Concerns

1. Parahawking in Nepal is a conservation project, surely this new venture in Spain is purely for commercial gains.
2. How is Parahawking in Spain with Harris Hawks going to help Vulture conservation?
3. Why use Harris Hawks as opposed to Egyptian Vultures which you use in Nepal or even Eagles, surely they are more impressive right?
4. Harris Hawks are known as hunting birds, however you won't be hunting with your birds.
5. Harris Hawks are notoriously easy birds to train, this will encourage more people to try Parahawking, surely any Paraglider can get his own Harris Hawk and fly with it.

1. Yes, Parahawking in Nepal is a conservation project, we have been training birds of prey and most recently Vultures in Nepal to raise awareness for vultures across Asia, but it does has a commercial edge to it. We also provide the opportunity for individuals to experience flying and interacting with our birds in their own environment in the form a tandem Parahawking flight. Currently the price for this is 120 Euros of which we donate 10 Euros from every flight towards vulture conservation projects in Nepal, so far we have raised several thousands of dollars and helped fund the Pokhara vulture safe zone project. We believe that we can replicate what we do Nepal and bring the concept to mainland Europe, however this will not happen overnight, remember it took us 10 years in Nepal. Whilst tandem Parahawking is a commercial venture, we believe that by experiencing a parahawking flight, it sparks a wider understanding and creates an interest in Birds of prey and conservation as a whole.
2. When we first started out in Nepal, we were handed a couple of 2 day old Black Kite chicks that needed rescuing, at that point it never occured to me that it would lead onto what it has today. However I always believed that if you do something exciting, new and do it right, people will talk about it. We are under no illusion that Parahawking will prevent the extinction of the Asia's vultures however we made sure that it got lots of attention and that's where conservation starts, with awareness. We will use Parahawking in Spain and the attention that it brings as a platform to promote bird of prey conservation as whole, including the vultures in Asia and Europe. Hopefully somewhere down the line we can also raise some more funds too.
3. I have been a falconer and bird trainer for almost 30 years, yes I started when I was very young. Over the years, I've witnessed many birds reach their full potential, especially whilst hunting, but I've seen many more that never do and far too many sitting around on perches doing nothing at all. I've trained several Black Kites to fly with the Paragliders, each one better than the last, but it wasn't until I got Brad, our gutsy little Male Black Kite I realised these birds can do far more than we ever hoped or imagined. I'd not seen a trained Black Kite fly like him before or since, his turn of speed and his tenacity is more than impressive, it's quite remarkable. Brad inspired me, I wanted to show a different side to a commonly flown Hawk such as the Harris Hawk to see what other arsenal of tricks it has up it's sleeve. Harris Hawks are famed their adaptive and intelligent hunting skills, i want to see how versatile they really are. They are social birds, they live, fly and hunt in pairs or groups, they are team players, as a Paraglider, I wanted to be part of their team and learn from them, that's why we got two and not just one.
   Egyptian vulture are notoriously difficult to obtain in Europe, they are very protected and rarely bred in captivity, however I would buy one or two tomorrow if i was offered them, by legal means of course.
   One of the reasons Parahawking is so successful in Nepal is because it is accessible to anybody. Our goal is to offer the Parahawking experience to as many people as possible, to allow them the feeling of free flight with one of natures aerial experts, to spread the word on vulture conservation and to raise as much money as possible for raptor conservation projects. Our Egyptian Vultures are perfect birds for Parahawking, they are friendly, intelligent, gentle and social birds with great temprements, who will fly and land on anybody's arm during a flight, In addition, they are 100% obedient when we're flying, are amazing at conserving energy and finding thermals but at the same time smart and lazy enough to know that when the flight is over, to fly straight home. As impressive as Eagles are, and I'm a huge fan of them, it is for all of these reasons, we don't use Eagles for commercial Parahawking. The same can also be said for Falcons, I see no benefit to training a falcon such as a Peregrine to fly with Paragliders. These birds are not natural saoring birds, they are stealth hunters with only one goal in life, to kill, and they also do this at speeds up to 200mph or more. In addition they have very little manouverability due to their short pointed wings and even shorter tail. A peregrine falcon striking your paraglider or paraglider lines could be both dangerous for the bird and the pilot.
4. We don't plan on using our Harris Hawks for hunting, our aim is to show a different side to the Harris Hawk and demostrate it's social and flying skills and superior intelligence.
5. Yes, unfortunately Harris Hawks have a reputation for being "easy" birds to train. Let me make this clear. No bird is "easy" to train! It takes time, dedication, patience, knowledge and skill to train any raptor, some more than others. Harris Hawks are considered good beginners birds because of their easy going temperament, forgiving nature and high intelligence. Just because a bird processes these character traits, it doesn't mean that it will be a good bird. in fact it's because of these traits that there are more sub-standard Harris Hawks than there are good ones, "easy" birds makes lazy bird trainers.
   

   If you are inspired by Parahawking and would like to train and fly with your own bird then you should know exactly what's involved. We are highly skilled bird trainers and falconers with decades of experience. We may make it look easy, but it's really not. Our birds are good because we live in a region where we can fly with them EVERY DAY, sometimes for up to an hour at a time. We understand about the birds biology, it's dietary requirements, weight control, fitness and conditioning, we recognise when it's sick or unhappy and know how to treat it, we understand it's potential and it's limitations, we are also a team of dedicated people who live and breath raptors and paragliding. Birds of prey are simply not something that you can pack away with your glider when it is not flyable. Please think long and hard about whether you have the time, knowledge, patience and skills to train a bird of prey to fly with you and then remind yourself how many times you got out to fly in the last month and would this really be enough to keep the bird happy, healthy and fit.

• Ask yourself (and your spouse) can you dedicate that amount of time to it, everyday for the rest of the birds life. If the answer is no then forget it!
• If the answer is yes then, give up your day job - you seriously think you can hold down a 9-5 and train a bird to fly with you on weekends.
• Start studying, digest as many books on falconry as you possibly can.
• Attend a Falconry course - Ben Long Falconry courses in the UK is a good place to start.
• Find out what the laws and regulations are in your country, you may find that it's illegal to keep raptors anyway.
• Get a mentor, someone with lots of experience, they'll tell you how they have gone through more marriages than birds, encouraging words!
• Move to the country, or at least out of your apartment and into somewhere with a large garden and understanding neighbors.
• Start saving, birds, equipment, radio tracking, aviaries, food, vet bills, insurance etc, it all adds up... to a lot!

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