50 C.F.R. § 21.29 Federal falconry standards.
Title 50 - Wildlife and Fisheries
(a) Before you can practice falconry in any State. You cannot take, possess, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer to sell, purchase, or barter any raptor for falconry purposes, in any State unless the State allows the practice of falconry, and the State has submitted copies of its laws and regulations governing the practice of falconry to us (Director), and we have determined that they meet or exceed the Federal falconry standards established in this section. If you are a Federal falconry permittee, you can possess and transport for falconry purposes a lawfully possessed raptor through States that do not allow falconry or meet Federal falconry standards so long as the raptors remain in transit in interstate commerce. The States that are in compliance with Federal falconry standards are listed in paragraph (k) of this section. (b) More restrictive State laws. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a State from making and enforcing laws or regulations not inconsistent with the standards contained in any convention between the United States and any foreign country for the protection of raptors or with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and which shall give further protection to raptors. (c) What is the process for Federal approval of a State program? Any State that wishes to allow the practice of falconry must submit to the Director of the Service a copy of the laws and regulations that govern the practice of falconry in the State. If we determine that they meet or exceed the Federal standards, which are established by this section, we will publish a notice in the (d) Permit. State laws or regulations shall provide that a valid State falconry permit from either that State or another State meeting Federal falconry standards and listed in paragraph (k) of this section is required before any person may take, possess, or transport a raptor for falconry purposes or practice falconry in that State. (e) Classes of permits. States may have any number of classes of falconry permits provided the standards are not less restrictive than the following: (1) Apprentice (or equivalent) class. (i) Permittee shall be at least 14 years old; (ii) A sponsor who is a holder of a General or Master Falconry Permit or equivalent class is required for the first two years in which an apprentice permit is held, regardless of the age of the permittee. A sponsor may not have more than three apprentices at any one time; (iii) Permittee shall not possess more than one raptor and may not obtain more than one raptor for replacement during any 12-month period; and (iv) Permittee shall possess only the following raptors which must be taken from the wild: an American kestrel (Falco sparverius), a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), or, in Alaska only, a goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). (2) General (or equivalent) class. (i) A permittee shall be at least 18 years old; (ii) A permittee shall have at least two years experience in the practice of falconry at the apprentice level or its equivalent; (iii) A permittee may not possess more than two raptors and may not obtain more than two raptors for replacement birds during any 12-month period; and (iv) A permittee may not take, transport, or possess any golden eagle or any species listed as threatened or endangered in part 17 of this subchapter. (3) Master (or equivalent) class. (i) An applicant shall have at least five years experience in the practice of falconry at the general class level or its equivalent. (ii) A permittee may not possess more than three raptors and may not obtain more than two raptors taken from the wild for replacement birds during any 12-month period; (iii) A permittee may not take any species listed as endangered in part 17 of this chapter, but may transport or possess such species in accordance with part 17 of this chapter. (iv) A permittee may not take, transport, or possess any golden eagle for falconry purposes unless authorized in writing under §22.24 of this subchapter; (v) A permittee may not take, in any twelve (12) month period, as part of the three-bird limitation, more than one raptor listed as threatened in part 17 of this chapter, and then only in accordance with part 17 of this chapter. (f) Examination. State laws or regulations shall provide that before any State falconry permit is issued the applicant shall be required to answer correctly at least 80 percent of the questions on a supervised examination provided or approved by the Service and administered by the State, relating to basic biology, care, and handling of raptors, literature, laws, regulations or other appropriate subject matter. (g) Facilities and equipment. Statelaws or regulations shall provide that before a State falconry permit is issued the applicant's raptor housing facilities and falconry equipment shall be inspected and certified by a representative of the State wildlife department as meeting the following standards: (1) Facilities. The primary consideration for raptor housing facilities whether indoors (mews) or outdoors (weathering area) is protection from the environment, predators, or undue disturbance. The applicant shall have the following facilities, except that depending upon climatic conditions, the issuing authority may require only one of the facilities described below. (i) Indoor facilities (mews) shall be large enough to allow easy access for caring for the raptors housed in the facility. If more than one raptor is to be kept in the mews, the raptors shall be tethered or separated by partitions and the area for each bird shall be large enough to allow the bird to fully extend its wings. There shall be at least one window, protected on the inside by vertical bars, spaced narrower than the width of the bird's body, and a secure door that can be easily closed. The floor of the mews shall permit easy cleaning and shall be well drained. Adequate perches shall be provided. (ii) Outdoor facilities (weathering area) shall be fenced and covered with netting or wire, or roofed to protect the birds from disturbance and attack by predators except that perches more than 6 (2) Equipment. The following items shall be in the possession of the applicant before he can obtain a permit or license: (i) Jesses—At least 1 pair of Alymeri jesses or similar type constructed of pliable, high-quality leather or suitable synthetic material to be used when any raptor is flown free. (Traditional 