Best of the Free Flight Raptors exhibit at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Apr 16, 2018 15:21:50 #
The Arizina-Sonora Desert Museum here in Tucson, AZ is one of the prime zoological sites in the world. It consists of exhibits of plants and animals found in the Sonoran Desert which covers 120,000 square miles in the southwestern part of AZ, The southeastern part of California and the State of Sonora, Mexico. All of the animals (and other critters) are displayed in natural settings and one of the best is the daily raptor free flight exhibit. The birds are totally free but are trained to respond to their handlers signals. On the day we went the birds that flew for us were a Great Horned Owl and a family of Cooper's Hawks. The birds have no tethers attached and seem to delight in flying low and fast over the spectators. (warms the cockles of my fighter pilot heart!) They fly so close to you that one of the hawks actually brushed my hat with his wing. Part of the drill is that the spectators cannot put anything higher than their eyes so as not to get in the way of the birds. The birds are fed bits of meat hung on dead trees very close to where you stand and this made for some great static shots. If you plan to visit Tucson and would like to get this close to some of our areas raptors, check the Museum's web site for when the flights operate as they shut down for the summer months.
Apr 16, 2018 15:29:28 #
Shaun, those are some great photographs.
--Bob
--Bob
Shaun wrote:
The Arizina-Sonora Desert Museum here in Tucson, A... (show quote)
Apr 16, 2018 15:29:40 #
rdrechsler
Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA
Thanks for sharing this information. You captured it perfectly.
Apr 16, 2018 15:33:42 #
Great information but an even better photo series. Excellent bird shots. Mahalo for sharing.
Apr 16, 2018 15:51:00 #
The pictures are exceptional. I would like a translation of the argument taking place in #5.
Apr 16, 2018 15:54:38 #
Apr 16, 2018 16:57:41 #
Apr 16, 2018 17:59:41 #
My thanks to all of you who have commented on this post and believe it or not, I do have a translation of the argument taking place in #5. One of the great things about this exhibit is that there is a docent with a wireless mike explaining what is going on with the different birds. The two that look like they about to have at each other are part of a family of 4 Cooper's hawks that hunt as a family. They have a pecking order with the Alpha female being #1. The others in order of seniority must defer to the one senior to them. This includes when they land on a tree to perch, every one should be on a lower branch than the Alpha female and so on down the line. The bird on the left is a newcomer to the family which happens very little but he is being told that he is a junior bird and as such, to get the hell off her tree or at least get on a lower branch. The docent explained that even if they are on different trees (or cacti) if one is higher than the senior bird, she will fly over and remind him where he or she belongs. They yell at each other but no one in the family is ever harmed.
Apr 16, 2018 20:05:37 #
Shaun .., nice shots .. even nicer that you thought to share them with us as well a a tutorial ... I can’t wait to go there after my move to Scottsdale within the next 12 months ..
Apr 16, 2018 20:45:52 #
That's a very nice series Shaun. We were there in early March and the museum puts on a fantastic free flight program. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants practice on close-flying raptors. There are several handlers who place bits of meat on branches alternating on different sides of the viewing platform. Thus the birds fly just inches over your head. Anyone interested would be best served with a medium zoom such as a 70-200.
I would offer a correction on your I.D.'s. Your third beautiful portrait is a Gray Hawk. The last of the "group-hunting" birds are Harris's Hawks. They do indeed hunt in groups. There were some distant wild Cooper's hawks the day we were there. The Gray Hawk spotted them and quickly flew back to the safety of his handler and wouldn't take off again.
Thanks for sharing your photos.
I would offer a correction on your I.D.'s. Your third beautiful portrait is a Gray Hawk. The last of the "group-hunting" birds are Harris's Hawks. They do indeed hunt in groups. There were some distant wild Cooper's hawks the day we were there. The Gray Hawk spotted them and quickly flew back to the safety of his handler and wouldn't take off again.
Thanks for sharing your photos.
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