Falconry has existed for at least 2000 years. Despite this, no form of hawk, eagle, falcon, or other commonly used bird is domesticated. They’re still considered tame wild animals.
Humans domesticated cats, ferrets, horses, pigeons, chickens, and rats. So why is there no domesticated form of falcon or hawk yet?
In: Biology
I worked at a raptor rescue, and raised some captive bred barn owls from chicks and compared to other birds I’ve worked with, they respond quite differently. Even when raised by hand, some still quite happily wander off into the wild when given the chance, they don’t seem to really become as dependant on their people (except for Leo, who thought he was a dog and followed you around). From what I’ve seen, there’s often some kind of reciprocal behaviour in other human/animal relationships that birds of prey don’t really seem to have.
Latest Answers