Frequently Asked Questions
Covid and what we’re doing.
All equipment and leather gloves are sanitised and quarantined for 72 hours minimum before they are used/touched again. All visitors are required to follow any rules we have in place at the time of your visit to keep our staff and the public safe. Any member of the public that refuses to follow the guidelines and rules in place will be asked to leave the premises. We follow the 2 meter social distancing guidelines where possible throughout your experience, however, this cannot always be guaranteed.
We have a range of sanitising options on site throughout any one period of time ranging from disposable gloves to a supply of face coverings and hand sanitiser. You will be asked to apply hand sanitiser before, after and during your experience to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
If you feel unwell before or on the day of your experience, please alert a member of staff as soon as possible and report your symptoms to the track and trace app. Please do not turn up for your experience. Please contact the office and your experience can be rebooked for a later date.
If you have any other questions or queries regarding our Covid-19 precautions or anything else, please do get in touch, we’d be happy to help.
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) and what we're doing.
Cases are on the rise and we are following strict protocol to ensure the safety of our birds of prey, staff and guests. We have subsequently upped our hygeine standards in regards to equipment and birds of prey and their enclosures. We get our information directly from the .Gov.uk website and follow all directions both from there and DEFRA.
Can you give me more information on the vouchers?
The voucher can be downloaded for immediate use via your confirmation email. Vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. To book, please contact us on 07544696199 or info@thehawkingcentre.co.uk. We do suggest a lead time of at least 4-6 weeks when booking your voucher and 4-8 weeks for the VIP Full Day and the Talons & Targets Experience.
How many participants in a group?
With each group, the numbe can vary. Having been closed for 18 months due to covid, we have made the decision to honour the vouchers valid across that period and so, means we are inundated with bookings! Don’t panic, we can still guarantee you an exciting personal experience that will create lasting memories. We can also cater for any group size, should you wish to bring more than 6 people. Please contact the office on info@thehawkingcentre.co.uk or 07544696199.
When do you run the experiences?
All of our experiences are run seven days a week all year through. Wednesdays, we have an ongoing booking that occurs everyweek and so we do not take bookings for Wednesdays.
What are your company details?
What do the spectators do?
What should we wear?
Please wear comfortable clothes for the weather and sturdy, closed toe shoes. Please also wear long-sleeved clothing.
What happens if it is inclement weather?
What age limit is there?
We don’t have an age limit in place. However, we do have a height limit of 1200mm tall. Any persons under the age of 18 must be accompanied by and adult participant or spectator at all times throughout the experience.
How and Why we do what we do
Understandbly, there is a bit of a misconception around falconry and keeping birds of prey so we thought we’d put your mind to rest and answer a few of the more common questions!
Do you starve the birds to make them fly?
Absolutely not! We weigh every bird every day to ensure it is at a healthy weight to fly to our guests. Birds of Prey are extremely food motivated and we use Positive Reinforcement when training our birds. When a bird of prey reaches a weight where it is starving, they are physically unable to put the weight back on, regardless of how much they are fed. So we can promise that all of our birds are happy, fit, healthy and noisy!
Do you tether your birds?
Yes! This is a contraversial topic to discuss, but tethering a bird of prey works exactly the same as walking a dog on a lead. It teaches them obedience and patience. Tethering is a crucial part of training as it will teach the bird restraint, especially for imprinted birds. (Raised by humans). They are not tethered for their entire life or even for 24 hours day! And every single bird has to opportunity to fly free.
What are the birds fed?
We feed our birds a mixture of food! We primarily feed them Day Old Cockeral Chicks, but they also get Mice, Rats, Quail, Pigeon, Rabbit and more.
What are the straps on their legs?
You will find every one of our birds wear anklets and Jesses. These are handmade by us at the centre and these are made from kangaroo leather. The jesses, are a thin strap of leather that comes off of each anklet and this will provide the falconer control over the bird whilst they are on the fist. For instance, if a dog were to approach and startle the bird, the falconer can ‘lock’ these off and prevent the bird from flying away and hurting themselves in the panic and can also prevent the bird from harming the dog! We use kangeroo leather as it is much more supple and maleable than cow leather.
Do you ever realease the birds into the wild?
No. The majority of the birds of prey that can be found at our centre are not native to the UK and so releasing them into the wild could have a detrimental effect to the local wildlife and ecosystem. Furthermore, not all of our birds are trained to hunt for themselves and to release them would almost guarantee a sentence to death by starvation.
Where are your experiences held?
Do we get to fly an Eagle?
We currently have 3 eagles with us. Xavier, Moët, and Azul. You will certainly have the opportunity to fly one on the full day experience and hold one on the half day experience.
Can I take my 5 day course over a longer period of time?
How do I contact the office?
Your enquiry is very important to us. We are open 6 days a week and you are able to contact us on info@thehawkingcentre.co.uk. 07544696199. or, via facebook, instagram or you can use the various contact forms throughout our website. To avoid any frustration, please note our phone lines are extremely busy. If you drop us a message or an email will be get back to you! we do advise that if you have a particular date in mind for the near future, please get in touch before purchasing an experience as slots go very fast. As such, we do advise booking at least 4-6 weeks in advance of your chosen date to avoid any disappointment.
