This week, I went to the Gabbert Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. I went on a guided tour and learned about many different kinds of raptors. Some of them were injured and stayed at the center for a little while; others were there because of human imprinting. Human imprinting is when an animal loses their natural fear of humans and therefore, cannot be returned to the wild.
At the beginning of the tour, they brought out an female American Kestrel. It is North America’s littlest falcon. It was pretty cool seeing a kestrel up close where in the wild you can’t see them as much. An interesting fact about the kestrel is that it can see ultraviolet light. This means it can see other animal’s urine trails from far away.
I saw two Bald Eagles while I was there. The one on the left is a male adult and fully mature. And the one on the right is a female juvenile.
This is a female Northern Harrier. It was refusing to take a bath when I was taking pictures of it. I have never seen a Northern Harrier before so it was cool to see one.
I also saw a Barred Owl there. I have a post about Barred Owls that you can check out on my blog.
They had two Great Horned owls there, which was amazing to see. The Great Horned is the largest owl in North America. The horns on the Great Horned owl are not really horns at all, they are actually just tufts. Great Horned Owls aren’t all the same color and size.
When I was leaving the center, they brought out a red-tailed hawk, who was screaming a lot.
For more information about the raptor center and it’s birds, press the link. https://raptor.umn.edu/
If you’re interested in binoculars, these are the ones I use. I really like them. https://amzn.to/3Gs13lf
This is the book I reference a lot. This is an Amazon affiliate link. I get a small commission if you click and buy through it. Thanks for supporting my blog. https://amzn.to/3pFdeFm
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