Home->About birds->Birds in the grounds

The Birds in the Grounds

Hawks

The Goshawk and Sparrowhawk are the only two accipiters, or true hawks, in Britain. They are short-winged hawks which are capable of flying in any type of countryside. With their tails providing good steering and brakes, they are adept at either 'still-hunting' from trees, or darting through low branches, along and over hedgerows, taking their prey by surprise.

Also within the hawk group are the buteos, the buzzards. These are broad-winged hawks and are usually identified by finger-shaped primary feathers, extended when soaring. Various buteos are housed at the Trust and include the Common Buzzard which, as its name suggests, is the commonest buteo and, in fact, the commonest Bird of Prey in Britain, and the Harris' or Bay-winged Hawk from the southern states of Northern America, ranging into South America.

Kites

Three species of kite are kept at The Hawk Conservancy Trust, probably the most beautiful being the Brahminy. In the wild, Red and Black Kites are gregarious and can often be seen nesting and roosting in close proximity to one another. Like other scavengers, kites thrive in areas of human habitation. In his diaries, Pepys wrote about kites scavanging for food and stealing clothes from washing lines in the streets of London. Although previously extinct in England, the Red Kite, Britain's only indiginous kite, can still be found in parts of Wales. Indeed, thanks to various release schemes, they are becoming easier to see in England, too. Thanks to the Trust's own release scheme wild Red Kites can be seen daily at our Red Kite and Heron feed.

The Hawk Conservancy Trust has had success in breeding Black and Brahminy Kites, the latter thought to be the first in Europe.

One of the demonstrations not to be missed at The Hawk Conservancy Trust is the troop of European Black Kites flying together as a team, catching food in the air in spectacular style during our Valley of the Eagles display.

Falcons

As opposed to hawks, which fly in most types of countryside, falcons are equipped to fly only in wide, open areas of land. They are fast-flying, long-winged, dark-eyed birds with comparitively short tails, usually hunting by stooping from a height and knocking their prey down with their talons.

The Peregrine Falcon is the most exciting and persistent falcon to watch in flight. The other indiginous falcons include the Merlin and Hobby. The latter's stronghold is in the South of England during the summer months and can occasionally be seen joining our trained falcons in aerial territorial combat. Merlins and Hobbies brought in injured to the Conservancy that cannot be re-released can be seen in breeding aviaries within the grounds. The last British falcon, the Kestrel, can now commonly be seen hovering above motorway embankments where it hunts on an abundance of mice and voles. A pair of wild kestrels have nested in a nestbox in our meadow and, thanks to a camera fitted in the box, visitors can watch them rearing their young over the summer months.

Other falcons at the Trust include the the Lugger Falcon from India and Pakistan. These birds, in the wild, have been seen flying directly at a solid stone wall and at the last possible moment turning on their sides, taking a lizard that had been basking in the sun. They fly in demonstration here at the Trust and can be seen doing similar aerial acrobatics. Lastly, the Lanner Falcon, which comes from Africa and southern Europe, in the wild is often to be seen hunting around waterholes, preying on doves and partridges. There are few things more spectacular than to see a Lanner soaring in the clouds and then fold its wings as if into an arrow and stoop at over a hundred miles an hour towards the falconer swinging his lure.

Eagles

Eagles can be recognised by their large, broad wings, extended primaries and large appearance. Among the eagles kept at the Conservancy is the Bateleur Eagle, its name deriving from the French word 'bateleur' for a circus acrobat. Due to the shortness of their tail, Bateleur Eagles do not have the ability to steer that other birds have and so, to compensate, they have more secondary feathers in their wings. They in fact steer by 'canting', moving their wings from side to side.

Other eagles that can be seen are the White-bellied Sea and African Fish Eagles. As well as being one of the most beautiful eagles in the world, the African Fish Eagle has the most evocative call, something which is unusual in birds of prey. Visitors often tell us that when they hear the call it reminds them of their visits to Africa. The White-bellied Sea Eagle comes from south-east Asia and Australia and is capable of catching quarry such as poisonous sea snakes. They can be seen flying in demonstration.

The Trust also cares for: Bald Eagles (stars of our Valley of the Eagles display), White-tailed Sea Eagle (recently reintroduced into the Scottish Highlands and islands, after many years' absence) and Steller's Sea Eagles, the only pair in England.

Owls

There are more than 200 different species of owls in the world and one of the best collections is at the Trust.

Our owls range from the Ferruginous Pigmy Owl, which is no larger than a well-fed house sparrow, to the Siberian Eagle Owl, the female of which has a wing span of six feet. There are five different species of British owl, the Tawny, Barn, Long-eared, Short-eared and Little Owls, all of which can be seen here and some of which are disabled birds that cannot be returned to the wild.

To say which is the most beautiful owl is a matter of opinion, but the Great Grey Owl from Scandinavia, the White-faced Scops Owl from Africa and our own indiginous Barn Owl must surely rank highly amongst the most beautiful owls in the world.

Although very difficult to train, having a personality very similar to a cat, a selection of owls can be seen flying during our demonstrations, a highlight of which is the 3.30pm Woodlands Owls and Hawks display.

Vultures

Although these birds give the impression of being ugly, unapproachable creatures, with their bald heads and loose, seemingly scruffy feathers, they are in fact one of the most endearing of all birds of prey to work with. Most people associate vultures with the 'Jungle Book', which depicts them as rather unintelligent birds. They are in fact very intelligent and extremely sensitive and, of all of our birds of prey, seem to bond with their partners in a similar way to humans. They are mostly carrion eaters (hence the bald head which enables them to keep their head and neck clean whilst feeding inside carcasses), although they will occasionally attack sick or injured animals, and they act as nature's perfect answer to the problem of waste disposal. There is a wide range of vultures at tha Trust, from our team of North American Black Vultures and two of Europe's largest vultures, the Griffon and the Cinereous, to the largest Bird of Prey in the world - the Andean Condor.

Secretary Birds

Although it looks somewhat like a Stork, the Secretary Bird has an eagle-like, hooked beak and is a true bird of prey. It is a completely unique species, unrelated to any other bird of prey in the world. Secretary Birds are found in Africa south of the Sahara, where they build enormous nests of weeds and twigs on the crown of low trees and often return to the same nest every year. Both parents share nest building, sitting on eggs and rearing of chicks and feed on snakes, lizards, rodents and locusts, which they kill by stamping on them.

They are believed to have acquired their names from the tufts of long feathers at the back of their necks, which look like the old-fashioned clerks or secretaries holding their quill pens behind their ears.

Herons

Many years ago an injured heron was brought into what was then the Weyhill Zoo Park. Due to his injuries, he was kept in an area at the top of the grounds, and when wild Herons attempted to steal its food, extra was put out. Over the years, nu,bers have increased and aything up to forty of them can be seen coming into Reg's meadow late afternoon waiting for their regular feed. The tradition at the Trust is to count the herons on Christmas Day and one year fifty-six were counted on the morning feed.

---