Saudi falcons find relief at Abu Dhabi bird hospital

Updated 23 September 2018

JENNIFER BELL

September 21, 201822:20

Dr Margit Muller treats hundreds of injured falcons from the Kingdom each year, many of them flown in by private plane

The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital was the first and largest hospital in the world dedicated to the bird of prey

DUBAI: As the national bird of Saudi Arabia, the falcon is both a symbolic marker of the country’s culture and tradition and a treasured pet to many of its residents — and it is the job of one Abu Dhabi avian expert to tender to hundreds of injured birds of prey flown in from the Kingdom each year.

On any given week, about 10 injured birds are transported from Saudi Arabia — many by private plane — to be treated by the expert hands of Dr. Margit Muller, executive director of Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, the world’s first hospital dedicated to the falcon.

An expert in the specialized field of avian medicine, Dr. Muller’s extensive knowledge means she is in constant demand to treat injured falcons from all over the world. She treats about 10,000 birds of prey annually, of which at least 500 — predominately the Saker falcon, the largest species of falcon — are from Saudi Arabia.

“Due to our international reputation as the largest falcon hospital in the world, our very advanced treatment methods and the latest technical equipment, every year we receive more and more falcons from Saudi Arabia for examination and treatment,” said the German-born avian expert.

“Most of the falcons that we received from Saudi Arabia are Saker falcons as they are the favorite hunting falcons in Saudi Arabia. Most travel by car or private plane. For a sick falcon, it is faster to come to us by plane than by car, which reduces delays until the treatment.”
Many Saudi Arabian owners are often distressed as they consider the falcon an integral “part of the family,” explained Dr. Muller.

“The vast majority of falcon owners consider and treat their birds like their own sons and daughters,” she said. “Their falcons occupy a special place in their homes — and even in their cars.”

Read more  

Young falcon on the mend after being peppered with shotgun

A young peregrine falcon shot down illegally near Long Melford is “on the mend”, according to the animal expert caring for her.

The rare bird of prey was blasted from the sky with a shotgun. Bird protection charity the RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction for the crime.

The peregrine, whose numbers have increased in the UK to about 1,400 breeding pairs, is considered a rare bird and it is an offence under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act to intentionally kill or injure it.

The juvenile was found by a member of the public on a footpath by Chad Brook River near Long Melford. They thought it had accidentally flown into a fence and was just stunned.

Peppered with shot from the shotgun and with a broken wing, it was taken to Mulberry Court vets in Sudbury.

And it is now being looked after by falconry expert Stephen Younge at the Lavenham Falconry Centre in Monks Eleigh.

Continued ...

Biker versus bird: Red Bull's downhill champ takes on the world's fastest falcon in a duel across the Welsh mountainside

British downhill champion, Gee Atherton, is more used to racing rivals on two wheels not with two wings.

But the 2012 world championship silver medallist put his reputation on the line when he headed to the mountains of north Wales to race against a peregrine falcon, the fastest bird in the world.

Atherton won his first Downhill World Cup in 2004 aged just 19 and has finished in the top five of the Downhill World Series every year since.

The 28-year-old has been Downhill World Champion, Down Hill World Cup Series Champion, Downhill European Champion and twice British National Downhill Champion.

The video filmed in association with Red Bull and BBC Earth Unplugged, took nine cameras to document the unique sequence, including a ‘bird cam’ and a special Skybot Helicam.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2337560/Biker-versus-bird-Red-Bull-champ-races-worlds-fastest-falcon.html#ixzz2WNziq3Wv

UWS bird of prey stalks Chihuahua

by YASMINE PHILLIPS and BOB FREDERICKS
Last Updated: 3:35 AM, June 5, 2013
Posted: 1:00 AM, June 5, 2013


This hungry bird of prey has a taste for Mexican!

An Upper West Side woman claims a falcon is stalking her beloved Chihuahua — eyeing its prey daily through the window of her 22nd-floor apartment.

“I have to keep the window closed all the time now. I just don’t know if it can get through the screen!” Asli Bilgin, 41, who lives on Broadway near West 70th Street, told The Post yesterday.

“It’s better to have the window open, and I always had the window open, but now I’m worried that I’ll come home — and there’s a carcass.”

Bilgin said she first noticed the falcon doing a fly-by the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

At first, she would hold the tiny pooch in her arms while waiting for the bird. But she quickly abandoned that idea when she began to suspect the falcon was less interested in her than little Miniko.

“I realized that was not smart,” said Bilgin, who works in cloud computing for Amazon.

Then, she said, the bird kept returning and started to disrupt her morning routine.

Bilgin said she used to like to poke her head out of the window to see how people were dressing for the weather and check the temperature on the thermometer at the nearby Apple Bank.

But after nearly getting a face full of feathers, she decided it was time to batten down the hatches.

She became more convinced the bird wanted a dog-meat dinner when he kept showing up daily.

Continued: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/falcon_pet_food_Ox48LOHOjUx0UIMkQwo64O