UAE: Bidding for falcons open at Dh50,000 at Abu Dhabi's ADIHEX annual auction

The room is filled predominantly with men in crisp white kanduras. No obvious foreigners, just a few photographers dressed in black, pressed against the wall, their cameras clicking in humming bursts. The atmosphere is hushed, all eyes fixed on the stage of the round chamber. In one corner, a handful of women sit quietly.

A handler steps forward into the centre of the room with a young Gyr pure white falcon balanced on his gloved arm. The auctioneer leans into the microphone, praising the bird’s beauty as the room watches. It’s the seventh falcon of the night. Its white head is small, its wings flecked with brown patterns that trail into a darker tail. On both sides of the small auditorium, two large screens display the falcon up close in a live streaming video, where online bidders can also keep up.

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“Ah ya shabab,” the presenter begins, his voice deep and commanding — come on, young men. He throws the number into the room again and again, sharp and insistent, waiting for the first paddle to lift. Bidding opens at Dh50,000 — already higher than the fledglings that went earlier in the night for Dh20,000 or Dh30,000. The auctioneer repeats the number, his voice pushing it out into the room. A hand goes up almost immediately, then another. The auctioneer double and triple checks the guests, who else? He repeats the last number bid. The price jumps quickly with each paddle raised. A few minutes pass before the gavel comes down at Dh70,000.

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This is just a moment in the annual ADIHEX falcon auction — the centrepiece of Abu Dhabi’s hunting and equestrian exhibition. This year’s exhibition, the 22nd edition, will take place from today to September 7 at ADNEC Centre. Over eight auction days, a curated selection of just seven to eight birds vie for bids under bright lights. To participate in the auction, virtual buyers must pay a refundable security deposit of Dh5,000, and those who make it to Abu Dhabi for the exclusive auction have to pay Dh50,000 to get an up-close look at the fledglings. Before bidding, all the birds are perched in a centrepiece in the foyer of the ADNEC centre, where guests must check in before the auction begins in a smaller room.

Saad Al Hasani, director of ADIHEX and head coordinator for the falcon sale, told KT LUXE that by the end of the night on August 23, when I attended, 40 falcons had been sold. “They have sold 40 falcons so far, totalling more than Dh1 million,” Al Hasani said, with only five more auctions to go.

It’s that turnover, half a dozen birds sold in one evening with thousands of dirhams changing hands over the course of a single night, that sets ADIHEX apart. This is the only formal “elite” falcon auction in the UAE operated in partnership with the Emirates Falconers’ Club, and is staged once a year in Abu Dhabi. Around a thousand falcons are vetted, but only a fraction make it to the floor. “All falcons are examined by a specialised committee that reviews the bird’s colour and specifications, and determines whether it is suitable for entry into the platform,” Al Hasani said. The vetters examine the health and integrity of each birds’ feathers among other parts, he explained. Importantly, the rarity of the bird’s breed and whether it is unique or available in the larger trade market plays a decisive role in its valuation.

“They wait for these birds from year to year for them to reach the market,” Al Hasani said about the saggars, or falcon trainers. It’s the exclusivity of the birds of prey, along with the enthusiastic buyers who come together, that gives the auction its weight.

In the spotlight, falcons that once hunted to feed Bedouin families are now sold like rare art pieces. Buyers put down deposits just to raise a paddle, and prices climb unforgivingly. In 2022, a rare Pure Gyr ultra-white from the US famously crossed the Dh1 million mark, signalling a clear shift in the UAE’s falcon trade.

The auction offers a rare look at how falcons are heralded in Emirati culture, tied to lineage and identity, and also how far they’ve travelled from the desert. Which leaves the question: is it still heritage, or has falconry slipped fully into the realm of luxury and status?

For Anne-Lise Tropato, a researcher at NYU Abu Dhabi who has spent the last 10 years specialising her study on the cultural and historical significance of falconry, the auction could never be simply a story about commerce.

“ADIHEX is, of course, a market, but it’s never only that,” Tropato said about the auction. “It has also become a gathering place for experts, practitioners, researchers, and professionals... It’s a diplomatic event as much as a commercial one.” While she admits there is a strong luxury trade dimension to modern-day trade, she emphasises that institutions like ADIHEX help keep falconry visible and vibrant in fast-changing UAE society. “Good falcons have always been expensive,” Tropato said. “In many parts of the world, falconry was the sport of kings,” she said, explaining it had a presence in Europe, at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, and in imperial China. However, for Bedouins in the Gulf, and in nomadic tribes before the formation of the UAE, it wasn’t so closely tied to nobility and it wasn’t based on trade.

“Falconry for the Bedouins was first of all about survival. I remember a falconer in Abu Dhabi once told me something I’ll never forget. Speaking about the past, he said, ‘We humans owe our falcons our lives.’ And it’s true, in the desert, where conditions were so harsh, falcons helped people get the food they needed. That bond was absolutely vital,” Tropato said.

But she is also clear that the way falconry is practised today is not a straight continuation of tradition. “Buying and selling falcons at very high prices is not something rooted in Bedouin practice; it’s an imported model, more familiar from other parts of the world,” Tropato said. The spectacle of modern auctions brings in different logic.

“What worries me now is the risk of homogenisation, of flattening falconry into one globalised image of luxury birds, instead of recognising the diversity of traditions and meanings it has carried across cultures,” Tropato said, noting that the spectacle of auctions like ADIHEX risks oversimplifying what falconry has represented across centuries.

