Car hawking
Encyclopedia
Car hawking, or drive-by falconry is a modern falconry
Falconry
Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...

 technique which relies upon the use of a motor car or other motor vehicle as a base from which to hunt wild quarry species with a trained raptor
Raptor
-Biology:* A bird of prey* Informal name for species in the Velociraptor genus of dinosaurs, or members of the family Dromaeosauridae in general* Acronym for the adapter protein regulatory-associated protein of mTOR-The South African military:...

.

Typically, the falconer will drive around in his or her car, seeking suitable small game in the immediate vicinity of the road. Once an appropriate target has been selected, the raptor is then slipped from the window of the moving vehicle as it passes by in order that it might engage with its prey.

Car hawking provides an advantage over more traditional methods of falconry in that the hawk is already moving at a considerable speed, with added momentum upon exiting the vehicle and as the car acts as cover, it has an enormous element of surprise over the quarry, giving it little or no time to react and potentially escape. Numerous videos exist on the internet of people successfully utilizing this method, flying Harris Hawks and Goshawk
Goshawk
The Northern Goshawk , Accipiter gentilis, is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harriers....

s against feral pigeon
Feral Pigeon
Feral pigeons , also called city doves, flying rats, city pigeons or street pigeons, are derived from domestic pigeons that have returned to the wild. The domestic pigeon was originally bred from the wild Rock Pigeon, which naturally inhabits sea-cliffs and mountains. All three types readily...

s and corvids in both urban and rural areas.

Legality of this practice varies by location and protected status of the quarry and some falconers consider car hawking to be extremely unsporting.
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