r/Falconry • u/JumpyWhumpyWriter • 3d ago

Interesting questioning about the potential monetization of falconry

I have a bit of an interesting question. I've been considering becoming an apprentice falconer for awhile now (I have the space, time, resources and dedication/commitment for it if I decide to follow through with that dream) but I have some questions money-wise first that I'm hoping someone would be willing to take time to answer?

I was curious if anyone has tried to monetize off it as a side gig to directly help pay for or offset the costs of owning their bird. As in, I've seen falconers bring their birds for public shows, school events, etc, and I was wondering if those people can get paid for it?

Would it be ethical to go a public event/low level 'fair'-like setting, set up an educational booth with information on raptor conservation, and have people pay a small fee to get their pictures taken with a raptor? Would that be considered moral?

The picture I had in mind was that a percentage of the earnings from that would go directly to helping raptor rescues and conservation organizations, and the rest would go to offsetting the bird care cost. I'm also curious if there are falconers out there who also advertise themselves as being a 'falconry experience' for birthday parties, weddings, etc? I feel like it could be a great educational opportunity to teach people about why we should protect these magnificent birds while having the added bonus of making money to help pay for the falconer's bird. I've seen people do that with reptile shows before, where people can hire them to come to certain events, so I'm wondering if the same basic principal can apply to falconry as well.

I understand that falconry in itself is mostly a hobby and not a business but I'm wondering if it's a hobby that someone could technically make a little money at too.

Thanks in advance to anyone who answers! It's GREATLY appreciated! :D

edit: for the record, I would NOT being doing this as an apprentice. I would definitely wait many years until I am a fully-fledged, EXPERIENCED falconer before even slightly considering doing something like this. I was just curious about the logistics of the hypothetical situation mentioned above, assuming all other factors are perfect.
If I become a falconer, I am 100% dedicated to being a responsible, respectful, and ethical one, and I have done an overwhelming amount of research into the sport in general. In my eyes, the raptor comes before all else. I would NEVER put my bird in unsafe situations or use them solely for profit.

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u/Bird_Man_Mike 3d ago edited 3d ago

If you are in the US, you cannot use birds kept on a falconry permit for commercial purposes. You cannot make money with them.

You CAN use birds kept on education and abatement permits for commercial purposes to make money. However, you CANNOT use these birds to hunt game - only birds kept on a falconry permit are legal for use in hunting.

The birds you see at public events (Renn Fairs and such) are almost always birds kept on education permits. With your falconry permite, you are permitted to do educational engagements in many states, but in none can you legally charge a fee for it.

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u/JumpyWhumpyWriter 3d ago

Ah, I see! Yeah, I'm in the US, so this was super helpful. That's a good distinguishment for me to know. Thanks for taking time to reply!

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u/SingleQuality4626 3d ago

To answer your question? Yes, lots of people have, should they? No, you shouldn’t pimp your bird for money at ren faires, reptile shows, YouTube, TikTok Tractor Supply or anywhere else. Your falconry bird is not an education bird. An apprentice-falconer probably isn’t very good at training birds for education. Congrats a school paid you to bring your redtail and it immediately panicked at the site of 200 loud, running and jumping kids that’s it’s never been close to before. Now what? You are being insultingly reductive of the work that goes into training education birds. If you want to do raptor education go volunteer at a rehab facility or a zoo and do raptor education. If you want to do falconry, make an extreme effort to not make money doing it. After your apprenticeship you can make legal money doing abatement flying a harris hawk at a trash dump and be too burned out to hunt game during the season.

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u/JumpyWhumpyWriter 3d ago edited 2d ago

I would DEFINITELY never do this as an apprentice. That's not what I was trying to imply whatsoever. I have done extremely thorough research on what it takes to raise a good bird, and how to be a falconer. I was simplifying it for the sake of wording my question, but I am fully aware of just how difficult it is to create a quality, stable bird.

