Owl filya and the ornithological service of the Kremlin. Falconry: from the Romanov tsars to the Kremlin and Domodedovo of the 21st century Falcons in the Kremlin

Restoration of the domes of the Archangel Cathedral has begun in the Moscow Kremlin. The craftsmen will have to renew the gilding, which has noticeably faded. Temperature fluctuations and not only affect. Particles of gold leaf are taken away by crows. However, there are rules for such raiders. Falcons, hawks, and now a lone night watchman - an owl named Phil.

When these Kremlin guards appeared on the horizon, the crows seemed to go crazy.

The birds know who is the boss here and warn their own of the danger. Owl Fillet doesn't even need to take off. With his very appearance, he frightened both the noisy crows and us.

"He looks at me so attentively, doesn't he see me as a victim? - No, rather, he shows curiosity towards you."

Ornithologists of the Moscow Kremlin are on duty every day. Responsibilities include walking around the area. The feathered detachment is struggling with the arbitrariness of the crows.

"Tourists used to complain that there are a lot of crows. They croak, fly over domes, over buildings. Crows have very caustic droppings that can damage the gilding of the domes. In the spring, when they start mating games, they love to roll down the domes", - explained Kirill Voronin, an employee of the ornithological group of the Moscow Kremlin.

The brilliance of the domes is especially monitored here - now, for example, the Archangel Cathedral is being restored. The Kremlin tried to solve the bird question back in Soviet times.

A platoon stood out from the Kremlin regiment, the soldiers climbed onto the roof and literally manually chased birds from the domes. They were called galcogons. This position lasted in the Kremlin until 1984.

For pest control, which is just not used. Noise complexes imitating the cry of a predator, lasers, ultrasound. But the most effective were natural enemies.

Falcons and hawks, side by side, or rather wing to wing, have served to protect the domes, tourists and employees of the residence for more than 30 years. But . By the way, the size of the bird detachment is not disclosed - this is a state secret.

"We have enough birds for the biological protection of the Moscow Kremlin. All the birds we have are on the balance sheet of the FSO, and this is a military organization, closed," Voronin said.

Hawk Alfa is an honorary officer of the Federal Security Service. This year is celebrating its 20th anniversary. And most of his life - on a combat post.

“We cut their beaks. If they broke their feathers in winter, and these tail feathers are very important for them, we insert the feathers back into them. We give hormonal drugs so that they molt well in the summer,” Voronin explained.

And if the owl only scares the crows, then the hawk attacks for real. And the key to a successful hunt is a good physical shape.

"If the bird is slightly overweight, then it works less willingly. They have working days, but there are unloading days," says Alexei Tyurin, an employee of the Moscow Kremlin's ornithological group.

Ornithologists try to bypass the territory before the opening of the Kremlin - feathered guards are very popular with visitors and tourists. And the appearance of birds is also an important part of their work. They are obligatory participants in festivals and guard divorces.

MK reporter took part in an unusual hunt at the residence of the head of state

The Kremlin has opened the season of hunting for scavengers, and for the first time, a mysterious fighter named Phil will take part in it. From now on, the mighty eagle owl will almost be the Kremlin's guardian angel. He will patrol the territory of the main fortress of the country (and this is no less than 28 hectares), as his ancestors once upon a time.

This bird is a special project of the FSO, by the way. It is possible that he will become a new symbol of the Kremlin's guard. Taking into account the appearance of the mysterious "fighter", they even developed a new tactic for hunting crows. Fighting hawks and falcons, led by Phil, attack enemies with lightning speed from all sides. The chances of surviving the insidious vandal birds, from time immemorial considered a bad omen, are even less. Special correspondent "MK" took part in the hunt "for the teeth".

The new symbol of the Kremlin

Dawn broke a little, and I was already in the Tainitsky garden. The hunt starts early and ends by the time the first tourists enter the Kremlin. Not because there are no crows during the day, not at all. Just the sight of a falcon or hawk pouncing on an enemy bird is not for the faint of heart.

Where is their nest here? The falcon yard with a system of cable devices stands at the very foot of the Tainitsky hill, hidden from the eyes of strangers. There is also a winter enclosure for the Kremlin's feathered guards - it is almost built into the section of the Kremlin wall between Nabatnaya and Spasskaya towers. While it is warm, only three hawks live in this house - these are newly arrived fighters who are “overexposure”. By the way, completely unprepared birds get into the Kremlin. They are already taking a special hunting course here. Moreover, according to a unique methodology developed by the FSO employees themselves for feathered employees.