Natalie Koch takes a different angle. Koch is an assistant professor of geography at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and author of the study Gulf Nationalism and the Geopolitics of Constructing Falconry as a Heritage Sport. She came to the subject while researching connections between Central Asia and the Gulf, but as a scholar of sports geography, she was struck by how falconry fit into the region’s broader politics of heritage and identity. She calls falconry in the UAE an “invented tradition”, in the sense that the way it’s practised today has been formalised and promoted as part of nation-building. “ An invented tradition is essentially a concept that nationalism scholars have given to any number of national practices,” Koch said. Falconry, she explained, shifted from something woven into Bedouin daily life to a practice that’s now organised and institutionalised. Today, the UAE is full of falconry groups and clubs, built to formalise what was once part of everyday survival in the desert.

“There’s also, I would say, more investment in some of the transactional global efforts to preserve falconry culture. The UAE was one of the major backers of falconry’s UNESCO heritage status,” Koch said. That designation helped cement falconry not just as global heritage but also as a central piece of Emirati national identity. “ In order to preserve that national heritage, you have to be able to project it forward... in the face of Emirati diversity and with lots of different types of people living in the country, falconry becomes a thread to make sure that national culture is brought from the past to the future.”

When it comes to falcon auctions like the one happening at ADIHEX, Koch said there’s always going to be a commercialisation of certain heritage or traditional practices, “but I don’t think it necessarily undermines it”.

Al Hasani said: “In the UAE, our emblem is the falcon. This is part of our heritage, not a luxury. Our ancestors were accustomed to hunting with falcons, as [the bird] was their companion, the fencing. Therefore, adopting falcons is part of our heritage and popular tradition.”

But while the symbolism is powerful, the market side is impossible to ignore. The falcon trade is difficult to track, but the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) offers a rare window into the numbers. With the latest historical figures, released last month, that scale comes into focus. In 2023, the UAE imported about $8.16 million (Dh29 million) worth of live birds of prey, making it one of the top markets in the world. The UK, meanwhile, led exporters at roughly $5.94 million (Dh21 million). Total global trade reached just $19.2 million (Dh70 million) that year, which means the Emirates accounted for a significant share of it.

That concurs with what is happening on the ground in Abu Dhabi. Last year, ADIHEX held its biggest edition yet, turning into a full-scale marketplace for the country’s heritage industries. Across nine days, 325 birds were exchanged for a combined Dh5.4 million, with 302 falcons earning the coveted ADIHEX badge that qualifies them for the UAE President’s Cup.

Who exactly is buying these birds is harder to pin down. Breeders, falconers, and traders dominate, but their motivations vary. Some buyers still want falcons for the traditional art of bonding and training. Others showcase their falcons in flying competitions, such as the Liwas flying falcon race, in the UAE’s Moreeb Dune area.

Some buyers frame their purchases in support of captive-breeding, which is seen as a more ethical alternative to trapping wild birds on migration routes. Others come from outside the falconry world altogether. Tourism operators have begun buying falcons too, showing them off in demonstrations. Take Abu Dhabi-based Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara. As part of its offered experiences for guests, falcon handlers showcase the birds, using them as living emblems of Emirati tradition.

At auctions, individual buyers tend to stay quiet. They’re reluctant to speak with the media, preferring to keep their reasons and investments private. That silence speaks to something larger. As Koch put it: “There are certain cultural traditions that Emiratis have lost or that have become quieter today, and people really want to make sure they don’t go away entirely.” Engagement at falcon auctions shows there’s a sentiment among Emiratis that this is something important to invest in and contribute to; however, it remains deeply personal for most.

Koch stressed that falconry is being pushed to younger generations through schools, clubs, and outreach at ADIHEX. I don’t know if I’d call it democratising, she said about the institutionalisation of falconry, but there’s an effort to open up the community and get kids interested in the tradition.

For sellers and breeders, being vocal on their trade is a different story. Take Hadi Saeed Almansoori, owner of Al Thumama Auctions and KH Falcon, who says: “I grew up with birds. My life and journey with birds began at a young age — approximately six or seven years — before I entered the school stage.” What began as a childhood passion became a business.

Al Thumama Bird Auctions is Almansoori’s year-round falconry marketplace in Abu Dhabi. It isn’t on the same scale as ADIHEX and doesn’t compete with it. The annual exhibition remains the marquee stage but Al Thumama offers a platform where local and international breeders can trade throughout the year. Through KH Falcon, his breeding and training arm, Almansoori also works on captive breeding, crossbreeding, and rehabilitating birds.

He has been a regular presence at ADIHEX for years, but this season marked one of his biggest successes. “We were successful in selling a purebred falcon that I own last week for Dh350,000, in addition to several other birds for various amounts,” he said.

Almansoori’s sale is proof that the auction floor isn’t just heritage on display, it’s also serious business. As the UAE modernises and positions itself as a global hub, falconry provides a throughline between the present and the past, and between “rapid development and deep-rooted tradition”, Tropato explained.

While the hefty price tags on jewels or vintage cars is often viewed as an ostentatious sign of wealth, a falcon, on the other hand, shows individuals that you are more than wealthy, Tropato explained. “Owning and flying a falcon is not just about showing social status, it’s also about showing that you embody certain virtues, that you are someone who values endurance, respect, and harmony with nature,” she said.

However, Tropato says that the preservation of falconry has carried certain values within not just handlers but their communities. Caring for and training a falcon shapes ideals of patience and integrity due to the level of commitment needed for “What we really need is more research, more outreach, more storytelling about the richness of falconry’s cultural history,” she said.