Falconry: Illegal quarry?

In this falconry video I discuss the topic of prey species that micro-hawking raptors naturally hunt in the wild, but which are protected and illegal to hunt with a trained falconry bird. I discuss the ethics and the question of potential changes with laws, the "let it lay" laws, and the cultural norms we accept as doctrine that should actually be questioned.
This video IS NOT ADVOCATING ILLEGALLY HUNTING PROTECTED SPECIES, but rather it is meant to bring up questions and promote discussion among falconers around the world, birders, lawmakers, and nature lovers. Always be sure you know the falconry and hunting laws in your area before engaging in falconry.
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[@hubrisnaut]

A friend and I were driving in NJ. I noticed this endless stream of birds in the distance fly across the road above the trees. I did a mental picture capture and I estimated I saw 30,000 birds fly by in maybe 30 seconds. We followed where they seemed to be going. so we drove down this dirt road to a recently harvested corn field, and I swear to god, there had to be a million starlings in this field. The scene was surreal. They would fly up in giant bird tornados that moved across the field. My friend ran into the field and it looked like what I imagine it looked like when Moses parted the sea. They peeled away in swirls and then and just filled in behind him. The cacophony was incredible. It was crazy.

[@davidhuth5659]

I'm glad you brought up the cat issue. Nothing infuriates me more than seeing neighborhood cats out stalking a cardinal or a baby Carolina wren. If falconers are being prosecuted for inadvertently taking a songbird, the laws should be just as stringent for cat owners. The cat owners have much more control over their cats. Keep them inside or use a catio.

[@dlaughlin9]

Really good topic Ben. Wonderful point on the house cat comparison.

[@williecorcoran2676]

Yes Ben i totally agree, if you want to keep a cat? It should be kept in a aviary with climbing frames, litter trays and assess to indoors etc…..We have a small bird of prey educational centre here in Waterford southeast Ireland. We have many of our visitors complaining about our sparrow hawk coming into their garden taking the song birds. We tell them also created a bird table for the sparrows hawk too and to spread out their feeders around their garden😁 we also remind them that their lovely tabby is killing more than the sparrow hawk for the fun 😩loving the clips Ben thank you very much. Great stuff Willie Mayfield birds of prey Ireland 🇮🇪

[@frigginchi]

Should have a subsistence hunting tag anything a raptor can catch is ok😜

[@jonahmcbride934]

I agree.

[@hubrisnaut]

I am glad I found your channel. My parents gave me a book when I was a kid that included a chapter on how to catch hawks for falconry. Then, I had a science teacher that had a peregrine and a kestrel he would bring to school. I will probably never take on the responsibility of owning a bird of prey. The whole topic is just really interesting to me.

[@user-oh8om1ql4r]

Excellent point. I agree 100%

[@serhiykyslytsia1907]

Totally agree, Ben. I think we have only one way is to hunt far from somebodies eyes. We will never find consensus with people out of falconry about casual catches of bird of prey.

[@Brisco-rl8nc]

This is a pertinent falconry topic! There's no scientific reason why a person with a hawk or falcon shouldn't be able to intentionally pursue songbirds in order for his/her bird to eat what it normally eats in the wild. The British regularly hunted (and still do) their native skylarks with merlins. If authorities want to restrict the hunting of native birds to native raptors--fine. That makes sense to me (not that exotic falcons would be any more lethal than their native counterparts). It also makes sense to me if only one native songbird is allowed to be taken by a trained raptor each day. Modern falconry is not about using an archaic hunting weapon to bag small game for the dinner table. It isn't practiced for utilitarian value. It's practiced for aesthetic delight. The reason domestic cats are permitted to do what they do is because a human isn't following them around to participate in the drama of the kill. For the same reason, most people wouldn't be too uptight to know that falcons at hack pursue native birds. The main difference, of course, is that while there are tens of millions of cats stalking America's songbirds each day, there are only a few dozen fledgling falcons at hack doing the same thing. Sadly, many people (not falconers, thankfully) are completely isolated from nature, and they are offended that a human with a little hawk on his/her hand would take pleasure in what naturalist Paul Schullery calls "watching wild nature express itself."

[@petemartin3538]

Great presentation. Very thought provoking. I hope we can spread this line of thinking. Thanks!

[@tarours]

Almost all small bird are illegal preys in France. So microhawking is pretty tough

[@eleeshafisher3998]

I’m in Wisconsin and we have the let lay rule. It sucks for anything to go to waste but it is what it is, a raptor is going to go for whatever game it wants, you can aim them but you can’t guarantee what game is going to catch its attention

[@frigginchi]

Let it lay is a trap you have to report the unauthorized take.meaning you have to tell on yourself.

