The Bird Man of Wied iż-Żurrieq
9 April 2015, published by LITTLEROCK.com.mt
I was on a day trip to the Blue Grotto when I first met Lawrence Formosa and his birds. Being an animal lover, I was naturally attracted to the large birds of prey perched next to him, who was clad in medieval attire which I later learned was typical of the falconers of the 1400s, at the time of the Knights of the Order of St John.
My partner and I soon had a falcon and an owl perch on our gloved arms, we took the pictures and left a donation ... but a persisting question kept stirring in my head: how does he get the birds to stay with him and respond to him, despite evidently being free to fly away at any moment? As we passed him again on our way back, I asked if we could have a chat about it for LITTLEROCK.com.mt, and it turned out that Lawrence loves nothing better than talking about his birds, except flying them and being with them.
Lawrence is 44 years old and his life has revolved around birds since a very young age, until today most of the work he does also involves his birds, including his cultural and educational display at Wied iż-Żurrieq and some private shows, among other things. He became excited as he recalled the first moment he held a bird in his hand, a sparrow given to him by a neighbour while he was sitting on the doorstep aged 4, "I felt as if he had given me the world!"
Lawrence now has 11 birds of prey in his care, including various falcons, owls and hawks, among which are a Maltese Falcon (Peregrine Falcon) and Barn Owls (Barbaġann). Five of them are trained to fly and return to him: a Harris Hawk, a Peregrine X Sayker Falcon, a Barn Owl, a Pharaoh Eagle Owl and a Sparrow Hawk.
"Really, what you do is assist the bird to do what he would naturally do in nature; if you do not satisfy his instincts, he will leave you - they are bred in captivity but they have a wild instinct and are still able to live in the wild. No animals belong to humans, however in the wild they have a more difficult life while in captivity they can live longer; most birds of prey die within 1st year of their life in the wild.
"In the wild they create a routine in order to survive, for example they hunt at the same times of day, so in captivity you must offer them a similar routine; you offer them their wild instinct plus shelter and food if they don't catch prey, and you develop a bond with them such that they look upon you as a comrade. But this is not like a loyal dog, if you treat the birds badly they fly off. I love the excitement of letting a bird go free and not being sure 100% that he will come back."
Lawrence explained that as soon as a chick starts to fly, training begins by increasing distances a little at a time until the bird returns to him from a distance of 50 metres. Until this time the bird is on a creance - a long light cord used to tether a flying hawk or falcon during training in falconry - and then you can set it free, with trepidation! Success also depends on several technicalities regarding the optimum weight of the bird, as it must be at flying weight - hungry enough to fly looking for food - in contrast to fat weight, when it is fully satisfied and unwilling to fly, or underweight, which could make the bird weak or sick; finding the bird's ideal flying weight and maintaining it is part of why a bird will fly and return for a food reward.
Actually, falconry, which is recognised by the UNESCO, means the hunting of wild quarry by means of a trained raptor. The original scope of falconry was to hunt wild prey using birds, so Lawrence sometimes lets go special prey for them to catch with high standard flying and stooping. However, he explained, the bird is content with the hunt even if he doesn't catch anything, as even in nature he is only successful perhaps 1 in 10 times.
"I do not train them specifically for hunting, but if you do not satisfy these instincts, the bird will leave you. In any case, captive birds are not full time athletes and not as experienced as wild birds; in 14 years flying, I only succeeded once to intentionally catch a prey."
It may all sound like good fun, however there is a huge commitment involved. The birds must fly daily, because it is part of their routine. If for some reason they cannot fly due to weather conditions, they must do some training at home in order to keep their muscle tone, which they could otherwise lose very quickly, within 15 days.
"As much time and attention you dedicate, the better bird you will have in terms of flight and relationship. A single bird needs at least an hour of flight and half an hour of care, excluding travelling. Mostly, each bird needs to be flown alone with his owner. When they become used to what to do, the time is reduced according to when the bird is satisfied. We are there to serve the birds, not vice versa."
Lawrence explained that time is the main consideration, as well as a suitable and safe place for flying. Then to consider where they will be kept in a suitable, spacious, sheltered area, that they will not bother the neighbours, particularly owls who can be noisy, and that one can store and handle the food, which varies from blast frozen day old chicks, quails and pigeons to mice and rabbits. They also need supplements and water is most important.
Naturally having becoming very familiar with the birds, Lawrence expressed that each bird has its own personality, however some breeds have characteristics that are innate. "Owls are one owner birds and don't accept others; hawks are very intelligent and they can trick you - while flying, she may take extra distance with each turn until she can go off after prey and then you must go look for her - and she can also be very jealous if you take the other ones out and not her; the falcons have a wilder nature and are keen to hunt prey whenever you fly them."