I get acquainted with my "partners" - fighting Kremlin hawks. For me, they are all “on the same face”, but the Kremlin ornithologists assure that the differences are colossal and not only external. Each fighter has his own, not like the other disposition. Many have found a "kindred spirit" in one of the employees of the FSO. Well, I do believe!

With names, many falcons and hawks are clearly lucky. Here is one handsome man named Alpha. "Alpha! Combat readiness! - gives the command to the employee. The hawk reacts with a proud turn of its head. Giving names to feathered fighters in the 80s (when the Kremlin's ornithological service was created), they did not particularly bother and used the count, for example, 1, 2, 3 ...

A large aviary a little away from the common falcon yard immediately attracted my attention. There is OH in it, the same special project - the Kremlin owl. Everyone calls him Phil (the official, documented name Phil did not really stick). By the way, he was born on April 12, 2011. I move closer to see a huge bird, and then it takes off ... And right at me! Giant wings covered even my shadow. In three jumps, she jumped to the side and almost rolled down the hill from surprise. Thank God, the owl was on a leash.

Effective, isn't it? - employee Julia laughs. Seeing my surprise (are women really hunting for teeth?), he explains: - Falconry is a very specific, subtle and refined art, and it was mostly the great empresses who loved it in the history of Russia. The most notable hunters were Anna Ioannovna and Catherine II.

Phil and I became fast friends. He allowed himself to be stroked and even his neck scratched (ornithologists say that the eagle owl just loves it). Ornithologists warn that you can only touch the eagle owl with the back of your hand so as not to stain its luxurious plumage. It feels soft to the touch! And his yellow eyes seem to look through you and read not only your thoughts, but also what is “written” in the very depths of your soul.

Photo of the press and public relations center of the FSO

The appearance of Fili is explained by a new hunting tactic. It turns out that crows, seeing a falcon or a hawk, try to fly in a whole flock from above and prevent it from rising. Under such a pack, he gets lost and may even die (there were cases when crows attacked and pecked to death, but this, thank God, did not happen in the Kremlin). With an owl, such a trick does not work. It is too big, and scavengers do not dare to peck at it. But they can “hover” over it and prevent it from taking off. So this is a great distraction. While the crows are occupied by the eagle owl, the hawks suddenly attack from above, and ... the end of the matter. This "trick" has been tried many times. Neither Phil nor the falcons failed.

And, by the way, Filya, by his mere presence, puts things in order. The fact is that crows do not nest where owls live. And since the appearance of a new "fighter" in the Kremlin, not a single new nest has been found.

The appearance of an owl in the Kremlin is a significant event, experts of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents assure. - Five centuries ago, the image of an owl was a symbol of those structures that guarded the Kremlin, at that time the palace archers. Apparently, in the 16th century there were many owls in this territory. And they chose him as their symbol mainly because, unlike the owl, the owl sees perfectly not only at night, but also during the day. Accordingly, combat duty can be carried around the clock. So the archers - there were no regular troops in those days, the protection was carried out by individual archer units - depicting owls on their weapons and banners, they emphasized that they were not asleep.

Cunning of the winged enemy

It's time to take a closer look at those whom we have to hunt. Gray crows have lived on Borovitsky Hill since ancient times, almost like crows in the Tower of London. But unlike English birds, our population has always caused negative. There were legends, according to which, if "mob" is circling over the Kremlin, expect big trouble - war or famine. Today, of course, the inhabitants of the Kremlin and visitors are calm about the cawing of crows, although no, no, and someone will tremble when they hear an ominous sound. Crows have been hunted since the beginning of the century. One night Lenin woke up from the sound of gunshots. They reported to him: according to the crows, they say, they are firing. Ilyich ordered to stop immediately and henceforth forbade shooting in the Kremlin. Since then, falcons have settled here.

Scientists recently conducted a whole study on how much damage the gray crow does to the Kremlin. And it turns out that she is one of his main enemies today. What exactly harms the Kremlin "mob"? Firstly, because of her, he risks being left without songbirds (the crow simply displaces them, leaves them without food, ruins their nests, eats chicks). But the nightingales that flood in the gardens are one of the treasures of the Kremlin. Secondly, crows are real vandals. The more expensive and brighter the decor of the building, the more it attracts crows, and the more damage they inflict on it.

- "Rolling down" from the domes of churches and from the roofs is part of the ritual mating dance, - ornithologists explain. - After that, terrible scratches remain. Crows rip off with their claws the gold leaf that covers the domes. The caustic droppings of crows cause premature corrosion of unique monuments of architecture and art.

