Al and I went to Burg Landskron near Villach to see their falconry show. It’s an old fortress that’s been turned into a breeding station and research centre for birds of prey. The rough stonewalls of the ruin make a perfect framework for the big aviaries, and what used to be the inner courtyard is now an adlerarena.
It was great to see these magnificent birds gain height in a thermal and soar overhead only to dive down onto the falconer’s lure with incredible speed. Exhilarating. Watch the edited video.
Falconry is outlawed in my home country, Sweden. Exceptions from the prohibition to keep wild animals in captivity are only made for breeding programs aiming to increase wild populations of threatened species. The reason for banning falconry in 1969 was the assumed connection between ailing raptor populations and falconers helping themselves to raptors’ chics and eggs in the wild. In 1976 the number of breeding peregrine couples in Sweden was less than 10, and they only managed to produce 6 fledglings. But the real cause was the use of toxic substances such as DDT in agriculture. DDT accumulates in body fat, which is why it’s so fatal to the big predators at the top of the food chain. A small fish ingests DDT from the algae and plankton it feeds on, and a bigger fish, a perch say, eats a substantial amount of these poisonous small fish before it, in turn, becomes food for a human, or a white-tailed eagle. The poison made the eagles’ eggshells so thin that the birds couldn’t roost without breaking them.
“Not only were the Swedish government mistaken in the cause of the declining raptor populations, but they also spread the misconception that all falconers were egg thieves”
Not only were the Swedish government mistaken in the cause of the declining raptor populations, but they also spread the misconception that all falconers were egg thieves. It’s true that there was a huge black market for eggs as well as captured adult birds, but you don’t achieve much in the way of conservation by stopping real bird enthusiasts from keeping and breeding birds. The criminals tend to carry on anyway, now that people will pay more for a good specimen. As a matter of fact, conservationists learned the art of breeding birds of prey from falconers, but have rarely given that a mention.
Even though I’m principally against keeping birds in cages, I think falconry needs to be revaluated in Sweden. It certainly has a greater purpose than the keeping of pet parrots.
July 4, 2008 at 9:45 pm
40 years ago it was rare indeed to sight an Osprey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey) here on Long Island. My first sighting was in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. Once DDT was banned the Osprey population rebounded. On Long Island’s North Fork, I can now see dozens of birds and their nests.
MadSilence
July 5, 2008 at 8:50 am
I forgot to mention in my post that both the white-tailed eagle and the peregrine have increased in numbers since DDT and PCB were stopped in the 1970’s. And there are still projects going on to support them, especially in the winter time. The hunting association’s slaughterhouses put out their leftovers in fields and on islands within the raptor habitats, which, of course, gives wonderful opportunities to see the birds in the open.
Corone