Birds of Prey

We had the opportunity to go to an interesting program about Birds of Prey presented by Martin Tyler of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation. After showing pictures of birds, he brought out a magnificent Harris' hawk.

The hawk looked so stately and was well behaved. 

Then it was time for a prairie falcon. These are fairly common birds in this area, but I had never seen one up so close.

The prairie falcon didn't particularly like being in the limelight for long. He started talking back and wiggling (sounds like a little toddler I know).

But once he had his hood on, he was happy again. Out of sight, out of mind.

The little mask makes him look a bit strange, but he was calm as could be with it on.

Then came the last and biggest bird, a golden eagle. He was truly marvelous.

The Southwest Wildlife Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to rehabilitate wildlife and present educational programs. 

Martin provided lots of interesting information about each bird. One of the interesting tidbits is the number of mice each bird eats every day. How many would you guess?

The wingspan of the golden eagle is enormous.

The Southwest Wildlife Foundation has a website and offers programs and field trips. They are also trying to build a nature center in Cedar City, Utah.

It's nice to know that someone is carrying for the injured birds. Seeing some up close definitely gives one a different perspective of their power and size.