Thirdly, crows are destroying the Kremlin's green attire: pecking at seedlings in flowerbeds, eating the tops of trees.

The gray crow is a unique creation of nature in the sense that it is able to eat almost everything, - environmentalists say. - From young shoots to their own weakened relatives! And at the same time, she is incredibly quick-witted, capable of learning, and even a long-liver - a documented life span of 20 years.

The most dangerous thing may not even be this, but the fact that the crow is a noble thief. And what if he flies into the office and steals something secret from there? By the way, there were precedents. Once in the Soviet years, a crow flew into an open window in the 14th building (but, thank God, it was not the office of the head of state, but an employee of the apparatus of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) and began to quietly steal papers. Then she threw them under the feet of a Kremlin guard on duty. And admired - how beautifully they plan in the air.

And the crow is also a carrier of dangerous infections (although it almost never gets sick, its immunity is such that you will be envious). Finally, there is always the risk of becoming the object of increased attention of a whole flock of crows, which will go on the attack.

Most often, a person is attacked during the period of departure from the nests of fledglings, scientists continue. - It can be like a game on the part of the crows. In other words, this is how they have fun. But, since these birds are rather nervous and unpredictable, how do you know how such a game will end for you? What if the eyes peck out? But it's almost like a scene from a Hitchcock horror movie.

Photo of the press and public relations center of the FSO

"Good hunting, Phil"

Finally! We're going hunting. Two hawks, one eagle owl, several members of the secret agency and myself. Each of the "two-legged" hunters has a special glove - a legging, so that the bird does not injure the skin on the arm with its claws when it sits down. By the way, in excitement, a hawk can “bone” his hand so much that it will be impossible to unclench his grip. Jokes aside.

We will hunt from cars, - the employee throws on the way.

Like this? That's the turn! We really get into cars with tinted windows and begin to detour the territory of the Kremlin. The crows of the driving cars are not at all afraid, which, in fact, is what we need. As soon as we notice a sitting flock, we open the windows, one of the employees sticks out his hand with a hawk sitting on it, and he breaks down.

Not even a few minutes passed, but some moments. You remember it all like a movie in slow motion. The strike of a feathered fighter cuts off a gaping crow on takeoff. After the second intruder, the hawk from the next car makes a long “steal”, but even here there is no chance to escape from the winged ace. He takes over - "gets up on his tail" right in a falcon's way and catches the enemy on a vertical takeoff. Feathers, blood on the pavement... Just two downed crows, and a huge flock in fear leaves a dangerous place.

These will not return today, - the ornithologist says, and immediately adds with some sadness: - But a holy place is never empty. Others will follow...

The hawk victoriously lands not just anywhere, but on the Tsar Cannon. Another minute and he's back in the car, tired but proud. And he receives a well-deserved reward - a piece of fresh meat. A hawk can make more than seven sorties in one trip. But the ornithologist closely monitors its flight:

Tired, time to rest!

We continue on our way.

Falcons should be released when they are hungry, - Mikhail shares the secrets of hunting. - And then they will sit on the Christmas tree and will sit for three hours, no less. Ours are now all without dinner, so angry and ready for battle.

Meanwhile, we see another small flock. I release my hawk. Miss... The crows scattered before he could reach them. But the ornithologist accompanying us is not at all upset: the task is completed! The crows saw a real threat and, without fighting, left the territory. “We are not trying to destroy the crows, it is important that they do not feel like masters here.”

But the time has come to speak to the owl. He sits radiating perfect calm and wisdom. The ornithologist slightly raises his hand and releases him from the glove. The eagle owl makes just a few strokes of its huge wings and crosses the entire large square of the Kremlin in the blink of an eye. This silent, powerful flight gives you goosebumps. It is hard to imagine what horror he causes in the crows. The formidable owl is already ready for a new flight. Something incredible, fabulous and ancient in this enchanted flight. Panic among the crows reaches a climax, and they fly away. It was a good hunt, a good one. The next flight is at night.

Night is also Phil's time! ornithologists say. - Just as silently, he will fly up to the dozing crows and squeeze the gray gossip in a deadly embrace ... The crows understand this well, and by night the tree crowns are not disturbed by grumpy crow flocks. There is no place for them to nest here, and there is no lodging for the night. Carefree nightingales and finches sing, no one threatens their chicks now. And the owl and hawks are not at all interested in them. They get completely unappetizing, in my opinion, raw meat. But they seem perfectly content. Ate and importantly turned away. They do not like excessive lisping. Proud birds. Only Filya, it seems, got a little bored, closed his eyes and, perhaps, began to dream about a winged partner.

