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Our Birds

All of our birds are housed under the strictest standards set forth by the federal and state regulations outlined in our educational permits. We do not use any Raptors protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to promote or endorse any product, merchandise, goods, services, business, or organization except for our educational activities.

The Hawks

Sedosa

Sedosa

Sedosa is a large female Harris’s Hawk from the “Mancini” line of  Harris’s Hawks bred by Lee Shelton of Virginia. Besides being incredibly intelligent, Harris’ Hawks are the only “social” bird of prey in the world and Sedosa is a wonderful demonstration of that as she really seems to enjoy being around people. Sedosa is used in almost all our programs.

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Chase

Chase is a male captive bred, eastern Red-Tailed Hawk. Bred in Michigan by Aimee Pico, Chase comes to us by way of another Falconry School located in California.  Chase is a very tall bird with beautiful adult plumage. Red Tails are one of the most common birds of prey in the United States and can be found in almost every ecosystem in North America.  Chase is used predominantly in our Introduction to Falconry and our Walk with Hawks programs.

Rocky

Rocky

Rocky, age 6, is one of our smallest, yet most social, Harris’ Hawks here at OSF. Rocky joined us early in 2018 from his home in upstate New York where he was flown by falconer Chris Gould.  Besides being an incredibly gentle soul, Rocky is a very accomplished hunter, something he likes to vocally remind every squirrel he sees outside of his flight chamber. Rocky is used in almost all our falconry programs.

Mannix

Mannix (a.k.a. Manny)

Manny is a European Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) that was bred by Sia: The Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative in Oklahoma. Euro Buzzards have very small feet and largely subsist on carrion, filling the niche in Europe that is occupied by Turkey Vultures here in North America.  True to his species, Manny is an incredibly calm bird and seems to take everything on a slow pace! Manny is used for a variety of our public and school-based programming.

Baker

Irwin

Irwin is a 2019 hatch male Harris’ Hawk whose mother was one of our “best-ever” hunting hawks, Ms. Sinister.  As with all our other Harris’ Hawks, Irwin is incredibly laid back and really seems to enjoy his daily interactions with our staff and class participants.  Irwin is used for all of our Falconry Fundamentals classes.

a bird standing in front of a statue

Savannah

Savannah is a female African Augur Buzzard (Buteo augur) and was bred by SIA: The Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative in Oklahoma.

Augur Buzzards can be typically found living in the grasslands and mountains (at elevations of up to 16,000’) of eastern and southwestern Africa. One of the most recent members to join our educational ambassador flight team, Savannah will be used predominantly for our Raptor Roadshow programs, weddings and occasional commercial work.

a close up of a bird perched on a tree branch

Sunny (a.k.a. Sundance Kid)

A descendent of the famous “White Wing,” Sunny is a 2012 tiercel from the famous Coulson’s breeding project in Louisiana. Known for their efforts at establishing the first Harris’s Hawk captive breeding registry, Tom and Jennifer Coulson are the authors on the “The Harris’s Hawk Revolution (the definitive guide to raising, training, and hunting with Harris’s Hawks).”  Sunny is a wonderful example of their line breeding philosophy and is both is both easy to handle and a pleasure to work with (traits he inherited from his White Wing lineage).  Sunny is used predominantly in our Introduction to Falconry and our Walk with Hawks programs.

The Owls

a close up of an owl

Henson (a.k.a. Baby Henny)

One of the most popular members of our flock is Henson (a male Eurasian Eagle Owl that was named for Muppets creator Jim Henson).  Eurasian Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo) are the largest, and most widely distributed, owls in the world and are often commonly mistaken for our North American Great Horned Owl, despite their smaller size.  One quick way to determine the difference between the two species is with relation to their horns.  While Great Horned Owls have horns that are vertical, the much larger EEO has horns that are more horizontal in nature.  Our male was bred by Rick and Judy West of Upstate New York who breed some of the finest Eagle Owls in the country.  Henson makes appearances at many of our programs (e.g. Owl Encounter, Introduction to Falconry, and Walk with Hawks) as well as doing commercial and wedding work.

