Masters of the Sky

I spent most of this weekend helping out at Carpenter Nature Center. For the past 4 or 5 years CNC has hosted the World Bird Sanctuary's Masters of the Sky program the first weekend in March. The World Bird Sanctuary is located in St Louis, MO. Like The Raptor Center they began as a rehab organization for injured raptors. They still do raptor rehab but they also do raptor breeding and education program. Part of the purpose of their breeding program is releasing endangered species back to the wild while other birds are raised to help with the education.

The program is always fun and interesting. It is really cool to get to see some of their captive raptors that are not native to North America. This years foreign exchange birds included a hooded vulture, Eurasian eagle owl, tawny owl, long-crested eagle, white-necked raven and the bateleur eagle pictured above. There were also several species that are native to North America including a Harris hawk, eastern screech owl and barn owl. Three of the birds were used to demonstrate flight, the Harris hawk, hooded vulture and the barn owl, see top photo. The program helps teach CNC members and visitors about raptors and how we can help them survive, while it is also an effective fund raiser.