Connecticut falconry license

First-year fees

$220 nonrefundable application fee for a three-year resident falconry permit; nonresidents apply at $28 for a three-year permit

Permit runs three years, July 1 through June 30 (RCSA 26-67e-4)

Unique Connecticut extras required with the application: written zoning-enforcement-officer approval for the raptor housing location, a valid CT firearms hunting license, and a 5-year clean-record certification.

Exam & minimum age

Exam: 80% to pass. DEEP-administered exam at the Hartford office on a request basis; 80% to pass with a 60-day wait before a retake. General and Master applicants additionally pass a field examination.

Minimum age: 14 — Stricter than the federal floor: apprentice applicants must be at least 14, with written parent/guardian approval if under 18; General class requires 16 (CT DEEP falconry requirements).

Classes: Apprentice → General → Master

Birds by class & trapping

Apprentice: one red-tailed hawk — and because no raptors may be taken from the wild in Connecticut, it must be a wild-trapped bird from another state. General (16+): up to 3 raptors. Master (5 general years + 3 master recommendations): up to 5 raptors. True eagles (Aquila) and sea-eagles (Haliaeetus), state/federally listed species and hybrids thereof are barred for every class; allowable birds are Falconinae/Accipitrinae species under 50 CFR 21.29(e), captive-bred raptors, and hybrid raptors.

No wild take — Connecticut is a closed state for raptor capture (RCSA 26-67e-2(d)); the only permitted capture is recapturing your own escaped banded captive-bred or hybrid bird. All birds must come from other states or captive sources.

Notes from the official sources

Regulation of record: RCSA 26-67e (amended Dec 9, 2013). Permits do not authorize raptor propagation; Connecticut was the last of the lower 48 to legalize falconry (program launched 2005).