The Kremlin has changed defenders: the falcons cannot cope with the local crows. Correspondents found out why the feathered guard was renewed and who is now guarding the sky over the Kremlin.

The main enemy of the Kremlin's winged guards is the vandal crows. At the end of the 20th century, when hawks did not yet serve in the Kremlin, these birds constantly spoiled the atmosphere of the main fortress of the country: they left droppings everywhere, even on the cars of members of the Politburo, and ripped off the gilding of the domes. You see, they have such entertainment during the mating season - to ride on the roofs and domes, as if from a hill.

Among birds of prey, hawks are the most reliable fighters. They attack the crows like commandos, suddenly flying out of a car with tinted windows. Or they hunt down the victim, hiding in an ambush on a tree. The territory is patrolled in the morning and evening, said Yulia Karaseva, an employee of the Kremlin's ornithological group.

"Going out to classes with a bird, we make a detour of the territory, and then we work out such a complex element as following: I release the bird, and it flies after me. I don't look back, I go where I need to - the bird doesn't let me out of sight "This is a very complex skill. For thousands of years, dogs have been instilled with the instinct of a puppy following someone, so a dog follows a person. And a bird always flies away from a person. In this case, we have overcome such an ancient instinct of fear, and the bird follows me," she said. she.

In free flight, the hawk perches on the branches of trees and from time to time flies on a glove to the instructor. From him he receives a reward in the form of a tidbit. This is a necessary ritual and praise for trust - for the fact that the bird remains close to the person. After that, the feathered fighter again goes to the crowns of trees.

Ornithologists tried to work with other birds. The owl Filya serves in the Kremlin, who has his own scores with the crows: they attacked him as a child. Specialists worked with white gyrfalcons. And last summer, peregrine falcons were settled in one of the Kremlin towers for permanent residence.

This is a tribute to tradition, since these birds have lived for centuries in towers that remind them of a mountainous landscape. But falcons are not very effective in fighting ravens: they fly too high in search of prey, see far and fly beyond the Kremlin, so hawks remain the main part of the winged guard.

Among them there are already real Kremlin old-timers. For example, Alfa, who has already served several presidential terms in the Kremlin, says Alexei Tyurin, an ornithological group employee.

“Alfa, a female vulture hawk, has been working with us for about 20-25 years, probably, that is, she is already the oldest and most titled employee in our group. The bird is very experienced, competent in terms of hunting: she knows the entire territory of the Kremlin and most vulnerable, from a bird's point of view, places. It is difficult to count how many crows she caught during her service. But the bill goes to hundreds, if not thousands," he stressed.

By driving away crows, hawks protect weak and small neighbors. There are more songbirds in the Alexander Garden and its environs, and at the same time, the ecology in the very heart of Moscow is improving.

About how peregrine falcons lived and hunted before they were dismissed from the presidential guard, from the Moscow 24 portal.

On April 1st, the world celebrates not only the famous April Fool's Day, but also the International Day of Birds. And the companions of man throughout his history were not only stupid laying hens and canaries, but also noble predators - hawks and falcons. Falconry in Russia reached its peak under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Peter the Great. But the ancient entertainment is not forgotten: not everyone knows that these beautiful birds of prey are still in the service of the Kremlin and airports, protecting the lives of passengers from crows that accidentally get into the engines. You can get acquainted with the ancient fun in the museum-reserve "Kolomenskoye".

Predator Fitness

Every day falconers from Kolomenskoye Viktor Mikhailovich Fedorov and Vladimir Skripkin walk with their wards - falcons and hawks. It is necessary to walk so that the falcon does not lose its flying skills, and its muscles do not atrophy. The bird is taken out into the wild, the “hood” cap covering its eyes is removed (by the way, “to slap” comes from this word) and freed from the fetters - the ropes by which the falconer holds it. Now the falcon can fly wherever it wants.

"It's spring now, hormones are playing, theoretically a bird can fly away," Fedorov warns. However, this rarely happens, although from time to time falconers have to go to the other side of the Moskva River, then to residential areas near the reserve.

"Each bird has its own character, no worse than that of a dog or a person," says Viktor Mikhailovich. One bird is calmer, he calls the other "a wayward lady": "She is a fool, she can shy away in the face."

Hunting instincts are drowned out in Kolomna birds, but it happens that nature takes its toll - it happened that Kolomna falcons caught a cat from neighboring houses or a duck from Kolomna ponds. It is not easy for falcons to live in the park in general - falconers are in conflict with local residents who walk with dogs: falcons are afraid of dogs. From fear, the bird may not return to the owner after a walk. However, falcons themselves are dangerous for small dogs.