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Dr. Hoo

Dr. Hoo, a male North American Barn Owl (Tyto alba) that was bred by Jonathan Wood of upstate New York.  Besides being one of the most widely distributed species of owl in the world, Barn Owls are also one of the most iconic, thanks to their easily recognizable heart-shaped facial disc.  Found on almost every major continent, Barn Owls are commonly classified into three different subspecies, including the American Barn Owl (North/South America), the Western Barn Owl (Europe, Asia, Africa and western Asia) and the Eastern Barn Owl (southeast Asia and Australasia).  Dr. Hoo is of the American variety, which is largely considered to be the largest of the subspecies Dr. Hoo occasionally joins us for our Introduction to Falconry and Walk with Hawks programs and all our Owl Encounter programs.

a close up of an owl

Quinny

Bred by our very good friends at the Avian Conservation Center and Center for Birds of Prey in Charleston, SC, Quinny is a female European (aka “Western”) Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Considered the smallest of the three recognized subspecies, the European Barn Owls found on the British Isles have developed the habit of hunting during the day, as well as by night. Barn Owls are incredibly good at rodent control and one Barn Owl can typically catch over 1,000 rodents per year. Quinny’s sweet hearted nature make her a particular crowd favorite and she occasionally joins us for our Raptor Roadshow programs and all of our Owl Encounter programs.

The Falcons

Shelly

Shelly

Shelly is an 8-year old pure Anatum Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) bred by Rick Woods in Iowa.  Peregrines are the most wide-spread of all falcon species in the world and can be found on every continent except Antartica.  In North America, there are three distinct peregrine subspecies, including the Peales (largest subspecies, found along the coast of Washington and Oregon), the Tundrius (smallest subspecies, found in the Artic region), and the Anatum (found throughout the US and Canada).  Due to her outstanding genetics, Shelly will be paired with a male Anatum early next spring as part of our new breeding program.

Faith

Faith

Faith is a 2018 Saker-Lanner Hybrid Falcon.  Due to their vigor, a great deal of the falcons flown in the sport today are hybrids (a cross of two or three different species of falcons). The Saker and Lanner falcons have been hybridized for generations due to the incredible agility and temperament.  They are renowned for their ability at “stooping the lure”.  Stooping a bird to the lure is part of the process for training a falcon (a.k.a. longwing) to hunt, but it is also an extremely enjoyable way to exercise your bird.  Faith is currently in training to become our primary lure stooping bird and will be part of our upcoming (’19) A Flying of Falcons program.

Cruella (a.k.a. Crue)

Cruella is a 6-year old 7/8 Gyr-Saker falcon that comes to us from Adam Chavez in California. In her previous life, Cruella worked in the bird abatement industry where her job was to harass nuisance gulls and crows at beaches, resorts, and landfills. At OSF, Cruella is used as part many of our educational programs and will eventually become part of our new bird abatement team.

a bird sitting on top of each other

Zoya

Zoya is a Peruvian Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis) that was bred by Patrick Rumans of Washington state.  Found sporadically from the southwestern US to southern SA, the Aplomado is typically found in grasslands, savannas, and marshy areas where it is known to hunt a variety of birds and other invertebrates.  Because of it’s tenacity on the wing, this slender, long winged falcon has become a favorite of modern-day falconers worldwide and was even known to old-world falconers of Shakespeare’s day as the “Alethe” (and prized as a “high mettled” partridge hawk).  Incredibly fun to watch “on the wing”, Zoya will predominantly be used as part of our Falconry Fundamentals programs.

a close up of a bird

Jaeger

Jaeger is a 4-year old pure Anatum Peregrine falcon that joins our team after a 3-year stint with Falcon Force, a bird abatement company run by Vahe Alaverdian. Jaeger’s biggest claim to fame was that he was one of the falcons used in the testing of Marshall Radio Telemetry’s GPS system, which allows falconers to track their birds using a GPS interface on their iPhones. Like Cruella, Jaeger is used as part many of our educational programs and will eventually become part of our new bird abatement team.

The Propagation Team

Hera/Odell

Hera is an 11-year female Harris’s Hawk from the “Mancini” line of  Harris’s Hawks bred by Lee Shelton of Virginia.  In fact, Hera is Sedosa’s older sister by two years and was previously flown by Ohio Falconry Association President, Mick Brown. Hera is large by any standard of Harris’ Hawks and typically flew at about 38 ounces.  Odell was originally bred by Chris Davis of New England Falconry and before he became a breeder was used for falconry school classes. Our goal is to produce a line of large, athletic and laid back Harris’ Hawks that will excel in a variety of uses (e.g. hunting, education, abatement, etc.).

Zinc/Lady Rogue Kracken

Zinc is a wild trapped, 5-year old, male Red Tailed hawk that just recently retired after a stellar career as a falconry bird (flown by our very own Kris Klosterman).  Zinc will be paired with arguably one of the largest female Red Tailed Hawks ever trapped in Ohio falconry history.  At 62 ounces off the trap (and with a noticeable keel), Rogue has proven herself to be not only be a great hunter, but a BIG one at that.  Our goal is to produce the finest captive bred Red Tails available in the U.S.