What bird

[TM666]

dont know if this is the right place to post but here goes,as a beginner to falconry what bird /birds would you recomend for myself to start with also is there any diference between the sexes training wise any help appreciated .cheers pete666

[ChakChek]

gunna sound like a parrot but still, id say a Harris Hawk.

this said however, i have heard from a number of falconers and the guy i go out with and they suggested to me (im a beggibner aswell) that you start with a bir dthat is hard to train such as a Common Buzzard. Their reason behind this being, if you start with a harder to train bird, and obviously stop training before thingsg et out of hand if you struggle, things will be that bit simplier in the future.

I personally wouldnt go with this method, just for the record.

[Harrisii]

harris hawk, 100%
they aint ugly, they are beautiful.
they aint boring there dynamic
they aint easy they are willing
whats more, you "can" call yourself a falconer if you train, and enter it, ie: catch quarry with it.

[Kevin Massey]

the truth of this matter........is .....its already been answered if you read the threads the answers are there.... or try search ( its on the blue bar up there^^^)..type in "what bird" or "beginners bird"... there will be a wealth of posts on the subject

[BrianM]

the truth of this matter........is .....its already been answered if you read the threads the answers are there.... or try search ( its on the blue bar up there^^^)..type in "what bird" or "beginners bird"... there will be a wealth of posts on the subject
nuff said

btw wot does TM666 mean

[Out Hunting]

It rearly depends upon your future ambitions. If you want to get into falconry start with a Harris, they are intelligent, quick to learn and are competent hunters. If you want a bird to fly and look pretty but are not bothered to hunt consider an owl, though to be honest if you get an owl you will probably want a Hawk at a later stage.

[TM666]

thanks for that jolly boy should have thought of that one,brian m its an abreviation of a name i use on fieldsport .biz ,out hunting ,its definately got to hunt im not much of a harry potter fan

[Coedhirion]

Don't want to damp your enthusiasm tm666, but the best place to start is to find good falconers who will take you out. Watch different birds fly, hunt if that is what interests you etc. Find out exactly what is involved. It is not just the bird 7 days a week, it is a dog and ferrets and at least one other pair of hands to help control them all plus a few 1,000 acres of hunting land. Or if you get experience you may find you would prefer to fly say a falcon during the summer. It is a big subject, a lot of different bird options,
and NO the Harris is NOT the beginners bird folks it is just the poor BOP that people find hardest to loose and fly badly due to it's "group hunting" in the wild..sorry tm666...down off my soap box...
Go out get loadsa hands on experience with other people, you will know then which bird you want.

[ChakChek]

Don't want to damp your enthusiasm tm666, but the best place to start is to find good falconers who will take you out. Watch different birds fly, hunt if that is what interests you etc. Find out exactly what is involved. It is not just the bird 7 days a week, it is a dog and ferrets and at least one other pair of hands to help control them all plus a few 1,000 acres of hunting land. Or if you get experience you may find you would prefer to fly say a falcon during the summer. It is a big subject, a lot of different bird options,
and NO the Harris is NOT the beginners bird folks it is just the poor BOP that people find hardest to loose and fly badly due to it's "group hunting" in the wild..sorry tm666...down off my soap box...
Go out get loadsa hands on experience with other people, you will know then which bird you want.

sound advice there

[MattSpar]

...down off my soap box...

No, stay there. You're talking sense.

[TM666]

cheers but you can stay on your soap box if you want its much better to hear straight talking than to have it all glossed over and made to look a piece of **** the dogs and ferrets and land are no problem as the tm666 is short for terrierman 666 and i get out on my permission as much as poss,cheers peter666

[Harrisii]

NO the Harris is NOT the beginners bird folks it is just the poor BOP that people find hardest to loose and fly badly due to it's "group hunting" in the wild...

exactly. its not the harris hawk which has done wrong here its people entering the sport and scewing it up. this point is very hard to put accross sometimes.
they are great to start with but are capable of so much and when flown by experianced hands they can really excell. capable of so much but given little chance to prove it.

[Coedhirion]

exactly. its not the harris hawk which has done wrong here its people entering the sport and scewing it up. this point is very hard to put accross sometimes.
they are great to start with but are capable of so much and when flown by experianced hands they can really excell. capable of so much but given little chance to prove it.
Blowin my own trumpet....Mine do. So do my friends.
And for dedication the friend has just spent £760 in vet bills for a FHH owned for 5 years and now despite being given no chance of survival is about to start gentle flying exercise and going outside the house for the first time in 7 weeks. This bird has taken up to 5 rabbits in a day quite often, hare, pheasant and plenty more. 150 head of quarry by this time last year