What is a passager or passage hawk?

A passager or passage hawk specifically refers to a raptor that is captured during its first migration. This term conveys the idea that these birds are young, often a year old or less, and are still in the formative stages of their life cycle. Capturing a passage hawk is significant to falconers because these birds tend to be less experienced and may adapt more readily to training compared to older hawks that have had more freedom and life experience.

This distinction is essential in falconry as it helps practitioners understand the behavior, training needs, and potential challenges of working with these birds. Young passage hawks have recently undergone the transformative experience of migrating and may display strong instincts for hunting, making them particularly valuable for the falconer who is looking to bond and train a bird for falconry purposes.