1-piece jesses may be used on raptors when not being flown.); (ii) Leashes and swivels—At least 1 flexible, weather-resistant leash and 1 strong swivel of acceptable falconry design; (iii) Bath container—At least 1 suitable container, 2 to 6 inches deep and wider than the length of the raptor, for drinking and bathing for each raptor; (iv) Outdoor perches—At least 1 weathering area perch of an acceptable design shall be provided for each raptor; and (v) Weighing device—A reliable scale or balance suitable for weighing the raptor(s) held and graduated to increments of not more than (3) Maintenance. All facilities and equipment shall be kept at or above the preceding standards at all times. (4) Transportation; temporary holding. A raptor may be transported or held in temporary facilities which shall be provided with an adequate perch and protected from extreme temperatures and excessive disturbance, for a period not to exceed 30 days. (h) Marking. All peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), and Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) possessed for falconry purposes must be marked in accordance with the following provisions: (1) Any peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), or Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), except a captive bred raptor lawfully marked by a numbered, seamless band issued by the Service, must be banded with a permanent, non-reusable, numbered band issued by the Service. (2) Any peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), or Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) possessed for falconry purposes must be banded at all times in accordance with these standards. Loss or removal of any band must be reported to the issuing office within five (5) working days of the loss and must be replaced with a permanent, non-reusable, numbered band supplied by the Service. (i) Taking restrictions. State laws or regulations shall provide the following restrictions on the taking of raptors from the wild: (1) Young birds not yet capable of flight (eyasses) may only be taken by a General or Master Falconer during the period specified by the State and no more than two eyasses may be taken by the same permittee during the specified period. (2) First-year (passage) birds may be taken only during the period specified by the State; (3) In no case shall the total of all periods of taking of eyasses or passage birds exceed 180 days during a calendar year, except that a marked raptor may be retrapped at any time; and (4) Only American kestrels (Falcosparverius) and great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus) may be taken when over one year old, except that any raptor other than endangered or threatened species taken under a depredation (or special purpose) permit may be used for falconry by General and Master falconers. (j) Other restrictions. State laws or regulations shall provide the following restrictions or conditions: (1) A person who possesses a lawfully acquired raptor before the enactment of these regulations and who fails to meet the permit requirements shall be allowed to retain the raptors. All such birds shall be identified with markers supplied by the Service and cannot be replaced if death, loss, release, or escape occurs. (2) If you possessed raptors before January 15, 1976, the date these regulations were enacted, and you had more than the number allowed under your permit, you may retain the extra raptors. However, each of those birds must be identified with markers we supplied, and you cannot replace any birds, nor can you obtain any additional raptors, until the number in your possession is at least one fewer than the total number authorized by the class of permit you hold. (3) A falconry permit holder shall obtain written authorization from the appropriate State wildlife department before any species not indigenous to that State is intentionally released to the wild, at which time the marker from the released bird shall be removed and surrendered to the State wildlife department. The marker from an intentionally released bird which is indigenous to that State shall also be removed and surrendered to the State wildlife department. A standard Federal bird band shall be attached to such birds by the State or Service-authorized Federal bird bander whenever possible. (4) A raptor possessed under authority of a falconry permit may be temporarily held by a person other than the permittee only if that person is otherwise authorized to possess raptors, and only if the raptor is accompanied at all times by the properly completed form 3–186A (Migratory Bird Acquisition/Disposition Report) designating the permittee as the possessor of record and by a signed, dated statement from the permittee authorizing the temporary possession. (5) Feathers that are molted or those feathers from birds held in captivity that die, may be retained and exchanged by permittees only for imping purposes. (k) States meeting Federal falconry standards. We have determined that the following States meet or exceed the minimum Federal falconry standards established in this section for regulating the taking, possession, and transportation of raptors for the purpose of falconry. The States that are participants in a cooperative Federal/State permit system are designated by an asterisk (*).
*Alabama, *Alaska, Arizona, *Arkansas, *California, *Colorado, Connecticut, *Delaware, *Florida, *Georgia, *Idaho, *Illinois, *Indiana, *Iowa, *Kansas, *Kentucky, *Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, *Michigan, *Minnesota, *Mississippi, Missouri, *Montana, *Nebraska, *Nevada, *New Hampshire, *New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, *North Carolina, *North Dakota, *Ohio, Oklahoma, *Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, *South Carolina, *South Dakota, *Tennessee, Texas, Utah, *Vermont, *Virginia, *Washington, West Virginia, *Wisconsin, *Wyoming. [41 FR 2238, Jan. 15, 1976; 41 FR 8053, Feb. 24, 1976, as amended at 42 FR 42353, Aug. 23, 1977; 43 FR 968, Jan. 5, 1978; 43 FR 10566, Mar. 14, 1978; 43 FR 34150, Aug. 3, 1978; 43 FR 57606, Dec. 8, 1978; 45 FR 25066, Apr. 14, 1980; 45 FR 70276, Oct. 23, 1980; 48 FR 31608, July 8, 1983; 48 FR 42820, Sept. 20, 1983; 54 FR 38153, Sept. 14, 1989; 59 FR 11204, Mar. 10, 1994; 64 FR 48566, Sept. 7, 1999; 65 FR 49509, Aug. 14, 2000; 70 FR 34698, June 15, 2005]
Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries
PART 21—MIGRATORY BIRD PERMITS
Subpart C—Specific Permit Provisions
§ 21.29 Federal falconry standards.
