LEWISBURG — Hunting the way that ancients did is only one of the three separate things that Cheri Heimbach, of Lewisburg, master falconer of Baywing Falconry and the apprentice coordinator for the Pennsylvania Falcon and Hawk Trust, (PFHT) gets to do with her birds of prey.
“The basic point is falconry is the oldest hunting sport known to man,” Heimbach said, “It’s 4,000 years old and it’s how they put meat on the table before modern weapons were created.”
According to the PFHT, which is the state club, Japanese records show falcons given as presents to Chinese princes around 2200 B.C. and pictorial records and wall hangings of hunters with falcons on their wrists have been dated to 1700 B.C. in Persia. The sport had gained popularity in medieval Europe and by the middle of the 18th century began to decline in England and Europe.
But it appears the sport never went completely away, as a dedicated handful still revel in the husbandry and sport of falconry. For example, PFHT started in 1976 with a total of 55 falconers at the end of the its first year.
In addition to hunting, Heimbach is a propagator, or in other words, a breeder of birds and she travels to schools, groups and events to do educational talks. According to Heimbach, during the year, she spoke at 19 different places with groups ranging from five people to over 25,000. Most of the talks are scheduled in Pennsylvania but she has gone as far as New Jersey to an elementary school.
The children, she said, love seeing the birds.
According to Heimbach, the annual state field meet, featuring dozens of falconers from the PFHT, will be held Jan. 5-8 at Country Cupboard, Lewisburg.
“Hunters will be split into hunting groups and then we’ll meet up with everyone after and tell tall tales of what our birds did — how many rabbits they got,” she said.
The redtail isn’t the only bird that Heimbach hunts with — she currently has 13 birds of prey which represent the three main types: Hawks, falcons and owls.
Outside at the Baywing Falconry perches, one white Gyrfalcon, a 3-year-old named Starlight, and two Harris hawks, Cobra, a 4-year-old Harris hawk which had been injured during a hunting accident, and Shiva, a 9-year-old Harris hawk which is still hunting, perched like silent sentries during a light drizzle.
Heimbach said the injured Harris hawk will be introduced into the breeding program, where each bird stays in its own “mew,” or housing facility for birds of prey.
“The only birds to share a cage are a bonded pair.” Heimbach said. “Or they’d eat each other.”
According to Heimbach, the redtail hawk is one of the most common in North America while the Harris hawks generally come from Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
In addition to two types of hawks, Heimbach also has two types of falcons: The Gyrfalcon and the African Barbary.
Currently she has a barbary falcon under a year old who is living in the house with her. The bird is smaller than those outside and it is full grown.
“(Barbarys) are fully grown at three months. But mentally it takes a while to grow-up,” Heimbach said, explaining she gets her birds initially while they are very young and keeps them in the house at first in order to get the birds accustomed to her.
In another area, a large mew holds a pair of Eagle owls. Heimbach said the species originates from Europe and are closely related to horned owls but are much larger. The two are destined to be a breeding pair, she said, as soon as the female, Penny, is old enough.
Currently, Penny is not quite 2 and she has to be 5 in order to lay eggs. Penny is about a third larger than Whistler, the 5-year-old male.
All female birds of prey are larger than the males, Heimbach said.
According to Heimbach, owls can live up to 50 years in captivity while in the wild it is about half that.
Heimbach admitted that with the Harry Potter series, the owl has become more popular but she warned all the birds of prey are not pets, they are wild animals. Hers are trained but never tame, she said.
And there is a process to become a falconer. “You must have permits from the PA game commission,” Heimbach said.
Additionally, she said someone interested is required to find a sponsor and do a two-year apprenticeship to learn how to properly care for the birds and to protect the community.
For example, her birds eat a whole animal diet as close as possible to what they would have in nature, Heimbach said. Such as mice, quail and chicken.
Potential falconers also go through a written examination along with showing that a proper facility is constructed and must have them inspected.
One of the duties Heimbach has as the state’s apprentice coordinator is guiding interested parties and introducing them to falconers so they have an opportunity to get to know potential sponsors.
For more information or to schedule an educational talk, call 966-9539 or e-mail
baywings@dejazzd.com.
Staff writer Tammy Burke can be reached at 570-742-9671 or e-mail.
