Birds of Prey at Tohono Chul Park

A wonderful program at a wonderful park

The Birds of Prey: Night and Day program is offered twice monthly on Wednesdays at Tohono Chul Park during the winter. This program, free with admission to the Park, has been offered for years by the well known Tucson naturalist and wildlife rehabilitator Kathy Schroeder. The program now is also presented by volunteers with the Arizona Raptor Center, a non-profit volunteer organization. The Arizona Raptor Center uses falconers and falconry techniques to aid in the recovery of sick and injured birds of prey.

After a good friend attended the program last month and then recommended it to me, I finally went to see the demonstration last week. I thought that the presentation by the group of volunteers from the Arizona Raptor Center was done very well. I enjoyed it and I learned a lot. Below are photos of three of the birds which were introduced during the presentation.

Grimel is a Western Screech Owl who came into care this summer after she had been attacked by an outdoor cat and was brought into the owners home by the cat. The owners called for rehabilitation care. The Vet found that the owl had minor wounds from the cat and was severely infected with tick larvae. Treatment was given for the ticks, possible infections, and weight loss. In addition, Grimel was found to have severe feather developmental delay. With her condition it was felt that she could not be released successfully so she currently lives a full life with a falconer supporting her and allowing her to hunt. Grimel is doing fantastic.

Elfie is an Elf Owl. He was discovered in September of 2024 laying in a median at a shopping mall and weighed just over half of what he should have. By the time that Elfie recovered through careful feeding and hydration, he had missed his migration season. Elfie also showed a lack of hunting skills towards the preferred quarry of Elf Owls. He is now living in falconer placement where he serves as an education ambassador at conservation programs. Living with a licensed falconer allows Elfie the opportunity to hunt regularly.

Little Girl is the name of this captive bred Aplomado Falcon. Her subspecies is called the “Peruvian Aplomado” and her coloration differs from the Northern Aplomado which ranges along the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Little Girl is flown primarily for falconry and loves to hunt rabbits and quail. She also makes a great educational ambassador, giving face to the availability of lethal-free abatement methods and conservation initiatives. Aplomado falcons are very popular for agricultural falconry-based abatement, reducing the need for lethal methods (poisons) or netting to prevent crop loss to foraging wildlife. Little Girl belongs to Blue Hawk Falconry Abatement Company, which provides services all over southern Arizona to remove nuisance birds from a variety of locations such as malls, resorts, vineyards, and even industrial areas.

You can learn more about how birds of prey can be used as an ecologically based program to control pest birds from this NPR story.

If you are interested in seeing some of these special Raptors in person, you can find an upcoming Birds of Prey presentation on the Tohono Chul calendar.

To learn more about the Arizona Raptor Center, check out their website here.