As we spoke, wind blowing from the west sometimes challenging the hawks on their perch, the owl began to protest inside his box. Lawrence brought him out, perched on his gloved left hand. I was impressed to see the owl reach up for a snuggle against the man's face, and amused no end that it even rolled its eyes in pleasure when Lawrence dug his face in his feathers. The owl remained there for the rest of the interview.
"You naturally build a closer relationship with the birds you fly; they even learn to come when called by name while flying, or at least recognise their name so that they look at you - it is quite impressive. I try not to pet them because of the condition of the feathers, but the owls particularly enjoy a bit of fuss and cuddles. I spend a lot of time with the birds so I have a great personal relationship with them; they accept me to do much more with them than they would with most, for example my Peregrine X Sayker Falcon accepts to come on my hand without a glove and is careful not to hurt me when his claws could (and normally would) rip skin to shreds."
Lawrence has come a long way since his first bird of prey when he was just 11; it had been caught by his Father, who was a trapper, and Lawrence had kept him and released him after three months, when he realised that it was not as easy to train a bird as it seemed in a film that he watched at around the same time. Having grown up in an environment where many of his family and neighbours were hunters, he was hunting for about 18 years and kept several birds in a roofed garden with 10 orange trees ... until he took to flying birds of prey instead.
"I decided I could only keep one hobby and I chose this one."
The close relationship is apparent as Lawrence handles and talks to the birds when visitors come by. The birds are mostly fine with people however they sometimes refuse to go to certain people, as if they can sense something unseen. He explained that people's reactions are diverse: mostly, people like them; some are afraid and some think that they are ill-treated but finally change their mind after talking with Lawrence. Children react in the same way they see the adults do. It upsets him when people might say "set them free" and keep walking.
"They (the birds) make me happy. I am most attracted to the fact that they are wild birds but they are comfortable enough that they choose to come back to me. I relax a lot when I see them fly – all the stress goes with the flight, at least for that time. If the birds are sick, I feel sick, and if birds are happy, I feel happy."
Notes:
Annex A Birds need a cites permit, which is like a passport for the bird and is issued when the bird is registered upon birth; this accompanies the bird always. They also have a closed ring according to the size of the bird and sometimes they are chipped too, and everything must be approved by the authorities. All the birds' ancestory was wild, likely from injured animals, however they must be 2 generations in captivity to get certified and wild birds cannot be used.
To find out more about how to care for and train birds of prey, you can approach the Fridericus Rex Malta Falconers, which was formed in 2008 and is part of the IAF - International Association for Falconary and Conservation of Birds of Prey.
My partner and I soon had a falcon and an owl perch on our gloved arms, we took the pictures and left a donation ... but a persisting question kept stirring in my head: how does he get the birds to stay with him and respond to him, despite evidently being free to fly away at any moment? As we passed him again on our way back, I asked if we could have a chat about it for LITTLEROCK.com.mt, and it turned out that Lawrence loves nothing better than talking about his birds, except flying them and being with them.
Lawrence is 44 years old and his life has revolved around birds since a very young age, until today most of the work he does also involves his birds, including his cultural and educational display at Wied iż-Żurrieq and some private shows, among other things. He became excited as he recalled the first moment he held a bird in his hand, a sparrow given to him by a neighbour while he was sitting on the doorstep aged 4, "I felt as if he had given me the world!"
Lawrence now has 11 birds of prey in his care, including various falcons, owls and hawks, among which are a Maltese Falcon (Peregrine Falcon) and Barn Owls (Barbaġann). Five of them are trained to fly and return to him: a Harris Hawk, a Peregrine X Sayker Falcon, a Barn Owl, a Pharaoh Eagle Owl and a Sparrow Hawk.
"Really, what you do is assist the bird to do what he would naturally do in nature; if you do not satisfy his instincts, he will leave you - they are bred in captivity but they have a wild instinct and are still able to live in the wild. No animals belong to humans, however in the wild they have a more difficult life while in captivity they can live longer; most birds of prey die within 1st year of their life in the wild.
"In the wild they create a routine in order to survive, for example they hunt at the same times of day, so in captivity you must offer them a similar routine; you offer them their wild instinct plus shelter and food if they don't catch prey, and you develop a bond with them such that they look upon you as a comrade. But this is not like a loyal dog, if you treat the birds badly they fly off. I love the excitement of letting a bird go free and not being sure 100% that he will come back."
Lawrence explained that as soon as a chick starts to fly, training begins by increasing distances a little at a time until the bird returns to him from a distance of 50 metres. Until this time the bird is on a creance - a long light cord used to tether a flying hawk or falcon during training in falconry - and then you can set it free, with trepidation! Success also depends on several technicalities regarding the optimum weight of the bird, as it must be at flying weight - hungry enough to fly looking for food - in contrast to fat weight, when it is fully satisfied and unwilling to fly, or underweight, which could make the bird weak or sick; finding the bird's ideal flying weight and maintaining it is part of why a bird will fly and return for a food reward.