Fedorov carefully looks into the sky, at the soaring bird. It seems that she has already walked up: she flies slowly, her beak is opened - shortness of breath. It's time to call home. From the "tidbit", a bag for meat, the falconer takes out a gutted mouse. It's a well-deserved lunch for a "lady." The mouse is attached to a lure - a special leather piece for baiting a falcon. Wabilo is called so from the verb "vabit" - to invite. He is known to us by the word "got used to" - this is how they say about a person who was invited once, and he liked it so much that he keeps coming and coming.

The falconer begins to "invite" the bird - he swings the lure like a lasso. “The falcon sees two kilometers,” he comments. “The predator is accustomed to the lure and understands that this is a source of food.”

Some falcons react immediately, obstinate "ladies", on the contrary, pretend that they do not notice the lure. Finally, from somewhere above - you do not have time to notice from where - the bird rushes to the bait.

Upon returning from a walk, another important ritual is to weigh the bird. So they monitor her physical condition. The bird should not lose much weight - because then it will be weak. But it should not gain weight either - after all, a well-fed bird can simply run away from its breadwinners.

Biological weapon against predator

It is in "Kolomenskoye" - the former royal estate, and now a museum-reserve - that you can look at real hunting falcons and get some idea of ​​how falconry looked like in tsarist times. The exposition "Falconry of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich" was created here, because Kolomenskoye was one of those places where the tsars were engaged in falconry.

There is on the territory of the Dyakonova Gora reserve. In Soviet times, excavations were carried out on the hill and the remains of a certain gazebo were found. Scientists suggest that the gazebo was used during the "tasting" of falcons. Predators were examined by training on pigeons.

Now 11 tamed birds live in the reserve - goshawks, long-legged buzzard, saker falcons, and even one eagle owl. Two falconers work in Kolomenskoye - the experienced Viktor Mikhailovich Fedorov and the neophyte Volodya Skripkin.

Viktor Mikhailovich's position is officially called "head of the bird section of the Kolomenskoye park-estate." It is clear from his jacket torn by bird claws that he is a professional.

He is a little over 50, a techie by education, but he became interested in birds even before the army. “I climbed trees, sat there for days to take a picture or record a voice ... I went to the toilet in a jar so as not to go down,” he recalls. Then Fedorov worked at the Research Institute of Nature, at Izmailovo he entertained tourists with falcons. He is often invited to international exhibitions and to hunt in Europe or the United Arab Emirates.

Vladimir Skripkin, 38, is a rookie. All his adult life he worked as a process engineer. But a year ago, I accidentally met a friend with a raven on the street, and became interested, and then fell in love with birds. He soon changed jobs and is now a "bird care worker".

Volodya's favorite bird is the buzzard Lada. Buzzards, as the smallest hawks, are considered easier to handle, so beginners start with them. Therefore, Volodya drags her everywhere with him and came up with a nickname for her - Lada. "I am her parent," he says. "And she is an imprint" (an animal that takes the first moving object seen after birth as a parent). The buzzard is called that because the bird "buzzes" - it makes a characteristic sound all the time. "Well, don't cry," Vladimir soothes the bird.

Recently, an incident happened with the buzzard Lada - she chased after a rowan thrush, and he, don’t be a fool, took and used a secret weapon: simply speaking, he pissed her off. Ironically, this "biological" weapon works flawlessly: the buzzard Lada has lagged behind the thrush. The point is not the squeamishness of the birds, but the fact that the enemy droppings stick together the feathers of the predator. He cannot catch up with the victim, and in general it is dangerous to fly like this: you can fall. Instead of hunting, the bird has to urgently take care of its appearance.

Why does the falcon need "boden"

Falconry is a beautiful and complex process, Victor Fedorov tells the visitors of the exposition. The kings went hunting with whole armies - hounds in front, horse hunters follow them. On the shoulder or arm of the king and other hunters is a bird.

Dogs track down prey, but a bird - for example, a partridge - is in no hurry to take off. Then the drums come to the aid of the hunters - they are beaten to scare away the bird. The partridge rises into the air. The king lowers the bird. She rises into the sky and circles there - "stands in the air", as hunters call it: she tracks down prey and "waits for slaughter", that is, the moment when it will be possible to attack.

“This is a very beautiful process,” Viktor Mikhailovich says enthusiastically.

Finally, seeing a bird or a hare, the falcon falls down like a stone. For example, a peregrine falcon develops a speed of up to 80 meters per second.

