Halloween at TRC

Bailey the red-tailed hawk looks at her mice
inside the pumpkin.

We offered the food for our education raptors inside small pumpkins today for enrichment.  For a full set of photos, go to our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/TheRaptorCenter.

Strix the barred owl enjoyed the food that was
tucked inside the pumpkin.

Where is the Red-tailed Hawk?

We are often asked at TRC how to find those amazing raptors out in the wild.  We thought we'd share a good example of why they are hard to find, in part due to plumage that helps them blend in to their surroundings.

Here is a photo taken this past weekend by TRC staff.  The owners of the home at the bottom of the photo asked that just the roof be shown, for their privacy.  Can you see the hatch-year (juvenile) red-tailed hawk in the photo?  Scroll down for some help!

Lois the great horned owl will share - will you?

We know you have been following our weekly clinic patient census, and the stories we share about the programming our education winged ambassadors provide.  We love the comments and support all of our friends like you send us. 

Can we ask for your help in sharing another message?  The weekly food bill for our clinic patients and education birds is $1200. A great way to help us is to give a gift on November 14, Give to the Max Day.  We have a match up to $53,000 that day. 

Will you share the message with your friends?  Lois the great horned owl (and all of us at TRC!) thank you!

TRC on KARE 11

We hope your caught our story on KARE 11 last night.  If not, here is a link to the video of one of the last steps in a red-tailed hawk patient's rehabilitation. The hawk had some broken wing feathers, and Clinic Manager Lori Arent "imped" some for her.

Life of Pi (the Bald Eagle)

Pi, photo taken Friday, Oct 25, 2013

In June 2012, you might remember when we first introduced you to Pi the bald eagle, one of our education ambassadors who was hatched in 2009.  We thought you'd like to see what he looks like now! 

Each spring/summer, Pi, like our other education raptors, molts old feathers and replaces with with new ones. You can certainly see how his plumage, eyes, and beak, has changed with two molts.

Oct 25, 2013

(See a past post from March 2013, and Pi's memo to rainclouds after a very soggy few days in MN.)

Oct 25, 2013

June 8, 2012

March 11, 2013

TRC at Education Minnesota Conference

Interpretive naturalist Adam Barnett and some of TRC's winged ambassadors welcomed the opportunity to speak to some of our favorite people - Minnesota teachers - at the recent Education Minnesota Professional Conference.  Attendance was estimated at 10,000 people. The St Paul Pioneer Press ran a story. 

TRC Gets Ready for Winter!

Volunteers David S. and Michael D. work in Nero's mews

The Raptor Center is getting ready for winter, just as most of you are!  With the change in temperatures, the housing (mews) for several of our winged ambassadors needed to be modified a bit.  This week, our turkey vulture, Nero (who will be 40 next year!) had Plexiglass and a heater installed in his housing.  With the direction his enclosure is facing, we take advantage of late afternoon sun for added warmth, too.

David works on Meadow's mews

Meadow, our northern harrier, also had Plexiglass and a heater added to her enclosure.  

Meadow's thermometer

We have thermometers in both birds’ mews that help us keep track of the temperature inside them all year long.  In a month or so, our non-feathered staff will look longingly at those temperatures that are much higher than the outdoors!












 

Darner is outside her hutch!

Our smaller birds have heat bulbs for their hutches (small “houses” inside their enclosures.)  (Darner the American kestrel is demonstrating her hardiness by staying outside today, while Boreas the boreal owl enjoys his heated hutch.)

Darner's hutch

Boreas likes his heat bulb and hutch

We couldn’t do this without the incredible skills and commitment of our volunteers.  They truly keep us going, and we thank them so much for everything they do.