Falconry : A Guide to Training Birds of Prey

Illustrated with 300 photographs, Falconry provides a photographic introduction to the sport of hawking and falconry today, with details of all the tools and techniques required.

The bond between birds of prey and humans is a primal relationship that has existed for many thousands of years. Working with hunting birds is still integral to many cultures, and falconry is again popular today as humans seek a more meaningful relationship with nature.

The foundations of falconry lie within the bond between falconer and bird, which is rooted in the bird’s natural survival instincts and its feeling safe in that relationship.

Falconry offers the novice falconer a compact, illustrated introduction to the art and practice of falconry. Illustrated with more than 300 images, many of which provide precise step-by-step instructions, the book teaches the enthusiast how to familiarize a bird through ‘manning’ , building a bond with a bird, training with a lure, training using a glove, managing a bird’s diet and weight, hooding, and free flight training, among many other skills and techniques.

Illustrated with 300 photographs that will instruct and inspire, Falconry is a fascinating pictorial celebration of this craft which dates back to as early as 2,000 BC.

Sarah-Jane Manarin has worked with both captive and wild birds of prey for over 20 years and started the award-winning Coda Falconry bird of prey centre in 2012. As well as running educational experience days within the centre, Sarah-Jane founded the Featherwell Foundation charity, which focuses on rescuing and rehabilitating wild and captive birds around the globe. Sarah-Jane shares her knowledge and passion of raptors on a variety of platforms, including performing a Tedx talk on the importance of birds, promoting various women in business programs and sharing the lives of her rehabilitation animals on YouTube.
Kate Harris lives in the South Cambridgeshire countryside, home to fantastic daily aerial displays from red kites, buzzards and kestrels. Stemming from a display at a castle in her childhood, Harris's fascination with birds of prey can be traced back to a single moment of watching a Kestrel hover above a lure. With an interest specifically in owls, her appreciation for these majestic creatures doesn't stop with their physiology and capabilities; rather, their longstanding history as part of a human's daily life.