1. Glossary of terms commonly used in falconry.

Words notated with (n,v) are often used (with appropriate modifications) as both nouns and verbs. Some words take odd forms, which I have tried to use as the entry; e.g. intermew or intermewing are not used, only intermewed.

aspergillosis   A fungal disease in the respiratory system; asper for short.

austringer   A falconer who hunts with accipiters (orig.); now includes both shortwings and broadwings, but an anachronistic term in any definition.

bate    To flutter off the fist or perch for a negative reason (fear, temper) when the raptor is restrained.

bell   A small round bell tied to the tail or legs of a hawk. The ringing of the bell gives away the location of a hawk that is down on its prey, or a falcon waiting-on. This makes it easier for a falconer to locate a hawk that is hidden by dense cover or long grass.

bewits   Small leather strips that fasten the bell to the legs.

bind (v)   To seize and hold onto quarry.

brail    A long strip of leather used to restrain one wing of a newly captured raptor, to prevent it from bating. Not used in modern falconry.

broadwings    Term that describes inclusively the class of Buteo and Parabuteo.

cadge    A portable perch used to carry several raptors into the field.

carrying    A habit where the raptor flies, holding onto quarry just caught, either from the ground or as a continuation of a stoop. Most falconers prefer to discourage this.

cast (n)   Two hawks (or more) flown in cooperative hunting. Wild mated pairs will often work this way. Harris' hawks are well known for working together in groups. Nestlings that are raised together will sometimes be flown in a cast.

cast (v)    To wrap a raptor in a cloth to restrain its wings (see sock). This is done for many reasons: jessing a new capture, imping feathers, etc. Alternate to anesthetizing.

casting (n,v)    The indigestible portion of a raptor's meal (bones, fur, feathers) is formed into a compact ball (casting, pellet) and is disgorged through the mouth.

cast off    A raptor's launch from the glove

check    When a hawk waiting on over a falconer, stoops at or chases wild game which the falconer has not intended the hawk to fly at. This happens when wild birds fly into or across the area where the falconer is hunting. The hawk is much more interested in stooping at the wild birds than waiting for the falconer to flush something for her.

cope    To trim the beak and/or talons of a raptor when they grow too long. This is necessary because they do not get as worn down in captivity as they do in nature.

crab (v)     Two raptors grappling in the air, whether over quarry, territory, or part of the mating ritual.

creance    A long line used to train the raptor to come to the falconer over a distance. About 50 - 150 ft. long.

enseaming    The process of feeding small stones (rangle) to a raptor in order to provide it with something to cast. A medieval method, but some still defend its value.

enter (v)     To train a raptor to a particular quarry or a new quarry. "I entered her on jacks..."

eyess/eyas/eyeass    Refers to a raptor still in the nest, or a raptor of any age that was obtained as a nestling.

falcon (n)    Any bird of the genus Falconidae.

falcon (adj,n)    This term has also been reserved for female falcons only. Male falcons are called tiercels. See tiercel.

feak (v)    Scrubbing the beak against the perch or branch to clean it of excess food/saliva. Songbirds do this constantly; birds of prey, only after feeding.

ferret    A small animal resembling and related to the weasel family. Ferrets are sometimes used to scare or bolt rabbits from their hole so that they may be flown at by hawks.

flush    To chase or scare quarry out into the open or into the air where it can be hunted by a hawk. It is important for the falconer to do this at a time when his/her hawk is in the best possible position and has the best advantage to overtake its quarry. See also serve.

frounce    A disease in the throat and mouth of raptors. Pigeons are often attributed as being carriers of this disease but frounce is not limited to pigeons.

gerkin    A name specifically for male gyrfalcons also called a tiercel gyrfalcon. See also tiercel and jerkin.

gorge (n,v)    To give a raptor as much as it can eat. "Has been gorged" or "Has a full gorge".

hack (n)    A state of liberty in which young raptors are allowed to run free and learn early hunting skills. It is provided with food and watched carefully for the day it doesn't eat it - indicating that it has caught something on its own.

haggard (n)    A wild adult raptor in its second year or more. A hawk used for falconry is a haggard if it was trapped from the wild in its second year or later, otherwise it is an intermewed passager or intermewed eyass.

halsband    A piece of light silk rope or cord about eighteen inches long that has a loop made at the top. The loop is put round the neck of an accipiter. The falconer then pulls down on the cord to bring the hawk into a horizontal position. The falconer then swings his arm forward hurling the hawk into the air at flushed quarry. This gives the hawk a boost in speed so that it doesn't to accelerate as much to overtake its quarry.

hawk    Used liberally to encompass all falcons, accipiters, and buteos. Originally used for birds belonging to the genus Accipiter.

hob    A name specifically used for male ferrets. See also ferret.

hood    A leather cap that covers a raptor's head, blinding it; used to keep it calm in strange situations, such as traveling by car. There are several styles of hood; the most popular are Dutch and Indian.

imp (v)    To repair a raptor's damaged feather by splicing on a part of a moulted feather at the point where the feather has been broken.

