Falconry is, in most modern jurisdictions, a regulated activity. The bird is licensed; the falconer is licensed; the breeding establishment is licensed; the import or export of a bird across a border is documented with a separate certificate under the international wildlife trade rules.

Each bird carries a closed ring or a microchip, recorded against the breeder, the keeper, and the relevant authority. The record includes the species, the date of hatching, the place of breeding, and the licence under which it is held. A change of keeper is recorded; a loss is reported; the death of a bird is registered.

The cross-border element produces particularly detailed records. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the EU's Article 10 certificate system, document each cross-border movement of a regulated bird. The certificates name the parties, the bird's identification, the purpose of the movement, and the dates. The records are held by the relevant national authorities and are accessible to a wider range of agencies than the falconer typically considers.

The wider community of falconry, the clubs, the associations, the meetings, the press, also generates a public record. The major associations publish their members' lists in part; the field meetings produce attendance records; the published photographs in the specialist press identify named falconers with named birds. A falconer of any standing has, over time, accumulated a corpus of soft public material that places them in the wider community.

The work in this category is principally about understanding the existing record, which is generally extensive, well-maintained, and not in itself reducible. What can be considered is the structure of registrations, the consent given for publication, and the framing of the principal's involvement in the broader publications of the sport.