A falcon falling from a height strikes its prey like a rocket. The speed of his fall is such that he literally breaks prey.
The falcon hits its prey with its paws. One of the falcon's claws set back, resembling a human thumb, is called "boden" - from the word butt.

But a bird of prey is not a faithful dog. She does not bring prey in her beak to her master. And she doesn't even come back. She can still fly somewhere or land somewhere.

The prey is picked up by dogs.

After that, it remains only to pick up the falcon itself. To do this, bells are tied to his paws - to hear. Modern hunters use radio tracking devices for this purpose, and eastern rich people use helicopters from which they follow birds.

patron saint of falconry

Among the Slavs, falconry has been known since antiquity. For example, in Veliky Novgorod they found a tie with a hawk bone and a hood of the 12th-13th centuries. And on the seals of one of the sons of Alexander Nevsky, an equestrian falconer was depicted.

Under Ivan I Kalita, the Russian tsars had a special department that was busy with falconry and everything connected with it - the Falconer's Way. Already by the very fact of creating a separate structure, one can understand the importance of this occupation for the Russian tsars. And after Ivan Kalita, the department was indicated in a separate line in the royal wills.

Birds of prey, especially gyrfalcons - the largest and most beautiful falcons - were highly valued. They say that when the falconer of Ivan the Terrible Trifon Patrikeyev, while hunting near the village of Naprudny (now the Maryina Roshcha metro area), lost his beloved gyrfalcon of the king, he gave Trifon the task - to find in three days, otherwise not to demolish, they say, heads.

Trifon went to look. All three days I searched and whistled in the "calling", but could not find it. Tryphon, resigned to his fate, went to bed somewhere in the area of ​​​​the modern Rizhskaya metro station. In a dream, his patron Saint Tryphon appeared to him with a gyrfalcon on his shoulder, and with the words "Here is your falcon!" gave the bird to Tryphon. The next morning, the falconer actually found a bird on a branch next to him.

To celebrate, Patrikeyev built a temple in honor of the saint. This small stone temple (falconers could afford to build from stone) still stands today - for more than 500 years. In Soviet times, it had a children's clinic, and this saved it from destruction.

Well, Saint Tryphon on icons in the Russian tradition is now depicted with a falcon and is revered by hunters.

© public domain

© public domain

And time and hour for your favorite fun

Falconry reached its peak under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the father of Peter the Great. Then the king had a collection of three thousand falcons and hawks. Why so many? Well, first of all, it was just prestigious. Secondly, each bird "specialized" in its prey - someone on birds, and someone on hares.

According to historians, Tsar Alexei was accustomed to this fun by his tutor, Boris Morozov, who generally had a great influence on the Tsar. To strengthen his position, Morozov even married Anna Miloslavskaya, the sister of the Tsar's wife Maria.

Samuel Collins, an English doctor who served at the royal court, wrote about the king: “His fun is falconry and dog hunting. He has more than three hundred falcon keepers and has the best gyrfalcons in the world, which are brought from Siberia and beat ducks and other game ... When he leaves, the Eastern gate and the inner wall of the city are locked until he returns. He rarely visits his subjects ... When the King goes out of the city or to the field for pleasure, he strictly orders that no one bother him with requests.

The king was proud of his collection of birds. For example, the ambassador from the German state of Saxony, August von Meyerberg, was given a great honor - he was given a chance to see some birds. I must say that in those days in Russia they did not really trust the Europeans. It was believed that a Latin - that is, a follower of the Catholic Church - can jinx it. Therefore, neither women nor birds were shown to the arriving ambassadors. But the tsar was so interested in negotiations with the Germans that the ambassadors were nevertheless shown several of the most beautiful birds and were even allowed to sketch them.

Falcons generally served as an important tool of diplomacy. The king sent them as gifts to monarchs in the West and East. And it was a very valuable gift. And the Persian Shah Abbas specifically negotiated with the Russian crown so that our merchants would be allowed to sell birds of prey to foreigners.

Tsar Alexei, who was keenly interested in various sciences, personally took part in compiling a collection of rules for falconry called "The Book of the Commander: a New Code and Order of the Falconer's Way." By the way, an amusing detail is connected with this book: in the preface to "The Officer" Alexei Mikhailovich personally made a postscript: "It's time for business and an hour for fun." Words have become winged, and we still use them, but that's just we understand differently than the king. Usually, by the word "time" we mean most of this very time, and by the word "hour" - a smaller one, and instead of the union "and" we put the particle "a", betraying the opposition to the expression. In fact, philologists are sure, the king did not even think about giving only an hour out of a whole time for fun. There is a time for everything: business and fun. And for such fun as falconry, the king was definitely ready to give most of his time. What time is it...

