Went to the Raven Ridge event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania today.
The big star today was this amazing Siberian Eagle Owl. A subspecies of the Eurasian Eagle Owl, these tend to be some of the largest.
It was very beautiful and impressive, though he did have an eye condition they were treating, so he was a bit squinty.
Augur Buzzard
Interesting this guy and the barn owl got flat perches, where the other birds got something to wrap their toes around.
I think they were just larger and probably heavier in general. All the flat-topped ones were on the ground with the medium and large birds. The Screech and Boobook were on the folding tables.
Handsomest buzzard around!
Buzzard is a really strange word that seems to take on quite a wide range of meanings depending on where one is in the world.
The one thing that popped up as a quick fact was buzzard comes from the Old French buisart, meaning “inferior hawk,” which I felt was quite rude. A little more reading though seemed to indicate that it was just the hawks they felt weren’t great for falconry purposes.
Buzzards are genus Buteo, which includes the Red Tailed Hawk, probably the most popular falconry bird here in America, so I think the buzzards should get an apology.
Agreed. Also they are extremely needed!
They’ve all got important roles to play!