Falconry is a sport with a long social and historic background. By definition it is the "art or sport of taking wild quarry in it's natural state or habitat using trained hawks or falcons".

It is thought to have originated in the east, probabbly in Korea, around 2,000 BC., and to have spread throughout China and Japan before spreading westward to Persia and the Arab world with the Mongol hordes of Ghengis Khan. The popularity of falconry, with all of its social implications, then took hold in Medieval Europe with the returning crusaders.

Falconry flourished for centuries until the advent of firearms, especially the fowling piece. It then remained in various states of decline until the emergance of modern falconry, which is now considered the fastest growing country pursuit in Europe and North America.