The Southeastern Raptor Center hosted Football, Fans and Feathers from 4-5 p.m. the day before the home football game against LSU.
The event consisted of a presentation of a variety of raptors, including an educational synopsis, flight demonstrations and up-close viewing. Among these raptors were owls, vultures, hawks and even some of the eagles that can be seen flying around Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Raptor Center’s main focus is rehabilitation of wild raptors that are injured and come under their care. The birds are only kept for permanent residence at the center for shows if they are unable to return to the wild. The center takes in up to 400 injured raptors a year for rehabilitation.
“The shows started in about 2004 when the amphitheater was first built,” said Andrew Hopkins, trainer at the Raptor Center. “The tradition is fairly new, and that’s brought a lot of awareness to the Raptor Center and to eagles in general. Because we have the Auburn eagles, it brings a lot of people out to the Southeast Raptor Center.
“The show went pretty much like we expected,” Hopkins said. “We never know what’s going to happen. The birds are free to do whatever they want. We have kind of a plan, but we never know what the birds will do so we always expect to kind of wing it.”
Attendees echoed the sentiment that the variety of birds was impressive.
“It’s a really fun event," said Winn Staples, one of the attendees. "Fun to learn about the different birds. I thought it was really good. I thought it was really interesting. The way they brought them out and let the birds fly around the stadium.”
Attendees were able to battle the heat and hunger with water and popcorn, each $1 in addition to the $5 admission price.
The shows are held every Friday before a home game at 4 p.m.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
