Falconry and the Medieval World- Live Bird Presentation

There are two sessions available for this presentation: 10:00am and 12:00pm.  Please choose your preferred time when purchasing tickets here.

Come to the Museum for a “bird’s eye view” of the Falconry during medieval times with a live bird presentation and discussion from Wingmasters.

Falconry is the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. It is also the demanding art of training a predatory bird that is by nature wary of people to hunt cooperatively with a human partner. While the sport has a 4,000 – year history, its glory days were indisputably the medieval period.  While this presentation centers around live birds used in falconry, it is not a flight demonstration but a history-rich look at an ancient sport. Focusing on the medieval period, it explains the characteristics of the birds of prey used, how the sport reflected the lifestyle of the time, and the historical reasons behind falconry’s rise and fall.

Wingmasters is a partnership of Julie Anne Collier and Jim Parks, who are dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of North American birds of prey.  Most of the birds they rehabilitate can ultimately be released back into the wild, but in some cases the birds are left permanently handicapped.