Here at First Class Falcony, Alan Greenhalgh, founder and owner of this falconry in West London, has over 35 years of experience caring for and training birds of prey. When only 12 years old, Alan had his first bird of Prey, and now has a large team of both birds and people. As these birds of prey are such an important part of our team, we thought we would proudly introduce you to some of these majestic creatures from our base and their home in West London. Below is some of the team of birds of prey.
Jaffa
Jaffa is a peregrine Falcon and this species is known for being the fastest bird in the world. When these birds of prey make their hunting swoop, they can reach speeds of 200 mph, making them not only the fastest bird, but the fastest animal.
Dennis & Wilson
These two members of the family living with us in West London are Saker Falcons. This is the largest species of the falcon birds of prey species. Their wing span can be 38 to 50 inches across (that’s 97 to 126 centimetres).
These birds are known to hunt horizontally rather than swooping from height. They also tend to use an old nest made by other bird species when they have young, rather than make their own.
Ginger
Ginger is an American Kestral. These are the smallest of falcons and originate in North Amercia. These birds tend to practise more energy saving methods of hunting, including perching in a nearby tree or clifftop to scan around for any prey. If it does hunt from the air, they provide a beautiful sight as they hover over their prey, beating their wings rapidly, while they home in ready for capture.
This bird of prey has some distinctive sounds and bird calls, that can be interpreted even by human ears to mean different things. For example, they make a rapid series of ‘klee’ sounds when the bird is agitated or exited in some way.
Jimmy & Billy
These birds of prey is among the most well-known species we house at First Class Falconry in West London. They are Harris Hawks. They were previously known as the bay-winged hawk or a husky hawk. It gained its current name of Harris Hawk, when one John James Audubon, a ornithologist, naturalist named this bird after his companion and financial supporter, Edward Harris. Edward Harris accompanied him on two expeditions to discover and observe birds of prey in America.
These birds of prey are medium – large in size in comparison to other birds of prey and are known for their unique hunting tactics of cooperatively working in packs with others to bring down prey.
The rest of our family
We also have an abundance of other species of birds of prey, including a number of owls, and even a Kookaburra called Kookie. We warmly invite you to contact us and arrange to meet our birds, to learn, not just more about the different species of birds of prey, but more about our individual family members in west London.
