The Tradition of Catching and Training of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk in Adjara

Falconry is one of the oldest hunting arts in many countries. In Adjara (Western Georgia), falconry was widespread and in ancient times was of great importance for countrymen; although now it is promoted only by a few enthusiasts. To find the traditional falconers, we went to Adjara, where the world second most important migratory route of birds of prey passes over the Lesser Caucasus Range along the Black Sea. However, this tradition interests us not only from a historical and cultural point of view, but also from a scientific one: we wanted to analyze the bird?human interactions, as only knowledge of the bird’s behavior in nature allowed people to work out the optimal methods of catching and then training of falconry birds.

falconry, sparrowhawk, red-backed shrike, methods of catching and training birds of prey