Dangerous profession

Under Tsar Alexei, falconers were in charge of the Order of Secret Affairs, or rather, a special order within the Secret itself - a falconer. Dressed up gyrfalcons - favorites of the king - royally. Their description, made by another Austrian diplomat, has been preserved: "The gyrfalcons were in new caps made of magnificent fabric and with long golden ropes on their left ankle boots. And the best of them had a gold ring with rubies of considerable size on the right ankle."

Collected predators in the north - mainly in the Arkhangelsk region and in Siberia. Separately, the order of their transportation to Moscow was prescribed - they were transported in special boxes, upholstered inside with felt - so that the bird was soft. Pomytchiks (tax collectors) who accompanied the bird were ordered to "look after the bird not wrong", feed on time and not allow the drivers to go too fast.

And in order to feed the royal living collection, the peasants carried out a special pigeon duty, handing over two pigeons from the yard as a tax. Pigeons were brought to a special Pigeon Yard. Thousands of pigeons were kept there, destined to become food for predators.

Particular attention was paid to falconers - it was both an honorable and in its own way dangerous profession.

Each of the specialists in falcons, even an ordinary one, received a plot of land. But the demand from him was high.

The king, for example, had such a famous falconer named Ivan Gavrilov Yaryshkin son. Once Yaryshkin closed the shutters of the cage where the gyrfalcon lived badly. The wind flung open the shutters, and one of them fell and crushed the bird. Poor Yaryshkin was mercilessly beaten with batogs.

But when the "scientist" Yaryshkin - after all, in Russia for a long time they gave two unbeaten for one beaten - they were ordained from a simple falconer to the initial (that is, to the chiefs), the tsar himself was present at the ceremony.

Traces on the map of modern Moscow

Since those times, many toponyms associated with falconry have been preserved in Moscow. The famous "Sokolniki" was one of the king's favorite places for falconry. There was also a settlement of falconers - hence the name of the area. Near the modern metro station "Semenovskaya" is Sokolinaya Gora - here was located another order, Poteshny, who was in charge of the tsar's leisure. That's really really "and fun hour." Well, in the Moscow region there is the village of Shiryaevo - according to one version, the tsar's favorite gyrfalcon named Shiryai was lost there, according to another, the village belonged to the falconer Semyon Shiryaev.

The palace of the Yusupov princes in Kharitonevsky lane was built on the site of the hunting palace of Ivan the Terrible.

But the Sokol metro station has nothing to do with hunting - it is named after the artists' village built in the 1920s.

Serving in the Kremlin

The son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter the Great, who inherited the throne, had other amusements. It was necessary to fight with the Swedes, with the Turks and with the Persians, he was no longer up to hunting. The livestock of the royal "collection" has decreased for natural reasons - after all, birds do not live long. And the falconers themselves were transferred to Peter's "amusing" regiments - the tsar asked why he needed so many parasites, because 300 people looked after his father's falcons at the same time. In his "amusing" shelves, they fit just right.

However, the ancient craft is not forgotten. Not everyone knows, but birds of prey still serve the Russian state. For example, in the Kremlin there is a whole division of the Federal Security Service, whose staff consists of falcons-balabans - their task is to drive away the crows and "regulate" the number of pigeons.

There are falcon units at some airports, in particular, at Domodedovo. Goshawks are bred here to drive away smaller birds - after all, they can get into the turbine of the aircraft or into the glass of its cockpit.

All "fighters" are on the balance sheet of the Federal Security Service, and this structure is closed. But our correspondent was able to lift the veil of secrecy over the most unusual unit guarding the Moscow Kremlin around the clock from air attacks.

And it all started with crows. And for a long time: since the time Ivan the Terrible Borovitsky Hill, on which the Moscow Kremlin stands, was a favorite place for them to spend the night.

Gray beasts

If you believe the chronicles and memoirs of contemporaries, gray crows flocked here from almost the entire Mother See. And here is the result: either Oprichnina or the Time of Troubles... Peter I, as you know, moved the capital, and the crows remained in the Kremlin. After the Soviet government moved from Petrograd, they again took up their black, or rather, gray business. The Latvian riflemen from the guard tried to drive them away with rifle fire, but this greatly unnerved the presovnarkom Lenin. In the 1960s from a separate Kremlin regiment, an outfit of soldiers stood out, which was called "halkogons". The fighters climbed under the roofs of the 1st and 14th buildings, drove the crows out of the attics, closed the windows and cracks, but the crows each time found their way back.

