The birds in our show
Pied Crow (Corvus Albus)- "Sheryl"
Our Pied Crow is one year old and comes from a captive breeding project in the USA. In the wild they occur throughout Africa. She is slightly larger than our American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) and is also bicolored. Sheryl is black and white, compared to her solid black American cousins. She is very smart, a real ham and so friendly that some of you may enjoy the pleasure of having her fly to your hand during our show!
Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture (Cathares Melambrotus)- "Sherlock"
Similar and closely related to the Turkey Vulture commonly seen here. Our South American Yellow-Headed Vulture is slightly smaller than the North American Turkey Vulture and has a yellowish colored head. As the bloodhounds of the bird world, he can locate his food (carcasses) by smell, a rare ability for birds.
These vultures can detect a dead animal using olfaction in the jungle where they live from at least a 1/4 mile away and they can pinpoint it through the tree canopy. It gives them an ecological advantage over other avian scavengers such as black vultures (that do not use olfaction) who can only forage in open areas such as where humans live. You can see him demonstrate this ability at our show and see him in free flight.
Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo Bubo)- "Bubu"
Bubu is the star of our show. She is two years old and also comes from a captive breeding project in USA. The Eurasian Eagle Owl is the world's largest owl and is common in the forests of Asia and Europe. Eagle Owls feeds mainly on small mammals, but can kill prey up to the size of a fox or a young deer. Common prey also includes hedgehogs that are active at night and quite noisy and easy to catch. Our Eagle Owl is larger but looks similar to its American cousin, the Great Horned Owl.
Saker Falcon (Falco Cherrug)- "Kali"
Kali is one year old and comes form our own breeding. The Saker Falcon is a large falcon that breeds in the Steppes of Asia and winters in the Middle East. Compared to other larger falcons that feed mostly on birds, the Saker Falcon also catches many mammals. They are the second largest falcon, are very powerful and can subdue prey much larger than themselves. They have been utilized for thousands of years to capture food for the Bedouin during the winter months and then released to return to their desolate haunts in the Steppes. > A similar "desert" falcon can be seen native here in Nevada in the smaller but similar Prairie Falcon. > You can see our Kali chasing a speedy 'rabbit' over 600 feet.
Lanner Falcon (Falco Biarmicus) -male
Our little male Lanner Falcon is two years old and comes from captive breeding project in the USA. Lanner Falcons are a medium sized falcon and occur in Africa, southeast Europe and the Middle East. The Lanner Falcon is like a cross between the Peregrine Falcon and the desert Prairie Falcon.
You can see our male Lanner Falcon stoop the lure and admire his speed, agility and aerial acrobacy.
Lanner Falcon (Falco Biarmicus)- female
Our female Lanner Falcon is one year old and you can see her in our show climbing to the sky and stoop down at 150 mph after a "dove". Don't miss this unique display of speed and aerial supremacy.
Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus Ornatus)- "Inka"
The Ornate Hawk-Eagle is a medium sized tropical eagle and can be found in the humid forests of Central and South America. This very attractive and powerful eagle whose body is adapted for hunting in the jungle with short wings and long tail for flying around obstacles. Our Inka comes from a captive breeding project in the USA and is only one of a dozen Ornate Hawk-Eagles in the country. He is a member of our show until he is of breeding age in a couple of years.
You can see him in our show demonstrating their agile flight through the "Jungle".
Steppe Eagle (Aquila Rapax Nipalensis)- "Savanna"
This large eagle from the Steppes of Asia, migrates during the winter to Africa and India. It is very similar to the Golden Eagle that can be seen in our Nevada deserts. Our Steppe Eagle "Savannah" is one year old and comes from captive breeding project in Europe.
You can see Savannah flying free and "hunting a fox"
Augur Buzzard (Buteo Augur)- "Idaho"
Idaho is the youngest performer in our show, hatched this year. Augur Buzzards are common in Africa and similar to our common Red-tailed Hawk that you can see quite often here in Nevada. You can usually Red-tails sitting on telephone poles or soaring high on the sky.
Augur Buzzards hunt as our Red-tailed Hawks from a high perch or from a soar.
You can see our Idaho dive down from our helium blimp for 600'!
White-necked Raven (Corvus albicollis)
This lovely raven is yet another young performer at our show and along with his near relative, the Pied Crow, occurs in the wilds of Africa. Like our crow, he is very smart and you can see him demonstrate his intelligence at our show with his ability to distinguish different colors.