Auburn fans of all ages swooped down to the Southeastern Raptor Center Friday for an up-close and personal look at the special birds that have become part of a gameday tradition.
Raptors have become known as nature's aerial killing machines. The professional trainers of the raptor center have developed relationships with these animals through the sport of falconry, or training raptors to hunt.
"People often ask us how we train the birds to fly at the games," said Roy Crowe, a professional bird trainer. "The eagle only comes to us because he is hungry and we have food. The trainers have pre-conditioned the birds on a lure and the bird knows when he touches the lure that he gets to eat."
The most popular type of hawk is the giant hawks or eagles. There are two types of eagles most prominent in our country, but only one can be found in Alabama: the bald eagle.
"Bald eagles are our wonderful success story," said Marianne Hudson, a professional bird trainer of 12 years. "They used to be an endangered species, but they are no longer threatened. The eagles are everywhere in Alabama, because we have a lot of water and therefore a lot of fish and that's what they eat."
Eagles can fly over 100 miles an hour and are stronger than a man. The strongest man in the world would be on his knees if an eagle squeezed him with his talons.
"Eagles have incredible crushing strength in his feet and four big needles on each foot," Hudson said. "Those talons are long and backed up by incredible leg muscles that push them into their prey. They are powerful birds"
No one should try to approach or own a raptor for they could be dangerous to humans if kept in captivity. State and federal laws protect raptors and vultures because native species cannot be kept as pets.
"The vulture shown is named Kramer, and he was raised illegally as a pet," Hudson said. "Since this bird was raised by humans, he is not afraid of them and would tussle with a human just as it would its own vulture brother. He has to be kept in captivity or he would cause a problem if he was released."
People have a common misconception that vultures are ugly, dirty birds, but the raptor center has tried to change that stereotype.
"The vulture will span its wings to sun themselves," Crowe said. "These birds have an iridescence to them and reflect UV light. Vultures are magnificent creatures."
Hawks are the most common category of birds in the South because of what they like to eat and their habitat.
"The rat is the perfect meal package for a red-tail hawk," Crowe said. "Sixty to 70 grams of meat is enough to last these birds for a day. Even though the hawk weighs about a pound and a half, it is capable of catching a three-pound rabbit into the ground and killing it with its feet."
One essential role raptors play in the environment is as Earth's predators. A study was done in the South on the quail population, because it was believed the predators were eating the quail.
"They did an intensive kill of the predators including the coyotes, foxes, owls and hawks, but the quail population actually went down," Crowe said. "The reason was that everything got out of balance. The rats were preying on the quail eggs and, with the predators gone, the rat population flourished."
Females are generally larger than males in many raptor species. Raptors live all over North America in all seasons of the year.
"Raptors do migrate, but there are always populations," Hudson said. "These birds do a great service for us because they eat so many rats and mice."
Falconry can be a difficult sport because there is a lot of timing involved.
"When we train the birds to hunt, they will not know the difference between a real rabbit and a fake one," Hudson said. "It is a delicate procedure to get them off of the lure. If we rob the raptors of their prey, they will resent our approach. We have to take time and let her eat some of the rabbit and then get her off of her kill."
The Southeastern Raptor Center hires volunteers in animal science to help with the training and up-keep of these animals.
"I got involved when I saw an ad for a volunteer needed for rehabilitation," said Katherine Gaskill, a senior in animal science. "I come out to the raptor center six days a week to train the animals. I have worked with these birds for two and a half years and it still amazes me how powerful they are."
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