The joy and heartache of a breeder

If there’s one man that has a special relationship with the majestic falcons on display at falconry championship events, it’s Darren Chilton. He supplies falcons to the NAS team — the same team that the bin Mejren brothers compete with. For Darren, watching these falcons take off is like watching a child’s graduation ceremony.

“I breed these falcons in Scotland — where the best falcons come from — and within a few months they get sent on an airplane to the UAE and then I don’t see them anymore. It’s like sending your kid off to boarding school or something. For me, watching these falcons fly — sometimes for the first time — and compete and win, is like watching a child graduate from school. It’s a very touching moment. A lot of work goes into breeding a falcon. So to see my birds racing is such an immense gratification.”

The breeder’s first obsession with birds was when he was a teenager. “As kids, we grew up in the countryside in England, and we were always outside, spotting animals and birds and finding eggs and nests… It’s different now with Playstations and Xboxes.” When he was about 13, he spotted a Kestrel in a nest and he was fascinated by birds of prey, developing a bond with the birds that he hasn’t been able to shake off since. He got his first falcon, a peregrine, when he was around 20, and in 1989 he started to breed them. “It was in the 90s that I started building up a collection of peregrines. He has been breeding falcons for well over two decades now, supplying birds exclusively to Dubai, specialising in jeer (gyr) crossed peregrine falcons.

The clean cold air in Scotland makes for a better falcon, particularly for racing. “These falcons tend to do much better at the races than others.” But, he adds, these falcons often have little trouble acclimatising to the conditions here. “95 per cent of the time, the falcons here are in airconditioned rooms their whole lives.” They do tend to fall sick, though, says Darren, picking up fungal infections in the lungs and airways, called aspergillosis. “Pure Jeer falcons come from the Arctic, where the cold air and sterile environment means the birds have little need for a strong immune system. The UK is a bit warmer and wetter. In the UAE, it’s a bit more humid and hotter. So they do have some problems, but veterinary services have gotten so much better and we can actually treat these conditions now.”

But whether it’s caring for sick birds or breeding the best, for Darren it’s an affair he knows is going to be lifelong. “I can’t explain the connection, but these falcons are everything to me. They are truly remarkable creatures.”