The peregrine falcon, also known simply as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed. It can reach over 320 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop, making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a National Geographic TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph). As is typical for bird-eating (avivore) raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males.
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person involved in falconry: a "falconer" flies a falcon; an "austringer" flies a hawk or an eagle. In modern falconry, the red-tailed hawk, Harris's hawk, and the peregrine falcon are some of the more commonly used birds of prey. The practice of hunting with a conditioned falconry bird is also called "hawking" or "gamehawking", although the words hawking and hawker have become used so much to refer to petty traveling traders, that the terms "falconer" and "falconry" now apply to most use of trained birds of prey to catch game. Many contemporary practitioners still use these words in their original meaning, however.
In psychology and ethology, imprinting is any kind of phase-sensitive learning that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behaviour. It was first used to describe situations in which an animal or person learns the characteristics of some stimulus, which is therefore said to be "imprinted" onto the subject. Imprinting is hypothesized to have a critical period.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk, also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred underparts; females and juveniles are brown above with brown barring below. The female is up to 25% larger than the male – one of the greatest size differences between the sexes in any bird species. Though it is a predator which specialises in catching woodland birds, the Eurasian sparrowhawk can be found in any habitat and often hunts garden birds in towns and cities. Males tend to take smaller birds, including tits, finches, and sparrows; females catch primarily thrushes and starlings, but are capable of killing birds weighing 500 g (18 oz) or more.
Antonia Forest was the pseudonym of Patricia Giulia Caulfield Kate Rubinstein, an English writer..She wrote 13 books for children, published between 1948 and 1982. Her 10 best-known works concern the doings of the fictional Marlow family, and she also produced two historical novels about the Marlows' Elizabethan ancestors..
Lives of the Mayfair Witches is a trilogy of supernatural horror/fantasy novels by American novelist Anne Rice. It centers on a family of witches whose fortunes have been guided for generations by a spirit named Lasher. The series began in 1990 with The Witching Hour, which was followed by the sequels Lasher (1993) and Taltos (1994). All three novels debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
The prairie falcon is a medium-large sized falcon of western North America. It is about the size of a peregrine falcon or a crow, with an average length of 40 cm (16 in), wingspan of approximately 1 meter (40 in), and average weight of 720 g (1.6 lb). As in all falcons, females are noticeably bigger than males. Though a separate species from the peregrine, the prairie falcon is basically an arid environment divergence of the early peregrine falcon lineage, able to subsist on less food than the peregrine, and generally lighter in weight than a peregrine of similar wing span. Having evolved in a harsh desert environment with low prey density, the prairie falcon has developed into an aggressive and opportunistic hunter of a wide range of both mammal and bird prey. It will regularly take prey from the size of sparrows to approximately its own weight, and occasionally much larger. It is the only larger falcon native only to North America. It is resident from southern Canada, through western United States, and into northern Mexico. The prairie falcon is popular as a falconry bird, where with proper training it is regarded as being as effective as the more well known peregrine falcon.
Autumn Term is the first in the series of novels for children about the exploits of the Marlow family, written by Antonia Forest and published in 1948. Set in the post-war years, the novel narrates the school life of the two youngest Marlows, identical twins Nicola and Lawrence, during their first term at the fictional 'Kingscote School for Girls'. The series then continues with The Marlows and the Traitor.
The Marlows and the Traitor is the second in the series of novels about the Marlow family by Antonia Forest, first published in 1953. The story is set during the Easter holidays in a small fishing village on the South Coast of England. It is the first in the series to feature sailing and the first to have a major male character. In fact there are two significant male characters, Peter Marlow and the traitor. This story, more than most in the series, focuses on the younger members of the family. In the introduction to the Girls Gone By edition of The Marlows and the Traitor, Forest admits she never intended to write a series of books about the Marlows. At the time of writing the Nuremberg Trials were happening and Forest decided to write a book about a traitor. Only then did it occur to her to use the Marlows in the book.
End of Term is a book by British children's author Antonia Forest, published in 1959. End of Term is the fourth Marlow book, between Falconer's Lure and Peter's Room.
Training raptors is a complex undertaking. Books containing advice by experienced falconers are still rudimentary at best. Many important details vary between individual raptors, species of raptors and between places and times. The keeping and training of any raptor is strictly and tightly regulated by U.S. state and federal laws. Anyone in the USA who is interested in flying raptors must seek out a state and federally licensed falconer to sponsor them through an apprenticeship period lasting two years at a minimum, and often considerably longer.
Antonia Jane Bird, FRSA was an English producer and director of television drama and feature films.
The Golden Eagle Festival, or simply Eagle Festival, is an annual neo-traditional
Lorant de Bastyai was a member of the international falconry community. He is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom for establishing the Welsh Hawking Club. He was also an honorary member of the British Falconers Club, the Hawking Club of Great Britain, the North American Falconry Club, the Austrian, German and French Associations. He was born in Szeged, Hungary in 1910. His father's love of hunting, horses and racing pigeons fuelled Lorant's early passion for nature and birds in particular. A chance encounter with a visiting British falconer launched a career that would span 60 years and have a profound impact in reviving a sport that had become all but extinct.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 5, 2002, and May 17, 2003, the twenty-eighth season of SNL.
Phillip Edward Brougham Glasier was Britain's leading expert on hawking and falconry. Glasier initiated a new interest in falconry in both the UK and the United States of America. He spent much of his life involved with the conservation and breeding of raptors and bringing them to public attention through the foundation of the Falconry Centre, Newent, Gloucestershire, as well as through books, lectures and public demonstrations. He founded the Hawk Trust with John Burkett and the Raptor Breeders' Association.
"Call Girl" is the fourteenth episode of the eleventh season and the 202nd overall episode of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 10, 2013, and is written by Wellesley Wild and directed by John Holmquist. In the episode, when Peter loses everything in a lawsuit, Lois gets a job. She starts working on a phone sex line, and ends up with Peter as a client.
Peter's Room is a book by British children's author Antonia Forest, published in 1961. It is the fifth instalment of the modern Marlow series, between End of Term and The Thuggery Affair. Unlike the school stories for which Forest is best known, Peter's Room is set entirely at the family's home.
The Thuggery Affair is the sixth in a series of novels about the modern Marlow family by children's author Antonia Forest, first published in 1965. It is preceded by Peter's Room and succeeded by The Ready-Made Family.
The Eagle Huntress is a 2016 internationally co-produced Kazakh-language documentary film directed by Otto Bell and narrated by executive producer Daisy Ridley. It follows the story of Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii, Mongolia, established in 1999.
