Birds of Prey

Today we went on an outing called, Birds of Prey, which was a place that housed several varieties of South Africa's native winged creatures and aim to preserve endangered species. We were given time to venture around the property and view the different areas of birds and later we got to watch a showcase of some birds catching their lunch. There was an expert who lead the show and she gave us information about the various birds exhibited. I learned a variety of interesting things that I did not expect. For example, female birds are bigger than male birds in order to protect and keep their eggs warm. The expert explained that the scientific name to distinguish between male and female is, "Reverse sexual dimorphism." Another interesting fact, birds are conserving animals. They eat all parts of their prey. Also, a birds feet or talons serve as indicators for what prey they hunt; the bigger the talons the bigger the prey.

This was my favorite bird, the Barn Owl. With a white, moon-shaped face, this bird was adorably cute and very quiet. Her feathers were covered with tiny, spotted, dots, almost like freckles. The expert had us listen to her flight, which was almost silent as she flapped her wings right in front of our feet, six inches above the ground. Based upon research done in England, this type of owl is estimated to catch 2,500 mice per year, due to their silent flight of attack. I discovered the reason to owls ability to turn their heads around: their eyes are not perfectly round, more like a rugby ball, and therefore they have no peripheral vision.

This was my least favorite bird, the vulture. I was able to witness a vulture feeding and it was quite disturbing, to say the least. They are quite aggressive animals, stealing pieces of meat right from each other's beaks. The feeder entered the vulture area and threw in two giant hunks of raw meat and within an instant all of the vultures were crowded around devouring the flesh with gruesome snaps. The feeder only stayed long enough to offer a few facts about this creature before leaving the area because one of the vultures has a particular fascination with shoe laces. Imagining one of those giant birds coming after my shoes made me curl my toes and walk back to my hoot hollow, where my friendly owl friend was.
Overall, today was an unexpected surprise.
May you learn something more about the beauty of God's animals today.
All my love,
Gennavieve