Sharing Information

It's been almost exactly a year since my last blog post. Blame it on lock-down laziness? I wasn't doing much birding during the time of Covid and I also was in the hospital and recovering from open heart surgery (I'm fine now.) BUT, I was taking a number of online classes about birds (and cooking, but not cooking birds--I'm vegetarian).

 "Once you discover something it's important to share that information." This advice comes from the scientists at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, ID. I discovered the Center while taking a kid's course through Varsity Tutors. Most of their classes are free or available for a very low cost. And while they say that this class was for children, it was very enlightening for adults also, so take a class with a kid or by yourself. Varsity Tutors also offers classes on dinosaurs, ancestors of today's birds, and many other topics.

During the one hour class, Saving Raptors, Curtis Evans shared information and introduced us to some of the birds of prey that are currently living at the Center. In addition to rehabilitation, the Center raises endangered birds to be released back into the wild. Many birds at the Center are used in educational situations if they can't be released. The Center also works around the world to help prevent habitat loss and extinction.

Burrowing owls (Photo by
The Peregrine Fund)

One thing I've learned as a birder is that we are always learning new things about birds! Owls borrow a nest someone else, like a hawk or eagle, has made. Or smaller owls go into cavities in trees or barns. Vultures lay eggs on a scrape on a cliff or in a cavity. Hawks and eagles make nests. Falcons may nest on the edge of buildings. (See Tower Girl at the University of Texas at Austin) Eagles build very large nests adding to the building every year. Nests are not deep but the birds continue adding a clean layer to the nest.

Milky eagle owl
(Photo by the Peregrine Fund)

One of the most amazing raptors shown was the Milky Eagle Owl, Africa’s largest owl, commonly known as the Giant Eagle Owl, its correct name is the Verreaux's eagle-owl. The one at the World Center is an owl that hatched at the Atlanta Zoo, where one can be seen also. Hand raised, the owlet then went to Idaho where it remains. So now I have to plan a visit!

Hopefully I can get back on track now that there is some return to normalcy. Wearing a mask, I am going to lectures, getting out to bird, and travelling some. And, of course, always learning.

Falcon Cam: "Tower Girl" Thrills

Photo collage courtesy of UT-A

Check out the newest "Longhorn" at the University of Texas! "Tower Girl" swoops around campus before returning to her nesting box where she can be viewed by the world thanks to the school's falcon cam. The fastest bird, and one of the fastest animals, on the planet, Tower Girl feasts on the many doves, pigeons, and grackles on campus. Austin, TX is at the outer edge of peregrine falcon breeding territory. The male falcon visits in late winter and early spring so we may see some action here. Click the link to open the cam: Falcon Cam

American Kestrel, a small falcon
(Photo by Jeanette Larson)

Read other Bird Brainz posts on falcons by clicking: Peregrine Spring and The Hawk of the Castle

The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry

Although I admit to never having watched a single episode of Game of Thrones, I know that its hunk star carries a falcon around. That has to have increased interest in falcons and falconry! Falconry is also popular in a lot of other fantasy novels and young readers might like to know more about how hawks and falcons have been used historically.

Hawk of the Castle is a sophisticated picture book that follows a young girl as her father trains the bird of prey that lives in their castle. The story line is featured on one page, with each short stanza ending in "castle" to create a lyrical pace. Inset boxes provide factual details about the birds, the time period, and hunting with falcons and hawks on the opposite page. Beautiful realistic illustrations have the feel of architectural renderings. A two-page author's note explains that the author's father was a falconer and provides some history of falconry from China and the Middle Ages to the present. Suggestions for further reading for both children and adults, along with appropriate websites, provide for additional information on falconry. This is a fine example of informational picture books that are intended for older children and adults to enjoy.

Note: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher. It will be donated to our local kid's birding team for their classroom collection.

Peregrine Spring

One of the fun things about book reviewing is the serendipitous nature of what you get to review. I've read a number of books that I would probably not have picked up on my own. Almost exactly a year ago I reviewed H is for Hawk, a book I looked at several times, intrigued by the cover, but only reluctantly started to read. This year I received another memoir by a modern female falconer. And it was just as good!

Peregrine Spring: A Master Falconer's Extraordinary Life with Birds of Prey is Nancy Cowan's compelling tale of how she raised and trained a variety of hawks and falcons. With her husband, she spearheaded a campaign to make falconry legal in New Hampshire and started a school to train would-be falconers.

I've long been fascinated by birds of prey. While some are beautiful, most would never be labeled as "cute." They are all, in my opinion, majestic. While they naturally hunt prey in the wild, many of the birds can also be trained to hunt and return to the falconer. There are four main categories of birds used in falconry but all are of the order Falconiformes. 

American Kestrel
North America's littlest falcon

Those who know me know that I'm not a fan of hunting but there is something that intrigues me about falconry. While falconry is a hunting sport, it doesn't appear that the primary emphasis is on catching anything for the falconer to consume (although that likely was the primary reason in the earliest days). Rather it is a lifestyle with a close relationship built between the bird and the handler. The bird is catching its own meal (although it may not be allowed to eat it all at once). Cowan states that the relationship between falconer and bird becomes "a partnership unlike any...experienced with any other animal" and she outlines this relationship through her many stories. About the falcon's gaze, writer Sy Montgomery (who was also Cowan's first student at her School of Falconry) said it was "like looking directly into the sun." Watching these birds in the wild makes it easy to understand this sentiment.

Cooper's Hawk

 The book follows thirty years of training and living closely (sometimes bring the birds into her
house) with Harris' hawks, Goshawks, Gyrfalcons, Peregrines, and more. Her vignettes are amusing (a lost falcon is recovered by the police and has to be "bailed out"), informative (female raptors are larger than their male counterparts), poignant (an annual watch for the return of urban peregrines to nest on the downtown buildings), and sad (a bird Cowan rehabilitated died shortly after being released).

"My owl" being released.

Peregrine Spring readers meet a wide variety of hawks and other birds of prey and will look forward to seeing them in the wild. I frequently see some of these birds in my range of birding. I also had the privilege of releasing an owl after rehabilitation. (He took off and immediately fell into the water. Thankfully he was able to get back in flight before needing to be fished out for more rehabilitation.) Owls are birds of prey but have been used with mixed success for hunting.

Pre-order Peregrine Spring before its March 2016 release.