Everett, Micah and Tundra Wow First Tuesday Crowd

by Morgan Tate and Amaya Gracie, 

Methow Conservancy Summer Interns and Liberty Bell High School Students

Jessica Graham with Everett the American Kestrel

At the Methow Conservancy’s August “First Tuesday” program on August 7th, Winthrop was visited by the WSU Raptor Club. Their representative, Jessica Graham, who is the current president of the organization, brought along three birds to show us all a little of what she does at her school club in Pullman. She explained how every bird in their care has some sort of disability that results in them not being able to survive in the wild. An example could be losing their ability to fly, as were all of the birds she brought with her. They strive to return each bird back to full health even though they live in captivity.

The Raptor Club has a varying number of 50-75 active club members who all share an interest in working with birds of prey. It began without live raptors, but presently has 16 raptor residents, including the American Kestrel, Northern Harrier Hawk (aka Marsh Hawk), and Snowy Owl that accompanied Jessica. The American kestrel, named Everett, is a falcon, a type of raptor. As she walked around with him perched on her hand, protected by a leather glove, she revealed her vast knowledge of bird facts, both in general and pertaining to Everett. American kestrels are known for their sharp, fast dives and ability to see shadows from UV light giving them the upper hand when finding prey. Other falcons, such as peregrine falcons are known to decapitate ducks in mid flight.  Kestrels are also the smallest falcon in North America, measuring at 19–21 centimeters (7–8 in) long. All falcons have something called a “tooth-notch” on their beak, allowing them to insert their beak into the spine of their prey and break the spinal cord.  These birds may be small, but they sure can be fierce!

Next up was Micah, a Northern Harrier who was hit by a combine before he had fledged from his nest in a field. His wing was so badly damaged, it had to be amputated. Since his accident took place at such a young age, the Raptor Club was hopeful that he would learn to balance without the weight and support of his left wing. At almost two years of age, he has succeeded in adapting to his disability. 

Micah had his left wing amputated when he was young but he's managed to learn how to balance.

The third and last bird Jessica introduced us to was Tundra, a fully grown Snowy Owl. The crowd was amazed at her fluffy white face and huge yellow eyes. She was found near Spokane, WA last December, and the club adopted her at 6 weeks old. She suffered from a humeral fracture and dislocated elbow. If not for the dislocated elbow, which no bird can recover from, Tundra would be able to fly, and even carry an animal up to half her weight. We learned that owls have serrated feathers, like a comb, to give them silent flight and help them sneak up on prey. After playing a guessing game, we found out that the large owl weighed only three pounds due to hollow bones for flight advantages.

Most people believe that owls can turn their head in a full circle around themselves, but, in fact, they only have a 270 degree rotation (which is still amazing!).  This is because they have 14 vertebrae rather than seven, like humans. They need the extra rotation of their head because their eyes are so big that they can’t move them the same way we can move ours. If humans were to have the same scale as owls do between the size of their eyes and their head, our eyes would be the size of oranges!

Tundra, a female Snowy Owl.  Females have brown flecks in the feathers whereas adult males are all white.

 After each birds’ show-and-tell, the 200+ people in attendance asked dozens of questions.  People were amazed with Jessica’s knowledge and the accomplishments the Raptor Club had made and were interested to learn more. Children asked question after question while adults awed over Tundra’s massive talons. The Raptor Club presentation was a huge success. In only one short hour, someone who knew nothing on birds became a fascinated learner, ready to discover what part he or she could play in saving another raptor.