[@GSXRlntensity]

100% solid points. I agree with you, Ben. This should be discussed with law makers for sure.

[@someguy2637]

Ben, You echoed my sentiments exactly. Well said. We could use many more discussions on this subject. How many hawker's are also bird watchers and upland small game hunters?

[@AVAN_ISLAM]

Greetings from Jombang Indonesian Falconry

[@therian_talonsoflife]

As a birder and an aspiring falconer, I really don't care about a hawk making a bird feeder out of a bird feeder. I love birds and I let nature take the wheel. But it's wraps if my aviary is targeted. Starlings, i feel like it's both positive or negative, some people also keep them as pets. This has been a great point proven. Happy Lunar New Year! It's Falconry Friday, signing off.

[@jacksonparrish6870]

The cat point is an excellent point. As a cat and bird enthusiast I’ve been trying to stress how important it is for Both’s sake the keep the cat inside if you can’t monitor it. Once a cat leaves the house it enter the food chain meaning not only will it unnecessarily kill birds it won’t even eat but it can also become a prey item for bigger birds, foxes and coyotes.

[@calebtatro6512]

These A.I. thumbnails are pretty cool, Ben👍🏻

[@pharmdpottery]

Agreed. Super fun.

[@AVAN_ISLAM]

Wow is The best

[@lohikarhu734]

We've always made clear to our cats, if they bring back any animal that's not a "preferred prey", that we are *not happy about it* ... And, they do understand; well they understand not to hunt that prey, OR, not to bring it home... A dead squirrel on your pillow? A dead squirrel in front of the neighbour's 5-year old daughter... Otherwise, we keep our cats in st night, which keeps them alive longer, and keeps them at home during the preferred hunting hours. And, as for treating raptors under the same kind of rules as hunting by humans, that makes no sense at all... The "by-kill" is more akin to a driver hitting an animal that runs across the road... The animal was not targetted, but dead, anyway, as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time... Just like a robin that flies up near a starling, as your Aplomado was during by, on his way to "the starling drive-in".

[@lohikarhu734]

Great discussion, and maybe some good points to actively take to "bird protection folks"... Poking out, maybe, the benefit of hunting invasive I, and maintaining raptors' populations, and the balance of the good that these smaller raptors do in control of rodents and invasive species, when released to the wild? It might not be "fruitful" to bring up the cat example, since many birders are rabidly anti-cat! (Almost as anti-cat as anti-windpower!)

[@ComicusFreemanius]

A lot of birds have state protection / secondary protection in a addition to MBTA.

[@abirbirdsnew]

Sir, please make a video on weight management during summer (how to keep birds motivated to hunt during hot season)

[@richardbrown6278]

we have the let it lay law here in Tennessee

[@sprk11]

We let it lay here . I don't know that it's not written but that 's the policy. Here we have policies that separate fur trapping from sustenance hunting. We have a season that includes wolf and bear, cougar as more of an open trophy hunt. but things like mink , beaver , muskrats even squirrels here actually require a trapping permit for fur bearing animals. Last season my HH took a muskrat and then tried for a mink. But you're right we need a more open mind set as we do with cats

[@internetcrow9805]

Hey Ben, thank you for your videos, they very informative! As an illustrator, I was sad to see your thumbnails recently change to what looks like digitally smoothed images or machine generated art. If you are using augmented or generated images, I would appreciate that being disclosed either way. I really hope it's the former, as AI generated images devalue and steal from the work of human artists, including wildlife artists who love your channel! Thank you for reading and I hope you understand.

[@alkonost8459]

Same dumb law here, if your bird catch something protected by laws, you risking financial fine(depend on species of killed animal) and also big issue with stray/half wild cats. They are in big numbers, and doesent just killing the adult birds, they destroing nests and many times they dont even eat those birds, cause they surely getting food somewhere. Sadly, theese cats are illegal to hunt by any mean, cause they are not wild animals and therefore arent considered game. Its so exhaustingly stupid...🇨🇿 Hope you feeling better, have great time and many wonderfull flights✨🦅✨

[@Crackle1983]

I didn't know your birds could be returned to the wild. If I understood that correctly, that could be used to reason.

[@cretaceouscutie]

Rules for that vary state to state. Generally, only wild caught birds are allowed to be returned to the wild since they've already been out there and have some experience to call on that captive bred birds don't. Some states, from what I've read to-date, have exceptions to this, though.

