Raptor Programs

12/02/22 - 02/02/23

This winter I got to participate in two programs that allow you to get close to some raptors and even have them fly to you and land on your hand.

The first program is called Avian Adventures and is offered by the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. You get to spend some time with the trainers for their Raptor Free Flight. You get to see a Great Horned Owl up close and then you can have a Eurasian Eagle Owl named Klaus fly to you and land on your hand. The first nine photos of this gallery are from that program.

The second program is called Trple Threat and is offered by Sky Island Falconry. The program starts with a brief history of falconry, the equipment used, and what it takes to become a licensed falconer. Then we were introduced to three raptors. The first one was a Red-naped Shaheen, which is a falcon similar to, but smaller than, a Perrigrine Falcon. They normally fly this bird and let it chase a lure. But it's been misbehaving some lately and going off on little adventures, so they just let us hold him rather than let him fly off and delay or cancel the rest of the program. The second raptor was a barn owl that we were allowed to hold. The last raptor was a Harris' Hawk. It would fly off and perch somewhere. You could then signal it and it would come and land on your glove. The last seven photos are from this program.

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Steve Winker