Emirati Falconry

Falconry was not a sport in the Gulf but a way of adding meat to a thin desert diet, and Bedouin families trapped migrating falcons, trained them over a season, hunted with them through the winter and traditionally released them again in spring. The bond that this required has survived the country's transformation, and falcons remain objects of enormous pride and expense, carried in cars, issued their own passports for travel and treated in dedicated hospitals. UNESCO recognises falconry as intangible cultural heritage shared across many countries, the Emirates prominent among them. Visitors can see it in two ways: at the falcon hospital in Abu Dhabi, where tours go behind the scenes into examination rooms and aviaries and birds sit hooded and calm on the perches, and at desert camps and heritage centres where handlers fly birds to the lure at dusk.

What you actually see

• The falcon hospital - behind-the-scenes tours of examinations, feather repair and aviaries.
• A flying demonstration - birds flown to the lure at a desert camp at dusk.
• The equipment - hoods, jesses and perches, and the craft behind them.
• Falcon festivals - competitions and heritage events held in the cooler months.

When to go

October to March is the falconry season, when birds are in condition and desert evenings are pleasant; major festivals and competitions fall in these months. The hospital runs tours on weekdays by advance booking. Demonstrations are timed for dusk when it is cooler.

Honest expectations

Some desert camps stage falconry as one item in a package alongside quad bikes and buffet dinners, where the birds are props and the handling is perfunctory; the hospital tour and dedicated heritage centres are far better. Holding a bird for photographs is offered everywhere and is stressful for the animal if done carelessly. Ask how the birds are housed and how often they fly.

Nearby

Abu Dhabi's Heritage Village and the desert camps of Al Ain and Liwa run related programmes.