Program Birds

The last post was photos of the exhibit birds, now I want to share some of the program birds. These birds are not on display for they public, but they do their work in programs. I don't have photos of them all yet, but I'll share what I do have.

First off, there are four program birds that are flown in programs. The only one I don't have a photo of yet is the Harris Hawk, but I will get one soon because he is gorgeous. The other three are an American Kestrel, a Red-tailed Hawk, and Rough-legged Hawk. 

The Kestrel is the cutest thing ever. He is an imprinted bird (doesn't know he is a bird) and therefore likes hanging out with people. He has no physical injury, so no flight limitations. 

The red-tail is a big lady. She ran into power lines when she was a juvenile and her wing never healed correctly. She does not have full flight mobility, but can do short flights in programs. 

 The rough-legged hawk looks similar to a red-tail (they are both buteos). This lady has a larger head, a bigger wingspan, and feathers down her legs. She collided with a vehicle, her wing never healed correctly, but she also can do short flights in programs. 

Then we have some owls. This a great-horned owl. You can see he has damaged in his right eye due to a collision with a vehicle. He hoots constantly which is cute. 

This a barred owl. He is blind in his left eye due to a collision with a vehicle. Barred owls have the oddest 'expressions' in my opinion.

A Barn Owl - this might be my favorite type of owl. They are majestic looking, they cackle and hiss, and they are movie stars (the main character in the guardians movie). 

I haven't worked with this guy yet, but it's an Eastern Screech Owl who had his left eye removed because of damage. 

Another bird I don't have photographed because I haven't worked with him yet is a male red-tailed hawk. 

And finally, a turkey vulture. This is a great old lady (33 years old) who occasionally wanders around the wildlife building. She is the most ladylike and polite turkey vulture I've ever seen or heard of. 

That's all I got on this topic, for now. I am sure I will take hundreds more photos of them, and have many more stories, as these are the birds I will be working with closely. 

p.s. You may have notice I didn't say any names, that's because they don't have them. It is a way to help visitors understand that these are not pets, but wild animals. Also, even if they did have names, the birds would not care or even recognize them.