How To Train Your Falcon

(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) São Paulo – Tiago Lomanto was fascinated when, as a child, he watched the film Kes, the second feature by British director Ken Loach, released in 1969. Based on the novel by Barry Hines, A Kestrel for a Knave, it tells the story of a teenager who finds, in training a falcon, a purpose for his life that has no prospects beyond working in a coal mine in the near future.

Lomanto works for a company that provides services to a brewery located in Curitiba, Brazil. Scaring away pigeons is the main job of the aplomado falcon perched on his arm

It would take Lomanto about a decade to realize that what the character Billy Casper did with his bird of prey was called falconry. Over time, the practice of training falcons and hawks would also come to guide the Brazilian's own life.

Now, in addition to working as a falconer for a pest control company in Curitiba, Paraná state, the 40-year-old from Salvador also makes falconry items such as gloves, vests, hoods, and bracelets, which he sells in his online store, TL Falcoaria . All while continuing to train his aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis), one of the three most used species for the practice in Brazil.

“Because of falconry, I moved from Salvador to Fortaleza, where I spent two years learning the practice with a friend. Thanks to the experience I gained, I was recommended to the company I work at today, in a city where I built strong ties. Since I've always worked as a craftsman, six years ago I started making leather items for falconry, and last year I opened my online store,” he says.

Some of the items, such as hoods and perches, are made in the workshop he set up at his home in Ponta Grossa, Paraná state. In Salvador, Bahia state, his sisters make larger pieces that require sewing machines, such as gloves and vests. The products are made with kangaroo leather, the most flexible and durable for this type of item, imported through a falconer friend living abroad.

Millennia-old

Declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010 by the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, the practice of falconry has an estimated history of around 4,000 years. Records range from the Epic of Gilgamesh-a cuneiform text from Mesopotamia-to the diaries of Marco Polo, the writings of Aristotle, and the archives of countless emperors.

Delo Verginio, from Falco Brasil, in front of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital in 2011. The visit took place during the 3rd International Falconry Festival in Al-Ain

UOne version says that falconry was created by Bedouins in the Arabian deserts as a way to hunt in a hostile environment where humans had difficulty finding meat. The practice is said to have spread through the Silk Road. Even today, it is a form of hunting in countries where it is officially recognized, where rabbits and other birds are hunted. In Brazil, where hunting is prohibited, it cannot be used for that purpose.

Boosted by the prosperity brought by oil in recent decades, the practice has a strong presence in Arab countries. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival takes place, one of the largest in the world, recognized three times by the Guinness Book for having the highest number of participating falcons. The competitions involve bird races and beauty contests.

Although it does not allow other pets to travel in the cabin of its planes, the Emirates airline from the United Arab Emirates permits falcons on flights between Dubai and certain destinations in Pakistan, including in first class, according to the company's website . The birds even have their own passports.

In another part of the UAE, Abu Dhabi has housed a Falcon Hospital since 1999 that, in addition to veterinary care across various specialties, also offers five-star hotel services. Open to visitors, the hospital is one of the Emirati tourist attractions.

The International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey ( IAF ) comprises 110 associations from 87 countries, totaling 75,000 members. The Brazilian Association of Falconers and Birds of Prey Preservation (ABFPAR) is one of its affiliated members.

Although there are no official numbers for Brazil, it is estimated that leisure activities related to falconry have grown in recent years. However, the use of falconry for pest control appears to have increased even more. When combined with other techniques, birds of prey are an effective way to scare away birds that can cause damage, such as pigeons and vultures.

Delo Verginio, co-owner of Falco Brasil, with his red-tailed hawk

One of the companies specialized in this service in Brazil, Falco Brasil was founded 12 years ago as a hobby among three friends. The company now serves businesses whose stock attracts mainly pigeons and sparrows. Birds of prey like the roadside hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) do part of the work, complemented by other methods such as trapping. For the past 10 years, the company has also operated at Viracopos International Airport in Campinas, where vultures pose the main threat to airplanes.

“They don't kill the pigeons, which, although invasive exotic species, can transmit diseases to the birds of prey. For native birds like vultures, there are regulations we must follow to operate. The greatest contribution of hawks and falcons in pest control is creating an environment of fear, since they are natural predators of these birds,” explains Delo Verginio, co-owner of Falco Brasil, who recently returned to practicing falconry as a hobby after acquiring an aplomado falcon.

Birds can be purchased for around BRL 5,000 (USD 920) from breeders authorized by Brazil's environmental agency Ibama. At 60 days old, they are put up for sale and can begin training. To stay healthy, they need to fly every day.

Birds fly from a perch to the trainer's arm, protected by a thick leather glove. After completing each repetition of the task, in which the distance progressively increases, the bird of prey earns a reward: a small piece of meat. The training can also involve the use of a lure, a weight that simulates flying prey, which is swung by the trainer, so the bird attacks it in mid-flight.

As they are basically carnivorous, birds of prey are fed with mice, quails, and even some insects sold in specialized stores, such as mealworms and crickets. In Brazil, besides the aplomado falcon and the roadside hawk, the legendary peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), the fastest bird in the world, and owls such as the barn owl (Tyto furcata) are also trained.

Pest control

Five years ago, the Rio Grandense Rice Institute (IRGA), a government agency of Brazil's state of Rio Grande do Sul, faced a serious problem. IRGA conducts a series of field experiments not only on rice cultivation but also on soybeans, corn, and pastures. Such a large concentration of edible grains, in various stages of development, is a true feast for native birds like the shiny cowbird, the smooth-billed ani, and the monk parakeet, as well as for invasive species like the domestic pigeon.

The aplomado falcon is one of the species used at the Rio Grandense Rice Institute to scare away birds harmful to the crops.

“We used firecrackers and drones, but after a while the birds got used to them and returned to attacking the crops,” says Julio Uriarte, research manager at the IRGA Experimental Station in Cachoeirinha, a 200-hectare area located in Greater Porto Alegre.

In 2020, the agency held a bidding process and hired a company that uses, among other methods, falcons and hawks. The practice was so successful that the institute's professionals are considering expanding it to other experimental stations throughout the state.

“Since birds of prey are natural predators of these birds, they instinctively know not to stay nearby when they see one and quickly scatter,” he says.

Roadside hawk at the Cachoeirinha Experimental Station of the Rio Grandense Rice Institute during a rest break

According to the agronomist engineer, many producers in the state face the same problem, but hiring the service is unfeasible due to the high cost. The institute now has a contract with the company worth about BRL 600,000 (USD 110,000) per year, which also includes control by other methods, such as traps for capturing pigeons and dogs to scare away birds and small mammals.

Since these are experiments that require high investments and whose positive results are passed on to the state's producers, it is understood as a good way to apply the resources.

For falconers, however, training a falcon or hawk is way more than a utilitarian activity.“It's an opportunity to be in contact with nature,” says Lomanto. The daily routine of flights, from Sunday to Sunday, is not a problem-on the contrary.“A day without flying is a day wasted,” Lomanto says, a phrase that could apply both to the bird and to the trainer.

Report by André Julião, in collaboration with ANBA

*Débora Rubin collaborated

Translated by Guilherme Miranda

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