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Falcon auction heats up in Abu Dhabi as bids soar from silence to Dh200,000
It was the kind of drama that has become part of Abu Dhabi's falcon auctions, where the bird on the stand is only half the spectacle
- PUBLISHED: Mon 17 Aug 2026, 8:35 AM
For several long minutes, a striking white falcon stood on the auction stand in Abu Dhabi with no one willing to raise the Dh20,000 opening bid.
The auctioneer kept calling for offers, urging bidders to seize the chance before the bird became harder to find. The silence was eventually broken with a Dh21,000 bid, followed by Dh22,000, Dh23,000 and a string of modest increases.
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Then the pace changed. The bids climbed to Dh30,000, stalled again at Dh32,000 and Dh33,000, before finally reaching Dh38,000, as the auctioneer repeatedly turned to the room, the cameras and online bidders in a bid to keep the competition alive.
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It was the kind of drama that has become part of Abu Dhabi's falcon auctions, where the bird on the stand is only half the spectacle.
The white Jeer Pure from YSL farm was the first of six falcons auctioned on Sunday night at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, with the birds eventually fetching a combined Dh326,000.
The night's top sale came soon after, when a UAE-produced Qarmousha Pure from Bheiran farm raced from an opening bid of Dh20,000 to Dh200,000.
Auctioneer Khalid bin Saifan Al Muhairi, who was also the bidder who paid Dh250,000 for a Jeer Pure Super White at Saturday's opening auction, kept the crowd engaged with a mixture of salesmanship, humour and reminders of what each bird could potentially achieve on the competition circuit.
When the locally produced Qarmousha Pure came onto the stand, he highlighted its record in local competitions and urged bidders to support UAE-produced birds.
“Production from the UAE,” he repeatedly told the crowd, pointing out that the bird had already performed strongly in local rounds and could have a major role in upcoming competitions.
He also urged bidders to look closely at the bird rather than simply its price, asking the cameraman to zoom in on its features and showing viewers its build, feathers and talons.
At one point, as the bids continued climbing, he told bidders that the bird had been carefully selected and inspected before being offered.
The Dh200,000 sale became the night's clear high point.
But Khalid's own purchase from the previous evening was still a talking point.
The Jeer Pure Super White he bought for Dh250,000 had caught his attention because of its bloodline, rare colouring and versatility. He said the bird's pure Jeer lineage was particularly valuable because pure birds form the basis for producing hybrids, while its white colouring made it unusual.
“It is a bird that can do everything,” he said, describing it as suitable for hunting, racing and beauty competitions.
He had initially been prepared to go even higher. “I had put Dh350,000 for it,” he said.
Khalid said his approach to auctions was simple: if a bird was something he needed and was difficult to find, he would keep bidding, but he would not pay the same kind of money for something he already had.
“If we need something and we find it, we won't stop at Dh1 million,” he said.
A family legacy
His interest in falcons comes from his family. He said he had inherited the passion from his father and grandfather, with his father travelling to Pakistan in 1983 in connection with falconry.
For Khalid, however, the attraction is not only about competition or breeding.
He said one of the biggest lessons falcons had taught him was patience, describing the birds as creatures that can communicate with their handlers without being able to speak.
He recalled one hunting trip in which his falcon chased a rabbit into thick bushes. The bird could not find its quarry after it disappeared beneath a tree and kept searching, prompting Khalid to jokingly tell it where the rabbit had gone. "I looked at a group of old men and told them, we communicate as if he were a human — only he doesn't speak."
Other sales of the night
The auction itself continued in the same spirit of back-and-forth banter.
A locally produced Jeer Taba from Bheiran farm, with a hazel-striped chest and black wings, opened at Dh10,000 before selling for Dh13,000. A British Jeer Pure from KH Falcon Team rose from Dh10,000 to Dh30,000, while a British white Qarmousha Pure sold for Dh23,000.
Another UAE-produced Jeer Pure from Bheiran farm fetched Dh22,000.
The auction was the second of eight being held in connection with the 23rd Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), with four auctions taking place before the exhibition opens and four more scheduled during the event, which runs from August 28 to September 6.
The auctions bring together breeders, falconers and enthusiasts bidding both in person and online for birds from local and international bloodlines.
For Khalid, the excitement comes down to knowing what is standing on the perch in front of him.
“There is supply and demand,” he said. “If it is something we need and we find it, we will not let it go.”
