Copy of `The National Birds of Prey Centre - Glossary`

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The National Birds of Prey Centre - Glossary Category: Animals and Nature > Birds of prey Date & country: 23/11/2007, UK Words: 72

Austringer
A person who flies Hawks rather than Falcons

Bewitt
The strap used to hold the bell on the birds leg.

Block
The type of perch that a trained Falcon prefers.

BNHS
Bombay Natural History Society

Booze
When a bird of prey takes a drink - that's where the term 'boozer' meaning pub comes from.

Bow Perch
The type of branch like perch that trained Hawks and Buzzards prefer.

Brood
To sit on and keep eggs and the young birds warm.

Buzzard
A medium sized raptor with broad wings, generally living in more wooded country.

CA
The Countryside Alliance.

Cadge
A wooden frame perch which can be carried with shoulder straps for travelling trained birds - this is probably where the name 'golf caddy' came from. Or a wooden box with padded top to use to travel birds.

Captive Breeding
Breeding animals or birds in captivity.

Carcass
The body of a dead animal or bird.

Carrion
An animal or bird that is dead.

CFF
Campaign for Falconry.

CITES
Convention on International Trade in Endagered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

CLA
Country Landowners Association.

Close Ring
A seamless metal band or ring put on a birds leg at about ten days old for identification.

Clutch
The size or number of eggs that a bird lays.

Creanse
A long nylon line used to control a bird during the training period.

Crepuscular
A bird which flies at dawn and dusk in the half light.

DDT
Di-chloro-di-phenyl-tri-chloro-ethane. Used as a Pesticide, it was extensively used during the Second World War among Allied troops and certain civilian populations to control insect typhus and malaria vectors, and was then extensively used as an agricultural insecticide after 1945. When DDT got into the food chain it caused problems at the top, particularly for the Peregrine. The numbers of Peregrine declined rapidly because DDT was causing the egg shells to thin and the eggs to break before hatching.

DETR
The Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions. The government body that legislates and controls the registration of certain birds of prey in the United Kingdom. http://www.detr.gov.uk

Diurnal
Coming out or living in the daylight.

Dummy Bunny
A rabbit shaped lure. It is dragged along the ground to teach the bird to chase and hunt rabbits.

Eagle
Generally large birds living in more open countryside, with long, broad wings a longish tail and very powerful feet.

Eagle Owls
Large owls that were thought of as Eagle like, or related to Eagles - which in fact they are not.

EC
The European Community.

EU
The European Union.

FACE
Federation of European Hunting Organisations.

Falcon
A small to medium raptor, generally living in open countryside, with long pointed wings, a shortish tail, brown eyes and a 'tooth' on either side of the hook on the beak. Falcons live in open countryside hunting from sometimes a great height and stooping fast towards the quarry.

Falconiformes
The diurnal birds of prey.

Flush
When the quarry breaks cover.

Hawk
A small to medium bird with short rounded wings, a long tail, usually yellow, orange or red eyes, living in wooded countryside.

Hood
The leather cap or hat used, mainly on falcons, to 'hoodwink' them into thinking it is nighttime and therefore to calm them, particularly during training and hunting.

Hybrid
A cross between two different species of bird.

IDA
Infectious Disease Agent.

IFAW
International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Immature
A young bird in its first years plummage.

Imprint
A bird that has been hand reared and is confused as to whether it is a bird or a human.

Incubator
A machine used to hatch eggs by emulating the mother bird. The eggs are kept warm, turned each day and even allowed to cool very slightly to simulate the mother bird getting up to feed.

Jesses
The leather straps placed on the birds legs.

Juvenile
A young bird in immature plummage.

Leash
The braided terylene line used to tether birds.

Lure
A roughly prey shaped item tied with a piece of meat and swung or dragged for a raptor to chase.

MAFF
The Minestry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. http://www.maff.gov.uk

Mews
Indoor quarters for keeping birds of prey (from the French 'Muer' - to moult).

Monocrotophos
Monocrotophos is an organophosphorus insecticide and acaricide which works systemically and on contact. It is extremely toxic to birds and is used as a bird poison. It is also very poisonous to mammals. It is used to control a variety of sucking, chewing and boring insects and spider mites on cotton, sugarcane, peanuts, ornamentals, and tobacco.

Moult
The process of the bird losing or dropping its old feathers and re-growing new ones.

NAC
The National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, CV8 2LZ

Nocturnal
A bird or animal that comes out after dark.

NT
The National Trust.

Owl
A bird, not related to other raptors but to Nightjars that hunts birds and animals, usually at night.

Pair Bond
The bird equivalent of marriage.

PAW
The Partnership for action Against Wildlife crime.

Quarry
The bird or animal that a bird of prey is hunting.

Raptor
A more scientific name for a bird of prey.

Recycle
When a bird either losses or has the first clutch of eggs removed and lays a second clutch.

RSPB
The Royal Society for the protection of Birds.

SCA
The Scottish Countryside Alliance.

Siblings
Brothers and/or sisters.

Soar
To glide at a good height using hot air currents.

Stoop
To drop or dive with folded wings from a great height towards the ground.

Strigiformes
See Owls.

Swivel
The metal item that goes between the leash and the jesses to prevent any tangling.

Talons
Claws on a bird of prey.

Taxon Advisory Group
TAGs examine the conservation needs of entire taxa, or group of related species. Some examples of taxonomic groupings are: Falconiformes, Strigiformes, hornbills, amphibians, felids (cats)... Serving as committees of expert advisors, Taxon Advisory Groups provide a forum for discussing husbandry, veterinary, ethical and other issues that apply to entire taxa. They establish priorities for management, research and conservation; and recruit qualified individuals to carry out these activities.

Tiercel
A male Peregrine (a 'tierce' or a 'third' smaller than a female).

USFWS
US Fish and Wildlife Service

Waiting On
Circling above quarry waiting for it to flush.

Weathering Ground
An open area where a trained bird is put to get sunlight.

WWF
World Wildlife Fund.

ZSL
Zoological Society of London