Today, we learned about birds of prey from our new friend, Bob Edwards. Bob is a falconer. A falconer is a person who trains birds to hunt for food.
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Falconry is an old sport. During Shakespeare’s time, hunting with birds helped provide meat for the table.
Some of the sayings we use today come from falconry. Did you know that the saying “hoodwinked” comes from the little hood put over a falcon’s eyes before a flight?
Bob showed us how his bird named Lady finds food. He swung a little pouch in the air. This was a target for her to hit. The pouch is about the same size of an animal Lady would hunt for. Lady saw the pouch and swooped down to hit the target. It was an amazing sight.
Bob even gave us a chance to let his hawks land on our hands. These hawks were named Richard and Tweed.
I wore a special glove called a gauntlet to protect my arm from the hawks’ sharp talons. As soon as Richard saw that I was holding a tasty treat for him he would fly over and perch on my arm to get his snack. The treat was a raw chicken leg.
Today was very special for me because my great-grandparents’ last name is Faulkner. That means falconer. Learning about falconry reminded me of my family’s history. How much do you know about your family's history?
Up, Up, and Away,
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Part 1: History of Falconry, and Meeting the Birds |
Part 2: |
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