Paragraph on “What is a falconer?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

What is a falconer?

A falconer is a person who trains flying birds of prey for the purpose of catching wild quarry. It is one of the oldest sports in the world and falconers have been practising this sport in Western Europe since the fourth century. Hawking birds, as the birds used for falconry are generally called, are divided into two groups — the long-winged, dark-eyed falcons, which include such birds as peregrines, kestrels, merlins and hobbies ; and the short-winged yellow-eyed hawks, such as the goshawk and the sparrow-hawk. The female falcon is usually preferred to the male fierce, because she is larger.

From the thirteenth until the seventeenth century falconry flourished in Europe, especially as a sport. Records show that it was especially popular amongst women.. People of all classes could enjoy the sport, as it was just as possible for a humble yeoman to train a bird, as it was for a squire, although he probably had a group of falconers in charge of his array of hawks. For the poorer classes it was also a way of providing food.

The invention of the gun sealed the fate of falconry, for. it was much less expensive to keep a gun than a collection of hawks and falconers to tend them. By the end of the seventeenth century falconry had greatly diminished, but it survives today as a sport.