A white gyrfalcon standing on a block perch in the dunes, with the sea behind it.

The Wenzel family and the gyrfalcon

Wenzel Gyrfalcons

The Wenzel family's work with the largest of the falcons, from the dunes of North Jutland.

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Wenzel Gyrfalcons

A family and a bird

Wenzel Gyrfalcons is the Wenzel family's work with the gyrfalcon, Falco rusticolus. Frank and Irene Wenzel began the work with Ørnereservatet, known in English as Eagle World, in 1976. The reserve stands among the dunes of North Jutland, near Skagen.

Peter Frank Wenzel has been a falconer since he was a little boy. After his father's death in 2015 he has led the reserve, and he continues the family's work with birds of prey, including the gyrfalcon.

Over the years we have bred many gyrfalcons. Today we breed only on a very limited scale.

Peter Frank Wenzel holding a pale Greenland gyrfalcon on his glove, in front of the main building at Ørnereservatet.

Peter Frank Wenzel with a Greenland gyrfalcon.

Frank Wenzel spent much of his life with the species, including the Iceland and Greenland gyrfalcons on this site. He wrote the book The Gyrfalcons of the Kings, in Danish Kongernes Jagtfalke, and he wanted people to see the living bird again, not only its history.

Unfortunately there are very few nature documentaries on the gyrfalcon. It lives an unremarkable life in the wild despite its exciting history and extraordinary physics. I want to arouse interest again. Frank Wenzel
Frank Wenzel in the dunes by the sea, with the gyrfalcon Sultana perched on his raised glove, wings open.

Frank Wenzel with the gyrfalcon Sultana, 1999.

Falco rusticolus

About the gyrfalcon

The gyrfalcon is the largest of all falcons. It lives across the high Arctic, from Greenland and Iceland to northern Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska and northern Canada.

Its plumage runs from almost pure white through grey and silver to very dark brown or black. No two birds look quite the same.

It is a powerful hunter of birds in open polar country. For centuries it was prized in falconry at the courts of Europe, and it is often called the falcon of kings.

Close portrait of an Iceland gyrfalcon, with brown and cream barred plumage and a dark eye.

Iceland gyrfalcon.

A white gyrfalcon with wings raised, standing on a dune above a wide sandy beach.

White gyrfalcon in the dunes.

The gyrfalcon Sultana flying towards the camera with wings and tail fully spread.

The gyrfalcon Sultana in flight, 1999.

Ørnereservatet

Visit Eagle World

To see the birds, plan a visit, or read more about the family's work, go to the main site of Ørnereservatet.

Go to eagleworld.dk