I am an Emeritus Professor…

I am an Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology at McGill University and a world-recognized raptor expert, having published over 175 refereed papers on birds of prey and edited several conference proceedings on these birds. Allow me to state from the outset that while I have never practiced the sport of falconry, I did harbor a childhood interest in doing so, but circumstances throughout my life prevented me from doing so, i.e. parents, time consumption, etc. Whether I take up the sport in my retired years in British Columbia will depend largely on my wife’s plans! In short, I have nothing to gain by writing in support of the sport and the proposed take.
Having said that, my ties to the falconry community are numerous. I have attended almost all of the annual Raptor Research Foundation conferences since 1973 whereupon I have collaborated with and initiated friendships with falconers all over the world. It is my opinion that overall, they are excellent conservationists highly motivated and dedicated to conserving birds of prey in the wild and not just for selfish reasons. Just like any other category of humans in the world, we can find good people and bad people. Based on my forty-five years of interacting with falconers, I firmly believe that the good people vastly outnumber the bad. In fact, I challenge anyone to find another sport that is so well policed by their own participants.
In 1991, under contract I co-authored a report for the Quebec government, which was entitled “Evaluation of the Feasibility of Falconry and Hawking in Quebec”. The report was 250 pages long, including appendices. After reviewing hundreds of papers on falconry and research related to the sport, we concluded that the sport should not only be legalized in Quebec, but that a limited take of wild raptors should be allowed. After some years of lobbying various governments, falconry is now legal in the province. It was the last North American jurisdiction to legalize it.
The sport of falconry is several thousand years old, is practiced world-wide, and contributes significantly to the conservation of wild birds of prey through captive breeding and release programs and the control of nuisance birds. I should not have to remind anyone that the captive breeding and release programs involving endangered peregrine falcons and many other raptor species throughout the world owe their existence today almost solely to falconers. In the 1970s the two top North American experts on the captive breeding and release of peregrine falcons were both falconers, i.e. Dr. Tom Cade, formerly of Cornell University and Mr. Richard Fyfe, formerly of the Canadian Wildlife Service. Both men have been honoured with numerous awards for their conservation efforts and Mr. Fyfe was inducted into the Order of Canada for it. If they were alive today, they would surely echo my words.
This relationship between falconry and raptor conservation still continues today. In 2007 I co-edited the book Raptor Research and Management Techniques in which numerous applications of techniques developed by falconers appear. Also, a number of chapters were authored by falconers. Over my academic life of almost 40 years, I have often adopted falconry techniques for my various research projects. Today, falconers are regularly employed by agencies to control nuisance birds at airports and landfill dumps.
To this end, I strongly support the following proposals put forth by Ontario falconry community: 1) a removal of the cap of 25 raptors for the annual take by Ontario falconers; and 2) a limited annual take of five (5) northern goshawks. The first change will only result in a relatively small increase in the overall number of birds taken, which will likely be mostly red-tailed hawks. Typically, 55-60 people apply for these permits each year, despite them costing nothing. Moreover, because the “backlog” of previously unsuccessful applicants will be eliminated, this number will likely drop to about 45 people per year, which is a very small number considering the huge population of red-tailed hawks in Ontario. The second proposal on the limited take of goshawks will surely motivate continued monitoring and conservation by falconers. Again, five birds of this species harvested in one year in the vast territory of Ontario will be completely inconsequential.
As an aside, I was pleased to learn that red-tailed hawks have almost entirely replaced non-native Harris’s hawks as so-called "starter birds" and that the quality of apprenticeships and apprentices has improved dramatically. However, the current policy with its 25-bird quota means, for example, that almost 50% of apprentices will not be able to get a red-tailed hawk on their first attempt to acquire a permit. The new proposal is to do away with this limit and will also add a limited number of goshawks
In summary, I urge you to accept and allow these two changes. While there will indeed be some vociferous opposition from a few misinformed and/or misguided individuals or organizations, I can assure you from a biological/conservation point of view, no harm will be done to Ontario raptor populations, including those of the northern goshawk. I would be most amenable to discuss this with you on the telephone or physically participate in a public forum, if you so wish.
Finally, please feel free to publish this comment with your decision notice.