[@amkowalyk]

In NY state, if your BOP takes an out of season or protected species, your bird may feed on it but the carcass must be left where it was killed. It's seen as if the BOP were wild ...... let and lie law. Just as you said.

[@frigginchi]

The let it lay rule is a trap, most states require you to report the take. Meaning you make a signed confession you took something illegal

[@skrebbeks]

I came here to say the same thing. A rare example of a law in New York State that makes sense!

[@Kyle_Schaff]

Imagine a hypothetical world where a law passed saying you had to turn your cat in or face a $10k fine if it hunted anything other than an invasive species. It would be outrageous and people would demand that their cat can hunt anything it wants (probably saying “it’s only natural”) It feels like the falconry hobby is regulated by ham-fisting modern sensibilities into a personal relationship with nature. Typical insanity of modernity

[@kristensorensen2219]

This is something I did not know about!! I agree your raptor is nothing like a firearm you control. Predatory birds kill anything they can for food. Not for your table!! These laws seem utterly rediculous!! These laws should be altered not to apply to raptors hunting wild or trained. I agree just utterly 🌰s!!

[@jonahmcbride934]

I could not agree with you more on this video. My bird has become super territorial and will go out of its way to go after a Kestrel or a Marsh Hawk. I don't want him too, but reality is that avoiding illegal game a 100% of the time is impossible if you are a consistant game hawker.

[@sherizaahd]

Yeah, its pretty dumb to get in trouble because a wild animal killed another wild animal...

[@shae899]

I am just fine with AI generated images and AI engines as an artist, for my part. Sorry to everyone whos not but there is no putting this genie back in its bottle it's as here to stay as photoshop and digital art and the industrial age. I think substenance tags for falconry would be appropriate, but I also see the potential hazard of illegal industries starting to hawk just to harvest plumage. I think there should be certain common prey species exceptions (robins and jays and pigeons for coopers etc) or let it lie laws in all states. (And this is as a birder non falconer.) Species like hummingbirds and cardinals need to be protected from falling prey to any such exceptions so I think the let it lie rule covers good ground and deserves wide distribution if nothing else.

[@massmanute]

Does Utah have a "let it lie" policy?

[@user-cs8nz7kb2l]

Feral cats, and loose cats in general, are fair targets in most states. They are, after all, invasive consumers of all manner of valuable wildlife. Takes a really big hawk or an eagle, but the season is year-round. Just sayin’.

[@abirbirdsnew]

Sir, please make a video on this topic .... I am having a female bonellis eagle (age 2 years). It works with me and hunts throughout the year except February to April or May (she becomes hormonal) . Yes, I know that during this time of the year she is hormonal and moulting and I also know that during this time of the year birds should be allowed to moult. But if I want her to work and hunt with me then how will I do that? During this hormonal season she absolutely lags motivation to hunt. Even I tried to motivate her by reducing her weight to significant amount from her actual flying weight and also tried by increasing the weight. But I failed. So sir please help us by making a video on how to control this hormonal behaviour and how to keep raptors motivated to hunt during this period of the year .

[@kristensorensen2219]

The kittynaus killed and ate anything he could. Mostly rodents but damn sure birds too! Never left a dead carcus; only mouse nose.🤷

[@Sardonic_Cynic]

oh ffs, are any of the jay species endangered? No. same with finches and robins. It's fine.

[@John-re7dd]

Only had occasional issues with this when flying merlins on starlings. However, my passage sharpie this year likes birds with yellow breasts better. I read her the regs but she won't listen.

[@kathleenmccaffery1313]

Lolol👍🪶😅

[@thefalconrychef6660]

lol what ai gen did you use for the thumbnail bud?

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

This one I used bing image creator for the original, then used Fotor with a paid subscription to extend the image to 1920X1080 and then I used procreate to actually draw and smooth and fix details. have been trying AI as an experiment to see if it impacts the original uptake in views when a video posts. Seems more people click on it, but also people have verbalized that they don't like it.

[@thefalconrychef6660]

@@benwoodrufffalconry yea,iv found a lot of AI struggle with bird of prey images..Iv had some crazy creations.the most realistic and impressive images iv managed to get is with “Midjourney”..bing was good but always seemed too cartoony for my liking.

[@seanohara9845]

Sooooo, what your saying is that any cat owner that has an outdoor cat should have a blanket fine imposed upon them for the MBTA violations that their cats are going to violate? I like the idea. Can't wait to lobby for that one.

