Ask Greg Smith to name his favorite bird, and he will tell you it is a goshawk.
“The goshawk is one of the most aggressive and fiercest of the birds of prey," Smith said. "It is a very strong, fast and tenacious hunter and totally fearless. They are a beautiful bird when mature and are blue-gray in color with dark ruby red eyes.”
Smith raises and trains birds of prey in Salt Lake City to pursue their natural pastime of hunting. He owns several birds, including goshawks, Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, Harris hawks, peregrine falcons, prairie falcons, kestrels, a great horned owl and a gyrfalcon. Smith has been working with birds of prey for years. He's passed on the passion to his son, who has worked with the bird show at Hogle Zoo.
It is a long and demanding road to be able to own a bird of prey. It requires going through a licensing process with the Division of Wildlife Resources to become an apprentice. Apprentices are permitted to own a red-tailed or sparrow hawk.
Apprentice applicants are required to read and understand the Utah falconry proclamation and study other related resources, and take and pass the Utah falconry test with a score of 80 percent or better. Facilities and equipment need to be built to standard and then inspected and approved. Then comes the application for a state falconry certificate of registration and a federal falconry permit.
Only after receiving this permit is an individual allowed to capture, raise and train one of these remarkable birds.
After a number of years, apprentices can move up to a general permit that opens up the species of birds they can own. From there, they can become a master to help mentor other falconers and own an even wider variety of birds.
Smith's interest in birds of prey was sparked when he was 10 and watched some older kids in his neighborhood who owned kestrels. He fell in love with the sport and the birds when he attended a Boy Scout presentation at which a bird expert demonstrated what birds of prey could do.
Birds are natural hunters, and the process of training is done through positive reinforcement with food.
“When they are hungry, they will do anything for food — like any animal," Smith said.
In step one, a young bird is trained to eat food off the handler's hand. Step two is to have the bird jump a small distance to an outstretched hand and then to gradually increase the distance until it is flying 1,500 feet to the food. The next step is to introduce the bird to game. Smith feeds his birds dead pheasants or quails. From that point, they are ready to be introduced to catching live game in the wild.
Despite the exacting regulations, falconry can be a popular and beneficial sport. Falconers contributed to the comeback of peregrine falcons in Utah by breeding them and releasing them in the wild. The population has since rebounded enough for peregrines to be taken off the endangered species list.
According to a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 1995 the birds "benefited from the ban on DDT, the breakdown products of which caused thinning of falcon eggshells and adult mortality. The peregrine falcon also benefited from broad-based public involvement in the raising of thousands of falcons in captivity for their eventual reintroduction in the wild.”
Smith is a passionate and dedicated falconer. Last year, one of his beloved goshawks flew away. Smith tracked her for three days by sight and by the bells attached to her leg. He went without food and sleep and took time off from work.
The bird wouldn’t come for food because it had just eaten prior to getting away.
Smith would spot her, but she would fly off again into higher and higher trees. He had almost despaired of getting her back when he noticed she was panting on a perch in a tree in the hot weather. He grabbed the hose, and she came down to take a drink before flying off again. Smith’s son, Shawn, stopped by and sent his dad to get some rest while he got out the bird’s bath pan and filled it with water.
Smith had just started to rest when his dog came in, wagging his tail, followed by his son with the hawk on his fist. Smith was elated to have his bird back.
Raising a bird of prey is a time-consuming and expensive hobby. But practitioners say the joy it gives, as they watch a beautiful and fierce bird dive in a hunt or soar high overhead, is worth the cost.
Connie Lewis attended the University of Utah and majored in journalism. She has been learning through research and writing for the past 30 years.