Than just did not frighten the crows since then, for example, "repellent signals." A special car circled the territory of the Kremlin and emitted signals through the speakers that scared away the crows. But the crows quickly figured out this trick and stopped responding to it. By trial and error, they figured out that the best way to deal with birds is other birds.

Birds in uniform

The ornithological service appeared in the Kremlin in 1983. Then two saker falcons were hired. However, the falcon is a rare bird, listed in the Red Book. Soon they were replaced by more unpretentious goshawks. Here they are plus one eagle owl now guarding the Kremlin from the air.

The main task of the service is to ensure the biological protection of the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The main enemy is the gray crow - a smart bird, in terms of intelligence it can even surpass predators. Ravens remember human faces and can count up to 5. They can tell if a person is holding a gun or a harmless stick. Gathered together, crows are able to recapture their relative from a not very large predator. At the same time, the sides of the predator can be cool, more precisely, the tail and wings.

The most unpleasant quality of crows is their flocking lifestyle. One or two vagrant individuals do not make the weather, but when there are a lot of birds, they begin to become impudent. They shit on ancient cathedrals, ride from their domes and rip off gold leaf with their claws, pull flowers and greenery from flowerbeds, destroy songbirds that also live on the territory of the Kremlin. In addition, crows can be carriers of bird flu. In general, the gray crow, like an inveterate racketeer, squeezes territory from other bird species. And on the territory of the Kremlin live nightingales, robins, starlings, blackbirds. During the migration, there are woodcocks, long-eared owls, once even a snowy owl flew in, like Buckley from Harry Potter.

Hawk Alpha, Eagle Owl Filya

The goshawk is a natural enemy of crows in nature. Where the hawk is found, the crow is afraid to appear there and certainly does not build a nest and does not breed chicks.

The female goshawk Alpha is 20 years old. Given that in captivity hawks live up to 30 years, then Alpha is in the prime of life. Ornithologists laugh: "She is an honorary officer of the FSO, most of her life she has been at a combat post." The hawk is not a dog or a cat. Even if he knows a falconer (this profession has such a name regardless of what kind of birds the ornithologist deals with) for 5 or 10 years, he will not work out of respect for a person alone. Only for food and only when hungry. Both male and female hawks serve in the Kremlin. Males usually weigh 700-800 g, females are twice as heavy. If she beats a crow, then for sure. But the male is superior to the female in maneuverability. And together they practically do not leave the crows any chance. But this is during the day. And at night, the owl Filya is the owner of the Kremlin sky. The eagle owl flies completely silently and grabs sleeping crows, wherever they spend the night - on a branch, in a nest, under the roof of a house, in complete darkness. By the way, contrary to popular belief, he sees perfectly during the day.

After the owl has attacked the crow, the rest, frightened by its death cries, do not scatter in panic, but retreat in an organized manner, as befits a good army. They gather in a flock, warn their comrades by croaking: “Attention, an owl is working in the sky!” Only after that, having circled in the sky, the flock leaves the territory for a while or for good. However, there are so many crow flocks in the city that their endless migration will not leave predators without work.

Spring is coming!

Usually feathered defenders are brought to the Kremlin from a nursery. Filya, who will turn 7 on April 12, entered the service at the age of 2 weeks. At first he looked like a Persian kitten - the same fluffy gray lump. He treated people like his parents. Such birds, say the Kremlin ornithologists, must be taught the basics of hunting skills, there are special methods for this. But some get to the Kremlin already at a conscious age and know how to hunt. Such people need to be taught something else - cooperation with a person.

A bird, of course, can "choose freedom" - that's why it was given wings. Birds of prey, unlike domestic animals, are not permanently attached to humans. A falconer for a hawk or owl is more of a partner than a master.

What else is the difficulty of working with predators? A well-fed and heavy bird will not hunt, it has everything in chocolate anyway. But the hungry one will not fly after the crows either - she simply does not have enough strength for this. The main thing in the work of a falconer is to catch the “correct” weight of the bird, when there is both strength and a feeling of hunger that drives him to hunt. For this, birds in the Kremlin are weighed every day. Phil, for example, weighed 2.9 kg in the morning. Here he is, a handsome man, sitting on the right hand of his commander, grabbing his powerful claws (the owl's main weapon) into a thick leather glove. At the same time, it makes a wide variety of sounds - either hooting, or screaming, or naturally meowing.

“It was he who began to talk,” the falconer explains, looking at his pet with understanding. - Spring is coming!