Environmental Science: Boyd Hill Raptor Demonstration at Weedon Island

I was fortunate enough to go to Weedon Island to see a Raptor Demonstration by Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. They brought ten different raptors to show and talk about including a bald eagle, turkey vulture, american kestral, barred, screech, and great horned owls, red tail and red shoulder hawks, and a falcon. While most of the information they discussed I already knew, one of the interesting bits that I didn't was that Kestrals can see in the UV spectrum and often hunt mice by following their urine tracks! Eww but kind of cool too. Another bit of info I didn't know was that hawks don't typically grab their prey, they punch them with their closed talons, then follow them to the ground where they kill them by biting through their spine.



Here are a few pictures from the talk: