Calvin and I spent last weekend learning about birds of prey and falconry.


This is actually a young bald eagle. It's full grown but won't develope it's white head until it more mature. I couldn't believe how large she was!






This is one of the hawks that Calvin was handling. She is a beauty!

Some facts:
Raptors are characterized by a hooked beak, strong feet with sharp talons, keen eyesight(8 times sharper than ours or 100 times sharper than mine..haha), and acarnivorous diet.
Hooked Beak - The raptor's beak sets it apart from other birds. All raptors have the samebeak design, curved at the tip with sharp cutting edges to rip and tear apart their prey.Falcons use their beak to kill their prey by severing the spinal cord.
Sharp Talons - Birds of prey have powerful leg and toe muscles that terminate with sharptalons, making their feet lethal weapons. Their feet are perfectly designed to catch, hold,and carry prey. These toes can apply an extremely powerful grip on their prey, literally crushing it to death. The talons may also kill the prey by piercing the soft tissue and vital organs. Size Difference - Female raptors are generally larger than the males.
Eyes - Raptors have three eyelids! They have a top and bottom eyelid plus a third, transparenteyelid which closes laterally across the eye.