Birdland Park & Gardens, Bourton-on-the-Water : Birds of prey?

Your Birdland guide to birds of prey & owls

Birds of Prey include Vultures, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Harriers etc.
of which there are 286 species. Owls there are 130 species.

Flight

Generally Birds of Prey utilise gliding, soaring and stooping, so speed and power are of the essence. The wings are broad or narrow depending on the speed orsoaring requirements to catch prey and also a variation in the length of tail feathers for directional control.

Generally Owls have broad wings and their feathers do not have barbs, which hold the feathers in tight formation. This allows for silent flight a key feature in their hunting.

Diet and Feeding

Both are carnivores which means they eat meat; ranging from small birds, mammals, fish, insects, reptiles amphibians etc. They will also eaten carrion, which is already dead prey. They both kill their prey by using their powerful claws.

Birds of Prey have hooked beaks to tear food into pieces, the variation being from a pair of cutting pliers in falcons etc. to a fine cleaning/probing tool in some of the smaller vultures.

Owls generally swallow their prey whole, so their beak shape is not so variable, however they have a wide gape to allow the swallowing of large prey species.

Owls and most birds of prey will produce pellets, which are regurgitated indigestible fur, feathers, bones and scales. They are produced 8 - 24 hours after feeding.

Feet

Birds of Prey have a great variation in feet from sharp talons and small feet to sharp talons on large feet. The Osprey for example has two toes pointing forward and two pointing backwards, known as ‘Zygodactyl’, to aid the grip of fish. large vultures have large feet for running around the carrion and fighting. The Bateleur Eagle from Africa has heavily scaled legs/feet to prevent it being bitten by venomous snakes that they feed on.

Owls mainly have feathered feet. As they swallow their prey whole instead of tearing at it, the feet do not get messy. However this is not the case with Birds of Prey so their feet are not cover in feathers.

Male and Female

Generally in both the females are larger. It is not exactly known why there is this variation, but as the female does most of the egg incubation her size will enhance the egg and chick protection. The smaller male will be faster and more agile when catching prey. The female will also hunt and it may be that within their hunting range they would hunt two different sizes of prey.

Nesting

Generally all can be seen to nest on the ground, in trees, on cliffs, in snow and some owls underground. The nest site, egg numbers and egg colouring is dependent on the size of the species, habitat and length of incubation.They sit from the first egg laid and with some, especially owls eggs can be laid every other day. So if an egg is laid on Monday, 2nd egg on Wednesday and 3rd egg on Friday, by the time the 3 egg hatches the first chick is already 4 days old. This is to ensure success in rearing the chicks. The larger chick will fight its siblings to get most of the food and if food is scarce they will eat their siblings. The chicks are fed by both parents in most cases and will be independent from several weeks to a year depending on the species. usually the larger the bird the longer spent with its parents.