List of Illustrations 7
Preface 12
Foreword 14
1 - Structure and Function 16
1.1 Introduction 17
1.2 The skeleton 18
1.3 The senses 21
1.4 The digestive system 24
1.5 The respiratory system 26
1.6 The urinogenital system 28
1.7 The blood system, the lymphatic system,
and the nervous system 29
1.8 The wing structure 31
1.9 The tail structure 34
1.10 Feather structure 34
1.11 Feather maintenance 36
1.12 Feather growth 38
1.13 Wing shape, aspect ratio, dihedral, and
tail variation 40
1.14 Variations between juveniles and
adults 44
1.15 Gliding and soaring 45
1.16 Powered flight 48
1.17 The foot structure 52
1.18 Sexual dimorphism and variations with
lifestyle 56
2 - Managing a Breeding Program 58
2.1 The process of domestication 59
2.2 The genetic assessment of pairs 60
2.3 The genetic compatibility of pairings 63
2.4 Selection of breeding stock: physical
assessment 63
2.5 Performance assessment 67
2.6 Mental suitability for breeding 67
2.7 Breeding facilities for natural pairs 71
2.8 Breeding facilities for imprints 73
2.9 Incubator and broody rooms 74
2.10 Food supply, storage, vitamins, and
food-borne diseases 76
2.11 The program in winter 78
2.12 The program in spring 79
2.13 Obtaining semen: voluntary donors,
stripping, and electro-ejaculation 80
2.14 Handling and assessing semen quality 84
2.15 Storing and transporting semen 88
2.16 When to inseminate 88
2.17 How to inseminate 89
2.18 Variations in fertility 91
2.19 Laying 92
2.20 Incubation 94
2.21 The structure of the egg 95
2.22 The development of the embryo 96
2.23 The temperature of the egg 97
2.24 The turning of the egg 99
2.25 The gas exchange of the egg 100
2.26 The weight loss of the egg 100
2.27 The hatch 101
2.28 Rearing to seven days 104
2.29 Methods of identification 107
2.30 Systems of rearing the older chick 109
2.31 Finding the right homes for the young
stock 109
2.32 Maintaining breeding records 110
3 - Equipment and Facilities 112
3.1 Obtaining good equipment 113
3.2 Anklets and jesses 113
3.3 Swivels 115
3.4 Leashes 115
3.5 Bells 118
3.6 The tail sheathe and taping 121
3.7 Gloves 122
3.8 Hoods 123
3.9 Telemetry 124
3.10 Field equipment 128
3.11 Perches 169
3.12 Night quarters and temp. quarters 171
3.13 Daily records, routine and hygiene 174
4 - Development and Behavior 176
4.1 Physical development 177
4.2 The components of behavior 178
4.3 Inherited behavior 179
4.4 Individual temperaments 180
4.5 Biological urges and drives 181
4.6 Memory 181
4.7 Imprinted behavior 181
4.8 Imprinting on parent 182
4.9 Imprinting on siblings 183
4.10 Development of the fear response 183
4.11 Imprinting on future sexual partner 183
4.12 Environmental imprinting 184
4.13 Practical aspects of imprinting 184
4.14 De-imprinting 187
4.15 Learned behavior 188
4.16 Habituation 188
4.17 Conditioned learning 189
4.18 Trauma learning 193
4.19 Insight learning 193
4.20 Experience 194
4.21 Mental maturation and the orientation
toward quarry 194
5 - Training and Conditioning 196
5.1 The training program 197
5.2 The wild hack 198
5.3 Imprinting and the tame hack 200
5.4 Kitting out and taking in hand 201
5.5 Manning and basic training 203
5.6 Motivation 208
5.7 Physical condition 210
5.8 The components of weight 212
5.9 Energy losses 213
5.10 Energy gains 219
5.11 Enseaming or preparing the stomach 220
5.12 Appetite and weight control 222
5.13 Symptoms of high and low condition 223
5.14 Factors which can mask condition 224
5.15 Fitness training 225
5.16 Lures and lure theory 229
5.17 Training for pursuit flights 232
5.16 Lures and lure theory 229
5.17 Training for pursuit flights 232
5.18 Teaching a falcon to wait on 237
5.19 Entering 241
5.20 The diagnosis and treatment of vices 242
5.21 Carrying quarry 242
5.22 Hoodshyness 244
5.23 Aggression and screaming 246
5.24 Bad practices 247
6 - Hunting Strategies of Wild Raptors 252
6.1 The components of the hunt 253
6.2 Still-hunting 254
6.3 The fast contour-hugging flight
6.4 High searching 256
6.5 Slow quartering 257
6.6 Stalking 258
6.7 Listening 259
6.8 Flushing from cover 259
6.9 False attack 259
6.10 Attack strategies: the direct flying
attack 260
6.11 The indirect flying attack 262
6.12 The tail-chase 264
6.13 Glide attack 266
6.14 The drop, the dive, and the stoop 268
6.15 Deception flights 271
6.16 Hunting in groups 272
6.17 The ways in which experienced raptors
hunt 272
7 - Hawking in the Field 275
7.1 Introduction 275
7.2 The hawking year 276
7.3 What the hawks can do 278
7.4 What the quarry can do 279
7.5 Hawking grounds and quarry
populations 281
7.6 Rabbit hawking 283
7.7 Hare hawking 285
7.8 Mixed game in hedges and farmland 286
7.9 Waiting-on flights with falcons 290
7.10 Pursuit flights with falcons 298
7.11 Field meets 305
7.12 Hawking dogs 307
8 - Raptors and Man
8.1 The international contribution of falconers
to raptor conservation and welfare 313
8.2 The ethics of rehabilitation 315
8.3 The effects of falconry on wild raptor
populations 319
8.4 The ethics of hybrids 321
8.5 The past and future of domestic
breeding 323
8.6 Breeding for conservation and gene
banks 330
8.7 Lawyers, politicians and civil servants 334
8.8 Antifalconry issues 335
8.9 Sky trials and bagged game 341
8.10 Falconry as a green field sport 343
8.11 Ways to learn falconry and hawk-
keeping 345
8.12 The philosophy of the falconer 347
Appendix 1 351
Appendix 2 354
Appendix 3 358
Further Reading 363
Index 368 |
