Raptor Free Flights at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Raptor Free Flights Raptor Days About the Birds

Roadrunner Ferruginous Hawk Common Barn Owl Harris Hawk

Photo by ASDM

Raptor Free Flight Demonstrations

October 27th, 2007 - April 13th, 2008
10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily

Come experience the thrill of free flying birds of prey at the Raptor Free Flight. Raptor Free Flight is a dynamic bird of prey flight demonstration that occurs in the open desert showcasing natural behaviors of native birds. Unlike other bird flight shows, the Raptor Free Flight focuses the attention on the birds and how they behavior in nature.

Raptors are birds that eat live prey and also have excellent vision, sharp talons or toenails, and hooked or curved beaks. Raptors included in the flight program are Harris' Hawks, Ferruginous Hawks, Gray Hawks, Barn Owls, Great Horned Owls, and Prairie Falcons. Other birds that are included in the Raptor Free Flight are Chihuahuan Ravens and Greater Roadrunners.

Association of Zoos and Aquariums said, "The Raptor Free Flight is like no other demonstration in the country because the birds are the focus presented in their natural habitat."

Each flight demonstration showcases different raptor species. Typically at the 10:30 a.m. demonstration visitors may have the opportunity to see and learn about Chihuahuan Ravens, Barn Owls, Great Horned Owls, Ferruginous Hawks, Gray Hawks, Prairie Falcons, or Greater Roadrunners. Each morning demonstration highlights 3-4 species therefore the individual species vary by day.

The 1:30 p.m. demonstration displays our family group of Harris' Hawks. These social raptors commonly fly in family groups of three to seven birds in the wild. Come see the Harris' Hawks soar and hunt together. The family dynamics change throughout the season both in the wild and in the Desert Museum group. Watch as a larger female hawk asserts herself by supplanting or pushing smaller males off the tops of the saguaros.

Raptor Free Flight demonstrations will occur, as bird and weather conditions allow, from October 27, 2007 through April 13, 2008, daily at 10:30 and 1:30. On most rainy or windy days, when the demonstrations cannot take place, birds can still be viewed on the glove at the Raptor Free Flight site.