Some of the largest and smallest birds of prey in North America will be coming to the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Juan de Fuca branch this weekend.
As part of the Flight of the Falcon program, falconers Kristine and Allan Marshall will teach kids between the ages of six and 12 about different species of raptors, as well as the history behind the 4,000-year-old art of falconry.
On Saturday afternoon, the duo will be bringing in four of their own raptors – Khaleesi and Solstice, gyrfalcons that are the largest falcons in North America; Jack and Jane, American Kestrels, the smallest falcons in North America; and a goshawk named Rem, which kids will be able to see and interact with during the one-hour program.
“It’s just to see the variety, the size and difference, and understand a little bit about how they hunt, what is their habitat, how do we help preserve their habitat and a little bit about their physical characteristics,” said Kristine, noting this is the second year the program has run at the local branch on Island Highway.
“It’s great because kids can come and be introduced to birds of prey and they have all the resources of the library behind them to support them.”
Allan’s passion for falconry began at a young age. Growing up in England, many of his friends’ parents did falconry – the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat through the use of a trained bird of prey.
When he came to Canada as an adult, he was able to eventually pursue it. Kristine’s passion flourished shortly after. She was Allan’s assistant for some time before becoming a falconer herself. Now, the couple use the birds to hunt ducks and geese on large farms in Greater Victoria, up-Island, and the mainland.
According to Kristine, the art of falconry is about creating a bond between man and bird – and they most certainly should not be considered household pets.
“The one thing that people misunderstand sometimes is that you have a pet or you have a domesticated animal and you don’t. You have a tamed wild animal,” she said. “It’s really neat to actually be with those birds and they allow you to hunt with them. It’s a really unique experience to go out and see what they do, to be part of what they would naturally do.”
While the birds may seem daunting to some at first, by the end most kids are excited for the chance to see the raptors up close.
“The great thing about the program is when the kids learn about birds of prey, they learn about their environment. They learn about the conservation aspect of it and what falconers do as far as preserving environment and conservation,” said Kristine, noting some kids have gone on to see how they can help in their birds of prey in their communities as well.
Vruti Patel, public services librarian with the Greater Victoria Public Library, said while the 40-person program is already full (there is a wait list online), she hopes hands-on programs such as the Flight of the Falcon will teach residents that there’s more to the library than just books.
“A lot of the program that we offer, we want to try and encourage families to see beyond the books. This means offering programs that they may not connect the library to, but of course they would come in and want to learn more.”
“We want to spark their curiosity, we want them to research, we want them to read about these types of events and hope that they will continue to use the library as a resource in finding information,” Patel said.