🧰 Care, Equipment & Facilities · 8 min
The mews and the weathering area
Why this matters
Your facilities have to be approved before you may obtain a bird. The standard is written out in 6 NYCRR 173.6 and the exam quotes it closely.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- State the minimum indoor dimensions and required features of a mews
- Describe the required outdoor facility and environmental protections
- Explain how windows must be protected for a free-lofted bird
Indoor facilities (the mews)
Per 173.6(a)(1), the mews must have:
- Inside dimensions not less than eight feet in each direction. Small wire pet-store bird cages may never be used to house raptors.
- Interior surfaces with no beams, ledges or protrusions a bird could injure itself on, unless the raptor is kept tethered.
- At least one window on the south or east side, with vertical bars or rods on the inside spaced narrower than the width of the bird's body, big enough to pass sunlight and enough ventilation to keep the bird healthy. The outside should be covered with screen or 1/4" or 1/2" hardware cloth to keep rats and weasels out.
- At least one door for easy access and cleaning. If it opens directly outdoors it needs a shield or a second inside door to stop an escape, must be key-locked, and needs a spring or hook inside to keep it shut.
- A floor that cleans easily and drains well.
- A perch sized and built so the bird can grip and hold it safely, in keeping with its natural perching habits.
- A pan of clean water for each raptor.
Why vertical bars, specifically
Vertical round rods about two inches apart, with no cross-bars. On horizontal bars a bird will try to land and then hang there, wings beating and tail jammed down as a prop, which wrecks the tail. Windows should also not be screened where the bird can touch the screen.
Outdoor facilities
Per 173.6(a)(2): enough space for a tethered raptor to bate without striking wings on the sides or top, and sides and top enclosed with material that excludes predators.
Environmental protection
Per 173.6(a)(3): temperature in a healthful range, shielding from high wind and winter storms, protection from avian and ground predators, and prevention of disturbances likely to cause injury.
A mews therefore must provide protection from predators, protection from the elements, and good ventilation, all three. In practice the summer half of that is the one people underestimate: direct sun above 90 degrees F for an extended period can be fatal to any species. Heat alone kills goshawks; peregrines suffer most from very dry air; desert falcons resist longer but not indefinitely. Protecting a bird from direct sun in high summer is not a nicety.
Cleaning
Beyond daily clean-up, a thorough cleaning happens as needed, not on a fixed schedule. Sanitation matters more to humans than to hawks, but a clean dry mews with regularly changed litter, clean perches, regular exercise and fresh food is the best disease prevention available. Clear castings, feathers and debris routinely.
From the field
A DEC officer arrives unannounced during daylight hours to inspect. Under 173.6(c)(2) that inspection is allowed without advance notice at any reasonable time of day, in your presence. What is the first thing they will look at? Dimensions, window protection, door security and perch condition, in some order. None of those can be fixed on the morning of the visit.
This lesson is part of the NY Falconry Exam course. Open it in the course to answer the retrieval checks that go with it, track what you have read, and quiz the whole unit. Lessons, quizzes and the glossary are free.