Falconry Training and Technique - Wild-caught Birds

Wild-caught Birds

A wild bird in juvenile plumage is called a passager, meaning it is under a year old. When a wild bird is used in falconry, passage birds are preferred. Since many of these birds would otherwise die (estimates run from 30-70 percent) within their first year, the taking of juvenile hawks by falconers has no noticeable effect on raptor populations. Baited traps used for hawks are unlike typical hunting traps in that they are specifically designed to avoid harming the hawk.

Birds that are in adult plumage are called haggards and are no longer commonly used in falconry. The reason for this is twofold: first, birds that have matured in the wild are considerably harder to train for return (when released for hunting haggards have a tendency to go off hunting on their own and are easily lost); second, the capture of an adult bird removes a breeding age bird from the local pool of viable adults.

Taking a bird from the wild is illegal in the UK, as is releasing a captive bred bird. In America, trapping or attempting to trap any native species of raptor is a federal crime unless the person doing the trapping is licensed. A falconry permit allows a falconer to trap certain birds at certain times of the year.