Gyrfalcon
by Deborah Benoit
Title
Gyrfalcon
Artist
Deborah Benoit
Medium
Photograph - Original Photography By Deborah Benoit
Description
Took this at the Earth Day Festival in Port Orange, Florida.
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The Gyrfalcon has long associated with humans, who have found them useful primarily for hunting and the art of falconry. It is today the official bird of Canada's Northwest Territories. The white falcon in the crest of the Icelandic Republic's coat of arms is a variety of Gyrfalcon.
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In the medieval era, the Gyrfalcon was considered a royal bird. The geographer and historian Ibn Said al-Maghribi (d. 1286) described certain northern Atlantic islands west of Ireland where these falcons would be brought from, and how the Egyptian Sultan paid 1,000 dinars for each Gyrfalcon (or, if it arrived dead, 500 dinars). Due to its rarity and the difficulties involved in obtaining it, in European falconry the Gyrfalcon was reserved for kings and nobles; very rarely was a man of lesser rank seen with a Gyrfalcon on his fist.
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In the 12th century AD China, swan-hunting with Gyrfalcons (海东青 hǎidōngqīng in Chinese) obtained from the Jurchen tribes became fashionable among the Khitan nobility. When demand for Gyrfalcons exceeded supply, the Liao Emperor imposed a tax payment-in-kind of Gyrfalcons on the Jurchen; under the last Liao emperor, tax collectors were entitled to use force to procure sufficient Gyrfalcons. This was one cause of the Jurchen rebellion, whose leader W�ny�n Āgǔdǎ annihilated the Liao empire in 1125, and established the Jīn Dynasty in its stead.
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April 14th, 2014
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Comments (47)
OLenaArt Lena Owens
Very attractive and intelligent bird! So clear shot, you are talented artist, Deborah!
Lainie Wrightson
Deborah, this is such a wonderful image .... the background perfect! Also I loved reading the description ...fascinating :>) F&L