# Birds of prey cost



## waterdragon555

In the future,i am going to start falconry (hopefully).I know that it will cost me alot with all the jesses and glove ect. and also aviary building and vets.But I am not to sure how much a bird would cost me in my book that i have says the can cost £200-£2000 but i have seen some birds lower.Please could i have a better idea on how much they would be from some one who has a hawk or falcon them selves.More the prices of falcons and hawks not too much eagles or owls.


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## miss_ferret

your going to need to be a bit more specific, what species are you looking at? for example, harrises (sp?) generally cost less than red tails, and certainly less than goshawks. the different falcon hybrids can also vary dramatically in price, and theirs a huge difference in the price of, say, a kestrel and a gyr. 

for general prices, have a look on here: Birds For Sale - Falconry Forum (IFF)

and here: Bird Mart

alongside birdtader and so on, but consider that birdtrader is the BOP equivalent of preloved :whistling2:


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## Scoffa

As a beginner your first bird should be an un-trained bird of the year and either a common buzzard, redtailed buzzard, or harris hawk. A male harris will be between £150 -£300, a female £250 - £400. A common buzzard £100 - £250. A male red £250 - £350, a female £350 - £450.


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## Scoffa

Falconry is a fairly a expensive hobby. You will need a good dog, which would be best trained before the bird arrives as would a couple of ferrets, all these need feeding/worming etc. Another major expense would be telemetry.


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## waterdragon555

Scoffa said:


> As a beginner your first bird should be an un-trained bird of the year and either a common buzzard, redtailed buzzard, or harris hawk. A male harris will be between £150 -£300, a female £250 - £400. A common buzzard £100 - £250. A male red £250 - £350, a female £350 - £450.


Yeah i was going to get a buzzard as i have heard they are good beginner birds or a harris hawk or kestrel.Thanks for them prices.



Scoffa said:


> Falconry is a fairly a expensive hobby. You will need a *good dog*, which would be best trained before the bird arrives as would a couple of ferrets, all these need feeding/worming etc. Another major expense would be telemetry.


 I am allergic to dogs.Do you *need* them for falconry or what? I am fine with ferret it's just dogs.


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## waterdragon555

miss_ferret said:


> your going to need to be a bit more specific, what species are you looking at? for example, harrises (sp?) generally cost less than red tails, and certainly less than goshawks. the different falcon hybrids can also vary dramatically in price, and theirs a huge difference in the price of, say, a kestrel and a gyr.
> 
> for general prices, have a look on here: Birds For Sale - Falconry Forum (IFF)
> 
> and here: Bird Mart
> 
> alongside birdtader and so on, but consider that birdtrader is the BOP equivalent of preloved :whistling2:


There is alot of imprinted birds there.I have heard if they are imprinted the make a lot of noise and will not shut up:lol2: or is that just harris hawks?


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## Scoffa

The kestral is too small a bird to begin with. The dog will help you and the bird find prey above ground whilst the ferrets can be sent into burrows to flush rabbits from under ground. Some Harris' scream at the falconer for food but this should be avoided as a bird that screams will scare away the prey wou are trying to hunt. Stay away from imprints until you understand the imprinting process. Don't buy a trained bird as you won't know if it's trained properly.


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## ReptileRoss

If you're serious about getting into falconry, I'd really recommend finding a mentor or centre to volunteer/work at, in my experience, it's the best way to learn more and progress.

You don't need ferrets or dogs unless you're specifically looking to hunt, and even then, they're not a complete necessity.

Generally, imprints will be very noisy. As has been said, a kestrel really isn't a good idea as a first bird just because there's so little margin for error with weight management.


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## Scoffa

I prefer to train my birds to hunt, that way if the bird is lost it will fend for itself and not starve to death. Having the dog/ferrets will improve your chances of catching quarry.


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## ReptileRoss

Scoffa said:


> I prefer to train my birds to hunt, that way if the bird is lost it will fend for itself and not starve to death. Having the dog/ferrets will improve your chances of catching quarry.


Fair enough, my point was that they can still be taught to hunt, and be hunted, without dogs/ferrets, although with them, as you say, you might have a better chance of catching quarry.


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## Scoffa

Wasn't having a dig at your post RR, just putting my methods across. The prefered style of hunting for a broadwing is to sit above an animal track and wait for an animal to come passed - this would take hours before the bird to move, so the falconer speeds things up by flushing game and getting the bird to follow on. The dog comes into play by providing a good sense of smell. The ferrets provide a back up.


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## ReptileRoss

Scoffa said:


> Wasn't having a dig at your post RR, just putting my methods across. The prefered style of hunting for a broadwing is to sit above an animal track and wait for an animal to come passed - this would take hours before the bird to move, so the falconer speeds things up by flushing game and getting the bird to follow on. The dog comes into play by providing a good sense of smell. The ferrets provide a back up.


No problem, I didn't take it as one at all :2thumb: Always interesting to hear other people's techniques! That does sound like it would help a lot with hunting!


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## 123dragon

i understand why you do it ect but if you said you want your birds to learn how to hunt incase they get away, are they not better learning how to hunt with out a dog to help them ?


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## Scoffa

123dragon said:


> i understand why you do it ect but if you said you want your birds to learn how to hunt incase they get away, are they not better learning how to hunt with out a dog to help them ?


Possibly, but the falconer doesn't want to lose the bird.Because the bird is non imprint it only stays with the falconer for food, it only returns to the glove for food. When the bird is first trained it has a tendency to want to go off and self hunt, but before that happens the bird realises that the dog and falconer are a great help in finding quarry.


