Ever since I started to travel to Central Asia I had been interested in the many different styles of berkut tomaga or eagle hood.
Almost every family has a slightly different style, whether this is on purpose or something that just happens through individual creation I am not sure.

Here in Kyrgyzstan each berkutchi made his own tomaga for his berkut and although they seemed to have originated from the same pattern they did have their individuality.

This photograph is of Qutuldu’s first year berkut wearing an excellent fitting tomaga. This profile shot shows the excellent way the Kazakh / Kyrgyz style hood is so much better than anything we produced in the west.

I am pleased to say that since I brought a few patterns and new hoods back from my travels, hoodmakers both in the U.K. and in Canada have been producing some excellent eagle hoods.

No longer do our eagles have to put up with bad fitting hoods and neither do eagle falconers need to get whipped across the eyes with hood braces when an eagle shakes its head.