, Germany and Hungary are the only countries where sportsmen hunt regularly with birds, though in recent years falconry groups or societies have been founded in other parts of Europe as well. Hunting falcons were usually captured from mid-September on, the hunting season lasting for about three weeks. In Holland, for example, during such a period, the falconer and his assistants would catch some twelve to fifteen falcons, generally in trap baskets with live pigeons as bait. Falconers in Iceland concentrated on young, recently fledged birds, since these were best suited for training. Less frequent was the practice of taking birds from the nest, for young falcons that had not yet learned to hunt their own prey were not so easily trained. The equipment used for training falcons consists of a hood to cover the bird's eyes, a short strap, and a long strap measuring about two metres in length, which is fastened to a leather ring around the bird's foot. Some form of decoy and thick leather gauntlets are also required. Firstly the bird has to become accustomed to the trainer who feeds it from his hand. Then the falconer covers the bird's head with the hood, fastens the bird to the short strap and lets it fast for twenty-four hours. He then lifts the bird with his gloved hand, removes the hood and offers it some food. If the bird refuses to eat the procedure is repeated for another twenty-four hours, and if necessary for five days in succession. Even then, the bird is only given food by the falconer, either in the aviary or tied to his hand. After the bird has learned to take the meat from the falconer's hand, it passes to the next step in its training program. The falconer fastens the bird to the long strap, removes the hood and throws a dead pigeon, stuffed crow or similar bait into the air, whereupon the bird flies up after the prey. The falconer allows it to eat a small piece of the 'victim's' flesh, but then it is immediately made to eat meat again from the falconer's hand. This procedure is repeated a number of times, and then the bird is sent after its prey on the long strap and taught to return at the sight of the decoy. The decoy is an egg-shaped object, with a few wing quills attached, and is made so that it can easily be seen from a distance. The decoy is waved above the falconer's head to bring the bird back to him when it is out hunting. On its return, the bird is rewarded with food from the falconer's hand so that it always feels bound to man. The birds most widely used for this purpose were the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), which is found in both grey and white varieties, the white of the species being the most highly valued; the saker falcon (Falco cherrug) of central Europe and the East; the peregrine falcon (Falco Peregrinus), and the lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus) of southern Italy, Sicily, Cyprus, Greece and northwest Africa. Of the smaller species, the hobby (Falco subbuteo) and merlin (Falco columbarius) were most popular with ladies of the court. Catherine, Empress of Russia, had a great number of merlins trained to hunt. In the Orient other members of the falcon tribe were used for this purpose: namely the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and the smaller sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisus). The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) were particularly favoured in eastern countries. To prevent further decimation of rare birds of prey only those birds 'like the goshawk, which are still found in relative abundance, should be used for this sport.