intermewed (adj)    A raptor that has molted while in captivity. Can be used to describe the age of the raptor, e.g. "3x intermewed passager" indicates the raptor was trapped during migration and has molted three times, and is thus in its fourth year.

jack    1. A name specifically for male merlins(Falco. Columbarius, or one of the merlin variants). Male merlins can also be referred to as tiercel merlins. See also tiercel.
   2. Jack is also short for jack-rabbit.

jangoli    An Arabic or Indian name for the piece of equipment known to European and American falconers as a halsband. See halsband.

jerkin    see gerkin.

jess, jesses,jessi    Leather straps attaching the legs of a raptor. The jesses are then attached to a swivel and leash, or are held by the falconer while the hawk is on the fist.

jess, Aylmeri    A two-piece jess consisting of an anklet held in place by a grommet, and a jess that passes through the grommet. The traditional jess was a single piece: because they were only changed if broken, escaped raptors would get caught up in branches and die. The Aylmeri jess allows the raptor to pull out the jess portion, reducing the risk.

jess, slitless    Jess that has no hole, or a very small hole, used when the raptor is free-flying.

jess, mews    Jesses that have a slit large enough to pass a swivel through.

jill    A name specifically for female ferrets. See also ferret.

leash    Leather, nylon or bungee cord, around 3 ft. long, used to fasten the raptor to its perch.

longwings    Generic term for any bird of genus Falconidae.

lure (n)    A simulated quarry on a string used to train raptors, control their flight, or call the raptor in to the falconer.

lure (v)    To call the raptor in, using a lure.

make in to    To approach a raptor on game. This is done so as to not frighten the raptor into flight.

manning, manned    The process of getting the raptor used to seeing people and not be afraid of them.

mantle (v)    To spread the wings and tail over food to protect it from being viewed by rivals (bird or human). NAFHH, however, defines mantling as the one-leg-same-wing stretch (see also warble), and names the above definition as "mantling over".

mews (n singular)    The main sleeping/living quarters for a raptor.

mutes (n)  mute (v)    The excrement of a raptor.

passage hawk    A raptor captured during its first southern migration.

pitch (n)    The height a falcon seeks to maintain while waiting for the falconer to serve it or flush quarry for it. (see waiting on).

put in    To hide in cover. ("The pheasant put in to that bush")

put over    To digest food.

rake away    When a hawk, waiting on over a falconer, leaves its position directly over the falconer by veering off in another direction in search of something else to do. The hawk may be bored with waiting for the falconer to flush something or may just enjoy soaring. Either way this puts the hawk out of position to stoop at flushed quarry.

rangle/rankle    Small stones fed to a raptor (see enseaming)

ring, ring up    The process taken by a falcon to attain its pitch. A falcon will gain height by flying in circles around the falconer.

rouse (v)    An action that all birds do, which involves raising all the feathers until erect, then shaking itself vigorously to allow the feathers to settle back into place.

row    A falcon's practice of gripping the perch with both feet and flapping its wings in place. Also used to describe flying in general.

running cunning    Is when a hawk that is flown in a cast lets the other members work hard at stooping or tiring out the prey and then the hawk takes the quarry just before it puts in or makes it to cover. This is a vice where the hawk has learned that he/she has does not have to work hard to obtain the reward.

seel, seeling    A medieval practice of aiding or speeding up the process of manning a newly caught raptor by stitching the eyes closed with a single thread. This method has fallen out of use by modern American and European falconers, but it is used all the time by modern Arab and Indian falconers. When done properly it does not hurt the hawk and does speed the manning process.

serve, serve up    To provide a falcon with quarry, particularly a easy catch.

sharp-set    When a hawk is hungry or at flying weight having very little body fat; displaying qualities of eagerness to hunt.

shortwings    Birds of the Genus accipiter.

slip (v)    To provide a hawk with an opportunity to fly at game. This refers flying hawks from the glove. It is important that the falconer gets close enough to the game and give his hawk as much of an advantage as is needed for the hawk to be able to take the game in a flight from the glove.

sock (n,v)    A slightly snug bag of lightweight material with an opening for the head, used to keep the wings of a freshly caught raptor restrained.

stoop (n,v)    The head first dive of a falcon from a height.

strike the hood    To loosen the traces but not remove the hood.

throw up    See toss-up.

tiercel    Any male raptor. The term came from the size of the male raptor, which is typically one-third smaller than the female.

tirings (n)    Meat given to a hawk that is tough and tendony; its goal is to use a raptor's excess energy by making it work for its food.

toss-up (n,v)    The arc upward that a falcon uses to brake after striking the prey from a stoop or to use its momentum to take pitch over its quarry and make another stoop at her prey.

waiting on    The circling above that a falcon does as it waits for the falconer to flush game.

warble    The stretching motion that lifts both bent wings over the head until they nearly touch, and sometimes spreading the tail as well.

weather (v)    Letting the bird sit outdoors to take in sun and fresh air.

yarak (n)    An Indian word indicating a readiness to hunt, often showing itself in certain postures. Generally only Accipiters, Buteos, and Eagles exhibit yarak.