How can I buy a falcon Please Help?

Question

I want to buy a falcon or get a falcon but I do not know how and I live in california Please Help?

Answer 1

Sorry, you cannot buy a falcon..it is illegal to own ANY native bird species if you live ANYWHERE in the USA.  All wild native birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  Having one in your possession can get you heavily fined or jailed.  Licensed educational facilities (zoos, nature centers, etc.), wildlife rehabilitators and falconers can possess them legally.  Falconers keep working birds..they are NOT pets. Unless you want to study to be a falconer, you are out of luck.

Answer 2

It's not uncommon to see books in which the main characters own "cool" pets like falcons, but it actually takes a lot to be able to keep such a bird. You will need both state and federal licenses to become a falconer. In order to acquire those licenses, you need to be able to pass a written test, to have all the facilities for keeping the bird already set up and to have them pass inspection, and you will need to serve as an apprentice to an experienced falconer for at least two years.

Falconry is the ONLY legal way for a person to own a falcon--if you aren't a falconer and don't have the licenses for it, any raptor you do obtain will be confiscated, and you will be fined and possibly given jail time. If you don't want to be a falconer, you're out of luck.

Answer 3

Courtesy of Steve Jones:

These resources will help get you off the ground.

americanfalconry.com

falconryacademy.com

n-a-f-a.org

Answer 4

get one from a zoo if they let you  

Answer 5

I am aware that you stated that you do not want to be a falconer, or get into falconry, but that is the only way you can legally posess a falcon.  You can't buy one either--that would not be permitted, unless you want to buy one illegally from a poacher, which can sell a peregrine for up to 40,000$.

Here some information on ATTAINING A LICENSE:

You do need a liscence to keep the falcons, and a liscense to hunt with them too. For example, if you are going to have a red-tailed hawk, and hunt rabbits with them, you will need to take a hunting course on gun safety and what not (even though you won't be using rifles), and then get a liscense for hunting small game. Then you will also need a liscense for the birds you will hunt with, and if you are breeding them, you need a liscense for that as well.

To get the liscense comes last among several steps. If you are interested in falconry, you can't just jump to the birds. You need to do some research. Here are a few books that will come in handy:

The Falconer's Apprentice

California Hawking Club Apprentice Study Guide

North American Falconry and Hunting Hawks

The American Kestrel in Modern Falconry

Falconry and Hawking

Avian Medicine

Guidelines to captive raptors

And you can get all of these books off of Falconrybooks.com

Websites that are handy:

www.apprenticefalconry.com

www.themodernapprentice.com

After studying for the state-issued, province-issued, or whatever you have where you live, exam, you need to take it. I know that in the U.S. you need a score of at least 80% to pass, and if you don't pass, then you can re-take it in 15 days.

After you pass the exam, you should find a sponsor to assist you. The sponsor will help you prepare for the inspection--yes, there is an inspection. The inspection will consist of several aspects: They will inspect your mews, weathering areas, leashes, jesses, hoods, cadges, creances, and traps, and several other items used in falconry.

After you pass the exam, and the inspection, you can begin to assist your sponsor. When trapping season begins, you can trap your first bird--it has to be a passager (meaning one year old) and of the species American Kestrel or Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Goshawk if you live in Alaska, or a Red-shouldered Hawk if you live in Florida.

You get your liscense from your local Fish and Wildlife Center; but you need a state liscense as well as a country liscense.

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Here's some information on GENERAL FALCONRY:

Some species of birds are easier tamed than others. The American or the European Kestrel,for example, are easiest tamed; a lot of books recommend not even using hoods for these small birds. Other birds, such as the ferruginous hawk or the red-tailed hawk are harder to tame because of their large stature.

When training one of these birds of prey, you first use a creance. A creance is a long cord, usually around 30 ft in length depending on the species. It is the equivilent of a large leash, I suppose. However, when you use the creance, have is fastened to something on your person--your gauntlet (your glove), your hawking bag--something--so that if the bird exceeds the length of the creance it will not fly away. The creance is used when training your bird to fly to the lure.

Many-a-bird have been lost in falconry. A falconer I recently met told me how her first kestrel was chased off by a larger cooper's hawk--it was most surely killed and eaten by this cooper's hawk. Such incidents are common in the world of falconry.

When you fly your bird, you attach a transmitter to the bird's leg or tail. This will help you if the bird is lost in tracking it down. My falconer friend demonstrated this to me.

Some books I recommend on falconry:

North American Falconry and Hunting Hawks by Webster and Beebe

California Hawking Club Apprentice Study Guide by the CHC

The Falconer's Apprentice by William Oakes

Care and Management of Captive raptors by L Arent

Avian Medicine by Jaime Samour

Falconry and Hawking by Phillip Glasier

Some websites:

www.falconrybooks.com

www.themodernapprentice.com

www.apprenticefalconry.com

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Best of luck,

Phoenix