August 2018 Meeting Darling Range Branch
What an amazing night this was! No fewer than 107 people—a record for the DRB—turned up to hear Yvonne Sitko of the Western Australian Birds of Prey Centre give a presentation on raptors. This was no ordinary show. We put the data projector away and were enthralled as, one by one, Yvonne brought out the real stars of the evening.
First up was a beautiful Barn Owl (Tyto alba) who loved being the centre of attention and happily sat on various children’s arms as we learnt about her anatomy and lifestyle—asymmetric ears behind the facial disk to enable accurate “3D” hearing, for example. These are birds that hunt primarily by hearing their prey and are said to be able to hear the heartbeat of a mouse.
Photos R. Green
Next it was the Boobook Owl (Ninox boobook). Yvonne explained how these are a different kind of owl altogether; they do not have the obvious heart-shaped facial disk of the barn owl but have a face more focused on high acuity vision, with large eyes capable of seeing the movement of prey in very low light levels. Yvonne moved up and down the hall with the Boobook on her arm allowing people to get some great photos.
While the first two birds might be considered hunters by stealth, the next bird, a Brown Falcon (Falco berigora), is a real speedster who catches his dinner by flat-out chasing other birds. Again, Yvonne, with a falcon on her arm, toured the room emphasising the swept wings and the sleekness of this “Ferrari” of birds.
Bird number four was another speedster, this time the “Formula One” Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), holder of the world record for animal speed. This is a larger and darker coloured falcon with bold black shining eyes. Yvonne demonstrated the traditional hood that falconers have used for centuries, placing it over the peregrine’s head to “quieten it down”. The bird certainly didn’t seem to mind and sat quietly while Yvonne talked about the history of falconry.
And top of the bird attractions was a Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax).This magnificent creature totally wowed the audience as Yvonne exercised it. She caused it to flap its huge wings by rhythmically pushing its breast-bone. But there was a sad aspect to it—the bird, though apparently having perfect eyes was neurologically blind, the result, said Yvonne, of possible secondary rodent poisoning from when the bird was fed in the nest.
All the birds we saw are ones that cannot be released back into the wild because of some injury or their over-conditioning to human company. But these are only a small part of the work of the Western Australian Birds of Prey Centre; most of their clients are rehabilitated then released back into the wild. We thank Yvonne for the brilliant show and commend her for the work she does.
Mike Green