Honeybank

WHAT SHOULD EVENT ORGANISERS AND DISPLAY FALCONERS DO?

It behoves all those involved with giving and/or organising falconry displays to do all in their power to reduce the risks of the birds used in such displays from spreading any AI infection. We must also ensure that we obey all legal requirements and convince the general public that we are doing so.

All falconers should avoid hunting any avian quarry while ever there is a risk of AI in the UK . If there is an outbreak (outside quarantine) of AI, the free flying of raptors (and also pigeon racing etc) is likely to be banned, and there would also probably be a movement ban on captive birds in general. This means that all falconry displays are likely to be banned.

The main food source for captive hawks etc (i.e. quail and day-old chicks) is likely to be affected by movement restrictions.

As a common sense preventative measure, it is recommended that all aviaries should be enclosed, thus preventing any contamination by wild or feral birds. Where falconry centres and similar institutions do not have enough enclosed aviary accommodation for all their birds, plans for any possible outbreak of AI should be made as a matter of urgency.

Everyone involved in falconry must work to protect both the birds in their care and the general public from disease and injury, and must instigate biosecurity measures at their base and at every event they attend.

These biosecurity measures should include:

Physical barriers between public/visitors and birds.
Signage warning of biosecurity measures.
General public and visitors not allowed to handle/touch any bird except under strict supervision.
Any person allowed to touch a bird must only be allowed to do so while wearing a protective glove.
All such persons must be given a hand wipe immediately after the handling.
At base and at all events, faecal material, casts etc must be collected and properly disposed of at the end of each day and also at the end of an event.
At base, all equipment must be cleansed and disinfected on a daily basis.
All equipment must be cleansed and disinfected before and after every event.
All birds should be checked on a regular basis by a veterinary surgeon.
All staff must wash/cleanse their hands thoroughly before leaving the area where the birds are held (i.e. the weathering, mews, aviaries etc) at both base and events.
At events, the weathering must never be left unmanned with birds on their blocks.
At events, the show organiser and the person in charge of the birds must have emergency contact details for a local veterinary surgeon.
Posters detailing all of these measures must be displayed prominently for the public at every event where a falconry display is staged, and also at base if public and/or visitors have access. Download copies here .

Current Defra regulations for falconry displays within the British Isles ( for the purposes of this licence, the term "British Isles" includes England, Scotland , Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man; the Channel Islands are not included in the British Isles for these purposes) are covered by a general license ; as such, individual falconers, event organisers etc do not need to apply for a specific license. However, all involved must adhere to the regulations of the general license, and these include;

Birds of prey must be kept separate from poultry at all events.
A nominated person must be designated as the event organiser and a person made responsible for keeping the records set out as detailed below.
A record of all attendees must be kept for at least three months, which includes the following information for each falconer:

Full name
Home address
Telephone number
Number and species of birds at the event

Gatherings (i.e. where birds from more than one source are at the same event) must not be attended by any birds brought into the UK from any other EU Member State in the previous four weeks. There is an EU wide ban on the import of live birds from third countries already in place.
A named veterinary surgeon (or another veterinary surgeon if the named person is unavailable) must be contactable for advice and to attend in the event of any suspect disease.
If sales of birds are taking place at the event, a record of all such sales must be kept by the event organiser for at least three months. This must include the name, address and telephone number of both the seller and the buyer, and any identifying features or individual identification of the purchased bird(s), i.e. ring numbers and/or chip details.
Biosecurity advice must be available at the event.
Event organisers must notify the local State Veterinary Service (SVS) Animal Health Office (AHO) nearest to the event at least 14 days prior to the event taking place . Notification must include date, location, details of the event organiser and anticipated numbers and types of birds. If changes to the timing of the gathering need to be made at short notice, in the event of circumstances such as bad weather etc, the local SVS AHO must be notified; this can take place within 14 days.