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## waterdragon555

ReptileRoss said:


> If you're serious about getting into falconry, I'd really recommend finding a mentor or centre to volunteer/work at, in my experience, it's the best way to learn more and progress.
> 
> You don't need ferrets or dogs unless you're specifically looking to hunt, and even then, they're not a complete necessity.
> 
> Generally, imprints will be very noisy. As has been said, a kestrel really isn't a good idea as a first bird just because there's so little margin for error with weight management.


Thanks for the help and i am glad you don't need dogs to do falconry. Also i am going to be doing another falconry course to do with making gloves and how to look after a bird of prey.


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## ReptileRoss

waterdragon555 said:


> Thanks for the help and i am glad you don't need dogs to do falconry. Also i am going to be doing another falconry course to do with making gloves and how to look after a bird of prey.


That's great! I would still recommend getting a mentor or volunteering at a centre after this as well, it really does help you learn a lot more than most courses can offer.


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## Scoffa

The best way to learn is to spend a year with a good falconer, preferably one who is training a bird that is the same species as you want to fly. Try the falconry forum, there will be a few close to you. Between now and finding a falconer start reading, there's plenty of good books: Falconry art and practice, Training birds of prey, Falconry basics, The Harris Hawk, Falconry and hawking, Understanding the bird of prey, are a few of what Ihave. Understanding the bird of prey by Nick Fox also has a set of Dvd's that can be bought seperately called 'The bird of prey management series'.


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## waterdragon555

Scoffa said:


> The best way to learn is to spend a year with a good falconer, preferably one who is training a bird that is the same species as you want to fly. Try the falconry forum, there will be a few close to you. Between now and finding a falconer start reading, there's plenty of good books: Falconry art and practice, Training birds of prey, Falconry basics, The Harris Hawk, Falconry and hawking, Understanding the bird of prey, are a few of what Ihave. Understanding the bird of prey by Nick Fox also has a set of Dvd's that can be bought seperately called 'The bird of prey management series'.


I got a book for christmas and I have not stop reading.Also to join the falconry forum don't you have to have a bird of prey?


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## ReptileRoss

waterdragon555 said:


> I got a book for christmas and I have not stop reading.Also to join the falconry forum don't you have to have a bird of prey?


Nope, you don't need a bird of prey to join. Books are great, but in my opinion nothing beats hands on experience!


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## Scoffa

ReptileRoss said:


> Books are great, but in my opinion nothing beats hands on experience!


Totally agree. I would also say that a weeks falconry course is not enough to prepare for a first bird. After reading loads of books I realised that they all spoke about weight reduction to help the bird et motivated. I trained my first bird successfully without a course or mentor. I found the dog harder to train than the bird.


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## waterdragon555

ReptileRoss said:


> Nope, you don't need a bird of prey to join. Books are great, but in my opinion nothing beats hands on experience!


Ok I shall join some time soon.Thanks and this book that I have got is amazing.I have learnt loads.I didn't know you had to weigh the birds so if i just bought one i could kill it buy over feeding.



Scoffa said:


> Totally agree. I would also say that a weeks falconry course is not enough to prepare for a first bird. After reading loads of books I realised that they all spoke about weight reduction to help the bird et motivated. I trained my first bird successfully without a course or mentor. I found the dog harder to train than the bird.


My first course I went on I didn't learn much but I am using book and courses and I am going to be hopefully doing one in april.


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## waterdragon555

Ohh yeah btw one question.What bells are better lahore bells or acorn bells as I don't know if there is any differnce or what.

This is were i am getting them from btw: IAN VANCE falconryequipment.com


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## Scoffa

What book are you reading? I prefer Noble bells, and 2 small bells mounted together will make more noise than 1 big 1. When you get your first bird it should be fresh out of the breeders pen and therefore overweight, some of this weight will have to come off before the bird will respond. You must keep a record of the birds weight, how much exercise it has done, weight of food eaten. At the same time each day weigh the bird, weigh it's food, man it or fly it (depending on what stage of training you are at), feed it and write down how it behaved (was it's response instant or did it sit in a tree for an hour). The next day when you weigh the bird has it put weight on or lost it? If it didn't respond very well and it's weight has increased, reduce the amount of food.


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## waterdragon555

Scoffa said:


> What book are you reading? I prefer Noble bells, and 2 small bells mounted together will make more noise than 1 big 1. When you get your first bird it should be fresh out of the breeders pen and therefore overweight, some of this weight will have to come off before the bird will respond. You must keep a record of the birds weight, how much exercise it has done, weight of food eaten. At the same time each day weigh the bird, weigh it's food, man it or fly it (depending on what stage of training you are at), feed it and write down how it behaved (was it's response instant or did it sit in a tree for an hour). The next day when you weigh the bird has it put weight on or lost it? If it didn't respond very well and it's weight has increased, reduce the amount of food.


I am reading falconry by Jemima Parry-jones learn lots and I have nearly finished it.Thanks for the info


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## Scoffa

A book entitled 'Falconry basics: A handbook for begginers' by Tony Hall is an excellent first book as he seems to make things more understandable. A couple of tips I will give you and you don't need a bird to practise these, in fact it's best if you peferct them before the bird arrives are - 1. Make sure you can tie and undo the falconers knot without looking at your hand, 2. Carry a pint of water with a gloved hand without spilling it (try doing other things with the empty hands, opening a gate or making a cup of tea.


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## waterdragon555

Scoffa said:


> A book entitled 'Falconry basics: A handbook for begginers' by Tony Hall is an excellent first book as he seems to make things more understandable. A couple of tips I will give you and you don't need a bird to practise these, in fact it's best if you peferct them before the bird arrives are - 1. Make sure you can tie and undo the falconers knot without looking at your hand, 2. Carry a pint of water with a gloved hand without spilling it (try doing other things with the empty hands, opening a gate or making a cup of tea.


Thanks. I have all ready looked into the falconers knot and have printed off step by step intructions and am try to learn it.


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