Eyas

...Eyas are baby falcons or hawks, even eagles;

these in particular are Peregrines,

a species that was near extinction in the 70's.

I can't help but anthropormorphize.

"Hey mom,my tummy and feet are so huge I can barely even move!"

Only a mother falcon could coo over these guys. Can you just hear her? "Ooooh, my babies are sooo big, see the dark pin feathers!"

With those falcon faces, I may be wrong. With such serious eyes, maybe they think, "I gotta get me some meat!"

Did you know female falcons have bigger talons than males?

Then the the eyas fledge, becoming non-eyas, out into the world they go; land where they may! Out, into the dangerous world in which jays pester and dive bomb the poor thing which had inadvertently landed near the jay's nest until the young falcon is driven from his spot.
What big pantaloons they have, even this tame falcon with jesses and leash. I learned that modernday falconers send their birds after targets, not game. The animals soar and dive in protected freedom.

In "Wild China" nomadic falconers train and use eyas they've captured. After ten years the birds are set free. The documentary, "Wild China", introduced an aged falconer in Mongolia preparing to let his last bird go, ending the local custom thousands of years old.

It seems that in the years since this film, falconers have discovered eco tourism. Trips to see the Falconry Festivals fill Google searches.

Mike's Falconry has everything if you want to get started.

This fledged falcon seems wild and free.

Diving as fast as can be imagined, let's hope for a successful kill.

Oh, to soar high over the world!

What wouldn't I give!

...