About the Author

Bruce has spent five decades studying wild raptors. A graduate of Oregon State University, Bruce conducted one of the early radio-telemetry studies of the prairie falcon. As a wildlife biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, he did peregrine reintroduction and population monitoring. For two decades, he bred peregrines for both falconry and reintroduction efforts.

He also has extensive experience trapping and studying wild raptors. For the past 10 years, Bruce has studied raptor migration through the western Great Basin using  VHF and satellite telemetry. His interest in the urban adaptation of raptors led him to study both accipiter hawks and the three subspecies of merlins that winter in southwestern Idaho.

Bruce was introduced to falconry by the “old guard” in the Washington, D.C. area in the early 1960s. These falconers, including Alva Nye, Brian McDonald, and Jim Fox, pioneered beach trapping in Virginia and Maryland. He moved to the West Coast in 1967, where he was exposed to duck hawking under ideal conditions.

In the 1990s, Bruce authored two raptor-related books: The Hunting Falcon, about the sport of falconry, and Pirate of the Plains, a natural history book about prairie falcons and the high desert environment of the Pacific Northwest. 

PUBLICATIONS

• Haak, B.A. and S.J. Denton. 1979. Subterranean nesting by prairie falcons. Raptor Research 13 (4): 121-122.
• Haak, B.A. 1980. Hybrid falcons.  J. N. Amer. Falconers' Assoc. 18 & 19: 75-83.
• Haak, B.A. 1981. On taking falcons into Canada. Hawk Chalk 20 (2): 10-12.
  
• Haak, B.A. and C. Merker. 1981. Tame hacking eyas falcons. J. N. Amer. Falconers'  Assoc. 20: 12-19.
• Haak, B.A. 1981. Duck hawking and big water techniques.  J. N. Amer. Falconers' Assoc.  20: 36-41.
• Haak, B.A. 1982. Population status of prairie falcons in northern Lake County, Oregon. Oregon Dept. of  Fish and Wildlife Technical Report 82-5-04B. 8pp.
• Haak, B.A. 1983. Foraging ecology of prairie falcons in Northern California. M.S. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis. 64pp.
• Haak, B.A. 1984.  A falconer on falconry. Oregon Wildlife. 39 (1): 3-7.
• Haak, B.A., 1986. The perfect Saturday morning. Idaho Falconers Association  Journal. P. 40-44.
• Haak, B.A. 1988. Adventures with a red-naped shaheen. Pages 116-127 in  H.M. Webster and J.H. Enderson, eds. Game Hawking...at its very best. Windsong Press, Denver. 317pp.
• Haak, B.A., 1988. Kudos for Kudu. J. N. Amer. Falconers' Assoc. 29: 47-53.
• Haak, B.A., 1989. Uptown peregrines find the high life in Boise. Idaho Wildlife 9 (2): 8-10.
• Haak, B.A. 1990. Kathryn Albertson Park: where wildlife is king. Idaho Wildlife 10    (2): 10-11.
• Haak, B.A. 1992. The hunting falcon. Hancock House Publishers, Surrey, B.C. Canada. 240pp.
• Haak, B. A. 1993. Homecoming. Pages 157-170 in K. Filkins, ed. A bond with the wild.  North American Falconers’ Association, Berthoud, Colorado. 179 pp.
• Haak, B.A. 1994. Bald eagles and peregrine falcons: Endangered Species Act success stories. Idaho Wildlife 14 (6): 22-24.
• Haak, B.A. 1995. Pirate of the plains: adventures with prairie falcons in the high desert. Hancock House Publishers, Surrey, B.C. Canada. 208pp.
• Haak, B.A.  1997. Nomad.  The Falconers and Raptor Conservation Magazine Vol. 33: 7-20.
• Haak, B. 2010.  Falconry and raptors in Idaho. Idaho Game Warden Magazine Spring/Summer. P. 17-24.
• Haak. B. 2010. The ups and downs of chukar hawking. J. N. Amer. Falconers' Assoc. 49: 16-19.
  Haak, B.A. 2012. Winter occurrence of three merlin subspecies in southwestern Idaho, USA. J. Raptor Res. 46(2): 220-223.
• Haak, B.A. and J. Buchanan2012. Bathing and drinking behavior of wintering merlins. J. Raptor Res. 46(2): 224-226.
• Haak, B.A. and S. Sawby. 2012. Recent nesting and subspecies identity of the merlin in Idaho. Western Birds 43:105-108
• Haak, B.A. 2015. Reflections of early falconry in Oregon. J. N. Amer. Falconer’s Assoc.  54: 40-44.
• Haak, B.A. 2015. Sons of distant deserts. J. N. Amer. Falconer’s Assoc. 54: 46-53
• Haak, B.A. 2016. Beach bird. Falco Sapiens Press, Eagle, Idaho.
• Haak, B. A. 2019. Deutscher Falkenorden host international meet in Bamburg, Germany. The Falconer. British Falconers Club, UK.
• Crowley, B. E., C. P. Bataille, B. A. Haak, and K. M. Sommer. 2021. Identifying nesting grounds for juvenile migratory birds with dual isotope: an initial test using North American raptors. Ecosphere 12(10):e03765. 10.1002/ecs2.3765