Actually, falconry, which is recognised by the UNESCO, means the hunting of wild quarry by means of a trained raptor. The original scope of falconry was to hunt wild prey using birds, so Lawrence sometimes lets go special prey for them to catch with high standard flying and stooping. However, he explained, the bird is content with the hunt even if he doesn't catch anything, as even in nature he is only successful perhaps 1 in 10 times.
"I do not train them specifically for hunting, but if you do not satisfy these instincts, the bird will leave you. In any case, captive birds are not full time athletes and not as experienced as wild birds; in 14 years flying, I only succeeded once to intentionally catch a prey."
It may all sound like good fun, however there is a huge commitment involved. The birds must fly daily, because it is part of their routine. If for some reason they cannot fly due to weather conditions, they must do some training at home in order to keep their muscle tone, which they could otherwise lose very quickly, within 15 days.
"As much time and attention you dedicate, the better bird you will have in terms of flight and relationship. A single bird needs at least an hour of flight and half an hour of care, excluding travelling. Mostly, each bird needs to be flown alone with his owner. When they become used to what to do, the time is reduced according to when the bird is satisfied. We are there to serve the birds, not vice versa."
Lawrence explained that time is the main consideration, as well as a suitable and safe place for flying. Then to consider where they will be kept in a suitable, spacious, sheltered area, that they will not bother the neighbours, particularly owls who can be noisy, and that one can store and handle the food, which varies from blast frozen day old chicks, quails and pigeons to mice and rabbits. They also need supplements and water is most important.
Naturally having becoming very familiar with the birds, Lawrence expressed that each bird has its own personality, however some breeds have characteristics that are innate. "Owls are one owner birds and don't accept others; hawks are very intelligent and they can trick you - while flying, she may take extra distance with each turn until she can go off after prey and then you must go look for her - and she can also be very jealous if you take the other ones out and not her; the falcons have a wilder nature and are keen to hunt prey whenever you fly them."
As we spoke, wind blowing from the west sometimes challenging the hawks on their perch, the owl began to protest inside his box. Lawrence brought him out, perched on his gloved left hand. I was impressed to see the owl reach up for a snuggle against the man's face, and amused no end that it even rolled its eyes in pleasure when Lawrence dug his face in his feathers. The owl remained there for the rest of the interview.
"You naturally build a closer relationship with the birds you fly; they even learn to come when called by name while flying, or at least recognise their name so that they look at you - it is quite impressive. I try not to pet them because of the condition of the feathers, but the owls particularly enjoy a bit of fuss and cuddles. I spend a lot of time with the birds so I have a great personal relationship with them; they accept me to do much more with them than they would with most, for example my Peregrine X Sayker Falcon accepts to come on my hand without a glove and is careful not to hurt me when his claws could (and normally would) rip skin to shreds."
Lawrence has come a long way since his first bird of prey when he was just 11; it had been caught by his Father, who was a trapper, and Lawrence had kept him and released him after three months, when he realised that it was not as easy to train a bird as it seemed in a film that he watched at around the same time. Having grown up in an environment where many of his family and neighbours were hunters, he was hunting for about 18 years and kept several birds in a roofed garden with 10 orange trees ... until he took to flying birds of prey instead.
"I decided I could only keep one hobby and I chose this one."
The close relationship is apparent as Lawrence handles and talks to the birds when visitors come by. The birds are mostly fine with people however they sometimes refuse to go to certain people, as if they can sense something unseen. He explained that people's reactions are diverse: mostly, people like them; some are afraid and some think that they are ill-treated but finally change their mind after talking with Lawrence. Children react in the same way they see the adults do. It upsets him when people might say "set them free" and keep walking.
"They (the birds) make me happy. I am most attracted to the fact that they are wild birds but they are comfortable enough that they choose to come back to me. I relax a lot when I see them fly – all the stress goes with the flight, at least for that time. If the birds are sick, I feel sick, and if birds are happy, I feel happy."
Notes:
Annex A Birds need a cites permit, which is like a passport for the bird and is issued when the bird is registered upon birth; this accompanies the bird always. They also have a closed ring according to the size of the bird and sometimes they are chipped too, and everything must be approved by the authorities. All the birds' ancestory was wild, likely from injured animals, however they must be 2 generations in captivity to get certified and wild birds cannot be used.
To find out more about how to care for and train birds of prey, you can approach the Fridericus Rex Malta Falconers, which was formed in 2008 and is part of the IAF - International Association for Falconary and Conservation of Birds of Prey.