Popular Raptor Free Flights Return Daily To Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
TUCSON, AZ - Visitors to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum can once again be rapturous about raptors, enjoying spectacular aerial displays as birds of prey are released to soar free and engage in their natural behaviors.
The Raptor Free Flights are highlighted with Raptor Days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 11, featuring games, ongoing docent interpretation and special events. Activities for children will take place both days and will include a coloring contest, migration game, “best beak” game, and story time, as well as special demonstrations about how raptors live in the wild.
Children who color and bring in the picture from the Desert Museum website (http://www.desertmuseum.org/images/raptortocolor.pdf) will receive a free admission to Raptor Days.
“Raptors are very, very athletic,” said Sue Tygielski, Ph.D., director of the raptor free flight program. The raptors are not on display at the museum except during these twice-daily free-flight releases. The morning flight demonstration features three of seven species, including a great horned owl, barn owl, ferruginous hawk, gray hawk and prairie falcon, plus a roadrunner and a raven.
These birds tend to soar and circle overhead near the visitors. The afternoon flight show is much more of an aerial demonstration as several Harris’ hawks drift upward 500 to 600 feet and away toward Brown Mountain, then fly swiftly back to the trainer.
Raptors are powerful fliers and hunters. Some can plummet through the air at speeds of more than 80 miles an hour. Their vision is eight to 10 times better than that of humans. Tygielski said there are approximately 52 different raptor species in and around Arizona. Starting in the fall, this can include the migrating Peregrine falcon that travels from Canada and northern United States to Arizona and farther south. “People are fascinated by raptors,” Dr. Tygielski said.
“Raptors are birds that hunt and kill live prey. They have great eyesight, hooked feet and sharp talons. These are the features that make a bird a raptor,” Dr. Tygielski said. This includes hawks, eagles, falcons and owls. ”We also include the roadrunner and raven because they eat meat like raptors, but actually they are omnivores. They also eat vegetation. And their body structure is different. They’re a great complement to our raptors.”
Most of the raptors used in the free-flight program are part of a wildlife rehabilitation program, rescued and raised by hand after falling out of the nest. They can’t be returned to the wild because they are too habituated to humans, she said.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association commented that the Raptor Free Flight is like no other demonstration in the country because the birds are the focus of the program, not the trainers. It is like being in the desert with a raptor biologist, gleaning information on the birds' lifestyles as they fly free.
This popular free-flight program was introduced in 1995 and has grown this season to twice-daily demonstrations at 10:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m. This year the raptor free flights can be viewed from two locations. Speakers have been installed at the Cat Canyon overlook so visitors can view the trainers and birds from above and still listen to the presentation. The lower level raptor area also is wheelchair accessible.
A focal point in the raptor area is a 20-foot bronze sculpture by Mark Rossi, featuring a powerful Harris’ hawk with outspread wings taking flight from atop a saguaro cactus. The sculpture is dedicated to astronaut Laurel Clark, who died on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. The Harris’ hawk is a poignant symbol because these raptors work in teams of up to seven – the number of astronauts who perished. Clark and her family were regular visitors to the Desert Museum.
