International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey

23/08/2026

🗓️ Important Update: 2026 IAF AGM in China 🗓️

Dear IAF Delegates, Club Officers and Individual Subscribers,

Following further discussions and coordination with our Chinese member organisation and host of the 2026 IAF AGM, the Capital Falconry Heritage Conservation Academy, we would like to share an important update regarding this year's IAF Council of Delegates Meeting in China.

The AGM will now take place later in November 2026, rather than on the previously announced dates of 31 October–5 November.

While the final dates are still being confirmed with our hosts, we can already advise that the AGM will take place during the second half of November. We expect to be able to communicate the confirmed dates by the end of August. As part of the ongoing preparations, we are also working with our hosts to determine the most suitable location for the AGM and its accompanying programme. While Beijing remains one of the options, an alternative location in northern China is also being explored.

This could offer delegates an especially interesting setting for the AGM, bringing us closer to some of China's distinctive landscapes and wildlife and creating additional opportunities to connect the meeting with conservation in the region.

We appreciate that many delegates and participants are already planning their travel and schedules for the latter part of the year, and we therefore wanted to share this update as soon as possible rather than wait until all arrangements are finalised.

The Capital Falconry Heritage Conservation Academy and the IAF are working closely together to develop what we hope will be a memorable AGM and an excellent opportunity to bring the international falconry community together in China.

We apologise for any inconvenience that these changes may cause and thank you for your understanding and flexibility. For the moment, we kindly ask participants to keep the second half of November available and, where possible, to avoid making non-refundable travel arrangements until the final dates and location are announced.

Further information on the AGM dates, location, programme, registration and practical arrangements will follow as soon as possible.

20/08/2026

Saker project

13/08/2026

The IAF e-bulletin is out!

https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/805192/195632987602159173

Thanks to volunteer translators, this eBulletin is available in other languages. If you would like to take part, please email [email protected] . If your language does not appear, some translations are uploaded after the publication date.

10/08/2026

For this month’s First Friday feature, we’re highlighting Colombian conservationist Ana María Morales Cañizares, whose falconry experience has supported raptor conservation across Colombia and Belize.

Ana says she first fell in love with raptors after meeting a peregrine falcon undergoing rehabilitation. Because falconry is not legal in her home country of Colombia, she traveled to Wisconsin, where she learned to hunt with trained raptors alongside local falconers. During her time there, she also worked at Raptor Education Group, Inc., gaining hands-on experience in raptor rehabilitation, training, and education.

Ana has since applied those skills to conservation projects in Colombia and Belize. Through her work with Fundación Águilas de Los Andes, she has used falconry techniques in raptor rehabilitation, learned canopy access methods to study the endangered black-and-chestnut eagle, and helped monitor the nests of harpy eagles, ornate hawk-eagles, and black-and-chestnut eagles. She has also helped install owl nest boxes with the Belize Raptor Center, where she continues to use falconry techniques in raptor rehabilitation.

Ana credits the falconers she met in Wisconsin with helping shape many of the skills she now uses to protect raptors across Latin America.

“Falconry has allowed me to meet amazing people, travel to beautiful places, and, most importantly, work with the greatest animals alive: raptors.”

— Ana María Morales Cañizares

22/07/2026

Excellent talk by Virani of the MBZRF
Electrocution is one of many threats to birds of prey, we have to face

Dr. Munir Virani asks us to see birds of prey as messengers of a pl...

20/07/2026

🗓️ Save the Date - IAF AGM 2026: Beijing, China!

The 2026 IAF Council of Delegates Meeting will take place in Beijing, China, from 31 October to 5 November 2026, hosted by the Beijing Capital Heritage Conservation Academy.

The meeting will include five conference sessions centred on the theme "How Cultural Heritage and Conservation Interests Align" - exploring how falconry, recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, can contribute to the protection of birds of prey, quarry species, and habitats while preserving the living traditions that have sustained that relationship for centuries.

Further details on registration, accommodation, and the conference programme will follow in the coming weeks. We look forward to welcoming delegates to Beijing for this important occasion.

13/07/2026

10/07/2026

Ellen Hagen is a good friend of the Irish Hawking Club, and a member since our international meet in 2016. She is president of the Norsk Falkejakt Forbund, the Norwegian Falconry Association, and works as an educator in the the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Stavanger, Norway. She has collaborated on several projects in Dublin, and has written this academic article “Viking Age Falconry in Norway as Seen by a Modern Practitioner” published at Brepols, publishing house for history and archaeology.

It is significant because it joins just a few academic articles on falconry written by actual falconers. Because of support this paper is accessible online, free for anyone to read. It is in English.

Link is in the comments section.