Falcons Flying

 On Planes 
   All sorts of birds have recently flown south and I just wrote about some that are flying in a wind tunnel up at Western. There are others, however, that arrive at their destinations by airplanes. 
   Recently I ran across an article in which passengers travelling from Miami to Doha complained about the squawking of a large flock of birds which were flying as cargo. In the Middle East where falconry is popular and oil money readily available, the birds can also be found flying as passengers in the cabin. A Saudi prince booked a flight and bought tickets for 80 of them. According to Qatar Airways, "You can carry one falcon in the Economy Class cabin of an aircraft, and a maximum of six falcons are permitted within the Economy Class cabin of any one aircraft." 

Sources: 

   "14 Hours Of Screaming Birds In Business Class—Unbelievable Qatar Airways Nightmare," Gary Leff, View From the Wing, Sept.8, 2024.
   You are skeptical, I'm sure and others are as well, so Snopes investigated the photo above and you can learn more here: 'Pic Shows Saudi Prince's 80 Falcons Riding a Plane?" Anna Rascouet-Paz, Snopes, Mar. 29, 2024.

The Bonus:

   There is a new book about the old art of falconry, published by the University of Chicago Press. For a review of, The Art of Medieval Falconry see: "Books: A Sovereign in the Sky," by Laura Jacobs, Wall Street Journal, Oct.12, 2024.
"Mr. Hadjinicolaou is an assistant professor of art history at the University of Bonn, and "The Art of Medieval Falconry" is his second book. Its title can be understood two ways. The first concerns falconry as it's been depicted in art of the Middle Ages -- in illustrated manuscripts, frescoes, paintings, sculptures, objects and tapestries, many of which have been handsomely reproduced here -- and what these representations, often iconographic, express. The second looks at the practice of falconry itself, an ingenious way to hunt food that eventually transcended, by way of passionate practitioners who tended to be kings, into an Arthurian art form -- one with the gravity of religion and the privilege of wings."