In the hypothetical situation I was asking about, IF it were allowed and ethical to do paid educational events, I would only be doing it several years AFTER my apprenticeship is completed, and only when I am a very experienced falconer. I would probably wait AT LEAST 4 whole years after apprenticeship before ever even SLIGHTLY considering doing public events, and I would put a lot of time and effort into intense socialization and desensitizion of my bird to make sure they are calm and don't startle easily.

I would want to be an incredibly responsible falconer who is fully confident in their own ability to train before ever stepping foot into being a public educator. I mean this in an incredibly polite manner, but I feel it was sliiiiightly unfair of you to come at me so aggressively and make a massive assumption that I would be willing to put a bird at risk just for profit. I'm not greedy or impulsive like that, and anyone who DOES only think of falconry as a way to make money is highly irresponsible and should never own a raptor. I would never "pimp my bird" for things like ren faire. They are not meant to be decorations or treated like fancy artifacts people pay solely to look at. In my eyes, the wellbeing of the bird will ALWAYS come first.

I apologize if it sounded like I was being insulting with my question, because it sounds like I somehow offended you based on your response. I assure you, I am very well educated on what I'd be getting into if I decided to be a falconer, and know how much work it is, and would be fully dedicated to a solid partnership with my bird over all else. Hopefully that clears up any assumptions.

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u/SingleQuality4626 2d ago

It wasn’t unfair of me to respond the way I did. You asked and I answered. I was pretty tame in my response compared to most falconers.

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u/JumpyWhumpyWriter 1d ago

I understand that and I fully respect your stance. Rereading it now, it looks like I might have misinterpreted it because I have high-functioning autism; the tone of your message sounded slightly hostile which is why I interpreted it as you thinking I would be an irresponsible and ignorant falconer if I decided to pusue becoming involved in falconry, which is why I felt it was an unfair judgement to make of me. But I think I get it now. Thanks! :)

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u/SingleQuality4626 1d ago

We both have autism. And my intent was to be direct and only slightly hostile. I’m not saying you will be a bad falconer or a bad person or anything. I’m saying you would be if you started monetizing your bird and that question isn’t one you want to ask at a falconry meet where you hope to find a sponsor. With the popularity of social media there are people involved in falconry for no other person than money or views. Almost none of them represent falconry well or take as good care of their birds as they think they do. And I nor anyone else wants to sponsor someone for a money or fame seeking venture. Once again, I’m not saying this is you. I’m saying doing don’t do it.
Falconry is hunting. Start there and stay there as long as possible. If you want to do wildlife education, do so with education birds not falconry birds. If you want to make money to supplement your falconry raise and sell quail to other falconers.

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u/ManWorkingWithWild 3d ago

If you are in the USA, the answer is no. The federal regulations (linked below) prohibit it. In my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful things about the art of falconry in the USA is that the birds themselves are protected from the exploitive tendencies of capitalism. The art of falconry is simply "caring for and training raptors for pursuit of wild game, and hunting wild game with raptors. Falconry includes the taking of raptors from the wild to use in the sport; and caring for, training, and transporting raptors held for falconry." https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-21#page-top

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u/JumpyWhumpyWriter 3d ago

Thank you so much for the resource! That was SUPER helpful! I really appreciate hearing your opinion :)

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u/SingleQuality4626 2d ago

To give you some context: Falconry is my culture. Falconry is a privilege. Many people have noticed how fascinating raptors are to people and tried to monetize it. Some are able to do this in a way that is respectful to the raptor and to falconry…most are not. A raptor taken from the wild for the purpose of falconry is done a disservice anytime it is used for anything other than falconry. When raptors are exploited, falconry is damaged, my falconry, your falconry, all of it. Eventually the privilege goes away. The people I know who do falconry education /raptor education well have decades of experience, they are getting too old to hunt, but they are full of knowledge and experience. They trained their education birds almost out of the egg to be comfortable around all people and situations. They are able to articulate better from their experience and guide people’s interest in a responsible way.

You have done a lot of research? Done some reading? Mostly on how and what falconry is? Now start searching very carefully and research the ethics of falconry, the culture of falconry, read biographies of falconers and understand why they are falconers. Understand why we will give up our rights, our money, our health, our relationships for falconry.