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

No, just making a comparison. But ironically what you say has sort of the power industry. Regular power companies such as coal burning electrical plants were and are fined for every eagle found electrocuted along their power lines. But the “green energy” wind turbines that cut down countless eagles were originally given I believe a 5 year reprieve from any fines around 2009, where they could accidentally kill a certain number of eagles without getting fined. And then it was renewed a few years later for I believe a 30 year pass where any eagles killed by turbines they would not be fined for or held accountable for the loss. So again, it is interesting that we will turn a blind eye and make exceptions for some situations and not for others.

[@richardbrown6278]

in KY they are trying to make it legal to shoot raptors killing chickens or birds in your yard . SAD

[@rogerkercheval3964]

Since You mentioned "Cats" - what about bringing in Falcons large enough to eat cats? Are there any such falcons?

[@Rhyder77]

I dont get people who let their cats out unsupervised. I have 2 boys who love being outside, but they always have supervision. Forget the impact on birds, where i live has a very healthy coyote population, not to mention cars. But to the core issue, dont penalize the falconer for the bird being a bird.

[@antlerking69]

Work on your hawks feral cat hunting ability 😂

[@lohikarhu734]

BTW, I hope that you are feeling better?? 🇨🇦 🐻 In 🇩🇪

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

got all better and then got sick with something else. lol my voice is almost completely gone again.

[@kathleenmccaffery1313]

Go figure Ben🥵 Glad you can talk, these vids are pure gold 🌟🌟🌟

[@mindyourbusiness3342]

Please stop using ai generated thumb nails, real photos are so much more beautiful 😢

[@ZeusCannonZK3]

I agree with this request. There are many libraries of raptor photos that can be used for content. The AI art is really uncanny, seeing them in my recommended gives me a sick and uneasy feeling and I have found myself avoiding the channel to avoid seeing them.

[@happybee7725]

Yeah domestic cats have done a TON of damage to wildlife the world over. And not just by killing. Here in Scotland we have what is called the “Scottish wild cat”. It is very rare and only lives in the highlands of Scotland but it pretty much looks like a normal domesticated greyish cat. It is a bit bigger, and there are certain features that allowed people to tell the difference. It’s the only naturally occurring cat species in the whole of the UK. The problem is that it is believed that there are only a handful of pure wild cats left. The rest are inbred with domestic cats. So they aren’t just eating species in to extinction they are banging species in to extinction too. Ban em all from being allowed outdoors I say. We need to start learning that our natural wild creatures and ecosystems are way more important to us than the whims of small groups of people who want to keep creatures that can damage our ecosystems. Lets take a leaf out the books of Australia. They don’t allow cats to be let out at night. It’s against the law.

[@angelgreen3532]

I think "let it lie" laws are the best option. If we just say that that it's acceptable for our falconry birds to take non-game birds, there are far too many irresponsible falconers who will target those birds and pretend that it wasn't deliberate. We have more than enough legal species, we don't need to add protected, non-game species to the legal list.

[@1asset]

two wrongs dont make a right. if it shouldnt be hunted, it shouldnt be hunted. you cant always control what a bird does or an unexpected encounter, tho. to me the takeaway should be dont deliberately set your bird out to hunt protected or endangered species in the protected or endangered species' habitat. that should be illegal/fined. accidents are a different story

[@samengstrom1314]

Hey Ben, I've loved your videos since my falconry mentor assigned them as homework in 2021 and have followed along ever since, as well as watching along with my partner who is also a falconer! I don't normally pipe up in comments but using generate your own plagiarism AI for thumbnails is disappointing- your photos worked so much better 🥲

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

I appreciate the feedback. I am generally very against the concept of AI. I am a classic artist myself with regular mediums. And I think AI is really bad for humanity for a number of reasons. I continually experiment with the thumbnails over the years. I have tried just picking an image from the video, I have experimented with if there are more views if there is a person with a bird in the thumbnail versus just a bird, and lately I have tried just doing a regular thumbnail, but severely reducing the noise grain and detail so it looks a little more vibrant and moderately cartoony. I decided to do a few Ai thumbnails as an experiment. It is strange because the only comments about my use of Ai have been negative. But the three times now I have used it, there has been a better original uptick in views. So I don’t know. I will probably just go back to what I had been doing in previous weeks, and then occasionally throw one in so I can compare the results. I shouldn’t really be caring what the viewership is. But I try hard to earn enough to cover my costs of editing, software, subscriptions, stock, video, subscriptions, and camera equipment, and all that. And I almost never do. A lot of other falconry channels seem to effortlessly get a lot of great support, so I am always trying to learn and experiment with different things like thumbnails, tags, time of release, etc to see what I can do to help these videos perform better. But again, I greatly appreciate your feedback

[@kathleenmccaffery1313]

Precisely >without the feedback, you are continually flying blind✨