The Lanner Falcon

(Falco Biarmicus)

Lanners are the most gentle and better natured of the falcons.

The Lanneret (male) seems to generally out-perform the females but both make excellent lure birds and so can build up your experience for future falcons.

You must master the art of lure swinging before attempting to fly falcons or you can ruin a potentially good hawk for life by teaching bad habits which are very hard to reverse.

Lanners can be successfully flown at partridge, rook and magpie but generally are used on hedgerows where there is a greater selection of small quarry for them.

The Lanner is a good first falcon and should, if flown correctly, be a good grounding to go on to the larger falcons.

Verdict: Fun to fly, good first falcon, very underestimated

The Saker Falcon

(Falco Cherrug)

Sakers are fairly easy to train both to the swing lure and the dummy bunny as they take ground quarry as well as aerial game. Most sakers we have flown tend to prefer ground game and can be flown at quarry directly from the fist. They are brave falcons and will crash into cover after quarry.

Sakers must be flown sharp set to avoid the risk of them straightlining and disappearing on you. They have a tendency to lull the falconer into a false sense of security by flying well when overweight and then suddenly, for no apparent reason, they straightline, rarely to be recovered.

On the positive side they make brilliant rook hawks and are good waiting on birds for game.

Verdict: Flown properly they are great birds.

The Peregrine Falcon

(Falco Peregrinus)

The Peregrine is without doubt the falcon that excels in falconry. It is very highly regarded by falconers around the world for its speed and adaptability to adjust to different types of hunting locations.

The Peregrine is best entered at quarry as soon as possible which will get her fit and build up her muscle and stamina far more quickly than just flying her to the lure.

Anyone taking on a Peregrine should realise that they rarely show their true capabilities until their third or fourth season so should be flown season after season without fail so they can achieve them.

Verdict: Rolls Royce of falcons.