Boise’s Birds of Prey

By Joe Berk

When Sue and I moved into our home some 40+ years ago, I was setting up my office when I heard a thump.  It sounded like a bird flew into the window, so I looked out and sure enough, there was a rather large red-tailed hawk on my front yard with its wings spread out.  The thing was huge, and I knew that if it had flown into the window, it would have broken glass, but the window was intact.  I’d never seen a red-tailed hawk close up (the thing was only about 10 feet away).  The way its wings were spread out led me to believe it had maybe hit the roof and was now lying there, wounded, in front of me.

I was pondering my next step when the hawk lifted one wing and peered down.  It wasn’t wounded at all.  It held another bird in its talons, which were tightly clenched around its neck.  The hawk shook the other bird and it twitched a bit, so it put its wing down again and waited (as did I).  After maybe another minute, the hawk did an instant replay, except this time the bird in its claws was motionless.  The hawk released it and then, with its beak, proceeded to tear into the smaller bird’s body, taking its time and eating the internal organs.  When it finished, it flew off, leaving the dead bird and a scattering of its feathers.   I’ve been fascinated by birds of prey ever since, and I live in a good spot for one so afflicted.  We have a family of red-tailed hawks and another family of great horned owls that nest nearby.  When I ride into Baja, we get great photos of osprey eating sushi in the protected areas near Guerrero Negro.  These birds are amazing, so when I was in Boise and I saw they the World Center for Birds of Prey, I was in.   It’s only $10 for a senior citizen ticket.  I would have paid more.  The photo ops were…well, read on.  You’ll see.

The first raptor we saw was a peregrine falcon.  It was the first one I’d ever seen, although I’d heard about them being in our area when I was growing up in New Jersey.  They live in many regions, but I’d never encountered one before.   I’m pleased with the photo; I photographed the bird through its wire cage and the wires blurred and disappeared in the image.

Next up was my old buddy, the red-tailed hawk.  The lighting was much more of a challenge here, as this one was in an indoor cage with bars instead of woven wire.  I had to angle myself to get the camera lens pointed between the bars.

We walked a little further and saw a sign for the California condor exhibit.

I had never seen one of these, other than the super cool video Mike Huber posted in one of his blogs.  Mike had a surreal experience.  Boise’s Birds of Prey Center breeds the California condor; they are then released in California’s Pinnacles National Park.  Coming back from near extinction, they now range all over the American Southwest and down into Baja.  When Mike hiked into Pinnacles National park and stopped to eat his lunch, a California condor landed just a few feet away.  Lucky guy, Mike is.

The Harpy eagle is an unusually photogenic raptor.   They range from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.  Like some of our ExNotes commenters, it started squawking up a storm when I mentioned I watch Fox News.

The Ornate hawk-eagle is another large raptor.   It’s from the tropical regions of Central and South America.  I had never heard of this bird, nor had I ever seen one.  It is beautiful.   It’s another one I photographed through the bars of its cage.

The Birds of Prey Center had a gyrfalcon (also known as the Arctic Falcon) that I think was the most interesting bird there.   While I was photographing it, I tilted my head, and the falcon tilted his head.  I then tilted my head the other way, and the falcon mimicked that, too.  I started doing so repeatedly, and so did the bird.  The only thing missing was the music.  It was really cool.

The gyrfalcon lives in the Arctic.  It’s the largest falcon in the world, and it’s perfectly okay living in temperatures that dip below -40 degrees.

Here’s a photo I particularly like.  It’s a great horned owl.  We’ve had a family of these owls nest behind our house in the past, and it was great seeing the baby owl chicks emerge from the nest for a few weeks and then finally fly away.  They are large birds.  One still comes around on patrol, looking for mice and other tasty treats.  It wakes us up sometimes hooting away in the dark. I’ve seen these fly by and they are impressive.  Their flight is absolutely silent.

While we were in the Birds of Prey center, a handler was there with a barred owl.  It was most impressive.  I asked if I could use my flash and she said the owl wouldn’t mind.

So there you have it.  If you ever find yourself in Boise, the World Center for Birds of Prey needs to be on your list of places to visit.

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A bit more on Boise…if you are spending some time there, I’ve got a good restaurant recommendation.  We were chatting up a couple of young ladies near the Lucky Peak State Park and I asked them:  What’s the best Italian restaurant in Boise?  Their answer was instantaneous:  Luciano’s.  You know what?  They were right.

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