Falconers have played an…

Falconers have played an important role in raptor conservation, and by allowing more falconers to have access to wild birds, the MNRF is encouraging more active conservation and citizen science.

The MNRF is adopting an approach that has been used successfully in other provinces and U.S. states. There is no reason to think they won’t succeed here as well.

You will be a better educated falconer if you can take a bird from the wild.

The proposal enhances an important part of falconry heritage, which is recognized by UNESCO as “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.

I hope the MNRF will continue to expand the regulations, so other birds of prey can be taken in the near future.

The Ontario Hawking Club has been very active in monitoring goshawks, and I strongly support the proposal to allow adjustment of the numbers of goshawks based on new information as it becomes available in the future.

I am very glad to see goshawks included in a wild take for falconry; they are a very important species that is difficult to obtain elsewhere

The OHC has worked hard in the field to acquire data on active goshawk nest sites in southern Ontario. This will encourage further efforts to monitor and study this species.

Glad to see the lottery gone. I have missed getting a bird a number of times. Now all falconers and apprentices will have access to birds. You'll no longer have to wait, or purchase a bird from a breeder if you don't want to.

Thank you for finally doing away with the draw. I heard about people who had birds that would apply in case they didn’t get the bird from a breeder. Now everyone who really wants a bird can have one.

Eliminating the draw is a huge improvement. It enables all apprentice falconers to be able to trap their first bird of prey. Not only does the apprentice gain experience trapping, but they can release their bird back to the wild at the end of the hunting season, knowing that they'll be able to trap a new bird for the next season. This is the way that falconry has been practiced for thousands of years. Releasing birds back to the wild to breed in the spring, and trapping a young bird the next fall season is an important falconry tradition. In this way, the effect of falconry on the wild raptor population is inconsequential.