🧤Falconry & Eagle Management

Falconry & Eagle Management

Golden Eagles in Falconry

Golden eagles are the premier falconry species due to their:

• Trainability and intelligence
• Strength and capability
• Longevity in captivity (20-30+ years)
• Successful adaptation to training

Captive Breeding Restrictions & Wild Capture Requirements

Falconry as Depredation Solution

How It Works

• Licensed falconer captures depredating eagle (with proper permits)
• Eagle is trained and managed for the Practice of Falconry.
• Removes problem bird from depredating on ranches
• Eagle is preserved alive (vs. lethal removal)
• Falconer maintains eagle long-term

Cooperative Management Initiatives

Historical precedent exists for government-falconer partnerships:

• Peregrines: Successful captive breeding and wild release program (1970s-present)
• Aplomado Falcons: Restoration through captive breeding and release
• Bald Eagles: Government-sponsored recovery (DDT ban, habitat protection)
• Golden Eagles: Limited programs but potential exists for expanded cooperation

International Falconry Context

International Eagle Austringers Association represents global falconry community and advocates for eagle management and preservation through falconry.

The Case for Expanded Eagle Falconry

🪶 Eagle Feathers — History, Culture & Federal Law

Historical Context — From Abundance to Federal Protection

For thousands of years, eagle feathers held — and continue to hold — profound spiritual, ceremonial, and cultural significance for Indigenous peoples across North America. War bonnets, prayer fans, and healing ceremonies relied on eagle feathers as sacred objects representing strength, courage, and a direct connection to the Creator. Feathers were earned, gifted, and passed down through generations with deep reverence.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unregulated commercial hunting, poisoning campaigns, and habitat loss had decimated eagle populations across the continent. Bald eagles — once numbering in the hundreds of thousands — fell to fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states by the 1960s. Golden eagles fared only marginally better; aerial gunning campaigns in the American Southwest killed an estimated 20,000 or more birds between the 1940s and early 1960s in Texas alone, with ranchers and government agents targeting them as livestock threats.

Congress responded in two stages: the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 initially covered only bald eagles. After documented mass killings of golden eagles, the law was amended in 1962 to include golden eagles and was renamed the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA). Feathers, like every other part of a protected eagle, became federally regulated property overnight.

The Federal Laws That Apply

Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) — 16 U.S.C. § 668

Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) — 16 U.S.C. § 703

Eagles are also protected under the MBTA, which implements U.S. treaty obligations with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia covering over 1,000 migratory bird species. The MBTA independently prohibits possession of any migratory bird, feather, nest, or egg. Because eagles are covered under both BGEPA and MBTA, a feather possession charge can carry penalties under either statute — or both simultaneously.

Native American Religious Use — The Eagle Feather Law

Recognizing the central role of eagle feathers in Indigenous spiritual practice, Congress carved out a narrow exemption from BGEPA for enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. This exemption — codified at 50 C.F.R. § 22.60 and colloquially called the "Eagle Feather Law" — is the only legal pathway for a private individual to possess eagle feathers without being engaged in federally licensed research or falconry.

How Tribal Members Apply

• Submit USFWS Form 3-200-15a (Native American Tribal Religious Use Permit) to the Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office
• Provide tribal enrollment documentation
• Specify intended religious or ceremonial purpose
• Can request specific parts: whole bird, tail feathers, wing feathers, loose feathers, or other parts
• Permits are issued at no cost and are renewed annually
• Feathers received through the permit system may be passed to other enrolled tribal members for ceremonial use — but may not be transferred to non-tribal individuals

National Eagle Repository (NER) — How Feathers Are Distributed

All eagles that die in the United States — from power line electrocution, window strikes, vehicle collisions, wind turbine strikes, or any other cause — are supposed to be collected and sent to the National Eagle Repository, a USFWS facility located in Commerce City, Colorado. The NER receives, processes, stores, and distributes eagle carcasses and parts exclusively to enrolled tribal members holding valid religious use permits.

Falconry & Imping — The Feather Repair Exception

Licensed falconers who lawfully possess eagles under their federal falconry permits (50 C.F.R. § 21.82) may legally retain molted feathers from their birds for a specific purpose: imping. Imping is the centuries-old falconry technique of splicing a molted feather onto a damaged feather shaft to restore flight capability. It is considered essential raptor care under federal falconry standards.

Scientific, Educational & Salvage Permits

USFWS issues additional permits that allow possession of eagle feathers and specimens outside of the tribal and falconry pathways:

• Scientific Collecting Permit (50 C.F.R. § 21.23): Issued to qualified researchers for collection and possession of eagle specimens for bona fide scientific research. Requires institutional affiliation and peer-reviewed research justification.
• Educational Display Permit (50 C.F.R. § 21.24): Allows wildlife educators, raptor centers, and zoos to possess mounted specimens, feathers, and other parts for public education programs. Cannot be used for commercial purposes.
• Salvage / Depredation Permits: In limited circumstances, ranchers and land managers who have received eagle depredation take permits may be authorized to retain certain parts — but this requires explicit permit language and does not automatically include feathers.

Common Violations & Enforcement

USFWS Office of Law Enforcement actively investigates eagle feather trafficking. Feathers and parts appear in illegal markets — both physical and online — with whole golden eagle tail fans selling for hundreds to thousands of dollars on the black market. Common enforcement scenarios include:

• Online sales: eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and specialty sites regularly list eagle feathers, which USFWS monitors. Sellers are routinely prosecuted.
• Taxidermy transfers: Mounted eagles, even very old ones, cannot be legally transferred without permits. Inheriting a mounted eagle from a family member still requires federal authorization.
• Hobby and craft use: Using eagle feathers in dream catchers, jewelry, or craft items for sale — or even for personal use — is a federal violation.
• Non-tribal "spiritual" use: Non-Indigenous individuals claiming spiritual need have no exemption under BGEPA regardless of sincerely held religious beliefs. Courts have consistently upheld BGEPA against First Amendment challenges from non-tribal individuals.

🏥 Raptor Rehabilitation as a Conservation Tool

A landmark 2024 study in Wildlife Biology put a number on what rehabilitators have long believed: releasing treated raptors back into the wild generates measurable, lasting conservation gains — and golden eagles benefit more than almost any other species.

Research Question

Anthropogenic (human-caused) mortality is the leading threat to raptor populations across North America. This study asked a simple but untested question: can releasing rehabilitated raptors meaningfully offset those losses at the population level? Prior to this work, no peer-reviewed demographic analysis existed using post-release data at a continental scale.

Key Findings

Why It Matters for Golden Eagle Management

Golden eagle populations are already under pressure from wind turbine strikes, electrocution, lead poisoning, and illegal shooting. This study establishes that investing in rehabilitation centers isn't just animal welfare — it's a demographically defensible conservation strategy that can partially offset those losses. Given that golden eagles require 4–5 years to reach breeding age, every adult returned to the wild represents years of future reproductive potential.

Authors