Traditional Falconry

Falconry is the hunting of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer (German origin) flies a hawk (Accipiter and some buteos and similar) or an eagle (Aquila or similar). In modern falconry, the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), the Harris’s hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), and the peregrine falcon (Falco perigrinus) are some of the more commonly used birds of prey. The practice of hunting with a conditioned falconry bird is also called “hawking” or “gamehawking”, although the words “hawking” and “hawker” have become used so much to refer to petty traveling traders, that the terms “falconer” and “falconry” now apply to most use of trained birds of prey to catch game. Many contemporary practitioners still use these words in their original meaning, however.In early English falconry literature, the word “falcon” referred to a female falcon only, while the word “hawk” or “hawke” referred to a female hawk. A male hawk or falcon was referred to as a “tiercel” (sometimes spelled “tercel”) as it was roughly one third less than the female in size.