By Michelle Williams
The Birds of Prey presentation will return to Zionsville Town Hall at 1 p.m. Jan. 30. Zion Nature Center will host the raptors of Mark Booth and Take Flight Wildlife Education. The program is free and open to the public with no registration required.
“It will be a surprise which birds come,” Nature Center Manager Mindy Murdock said. “He waits to see that day how the birds are responding. He normally will try to bring four different types of raptors.”
Raptors, also known as birds of prey, are birds that hunt other animals for food. They usually have sharp talons and a hooked beak to help tear apart their food, and they are known for extremely good eyesight, excellent hearing and other special adaptations. Raptors include owls, eagles, hawks, and falcons. All birds in the program are native species to Indiana.
“We want people to understand what the birds are — what they’re like, what they do for a living,” Booth said. “But the overarching goal is to get people interested in nature in general. They are representations of how cool nature is.”
The program is a listen and learn, auditorium-style format that is ideal for ages five and older. Murdock anticipates the program to last around an hour, which includes a period for questions and answers.
“In a park, you may see a bird — a hawk or a bald eagle — but most of us don’t sit around long enough to see how they actually behave,” Murdock said. “(Booth) will bring out a raptor and go through the different adaptations of that bird. He’ll talk about their eyesight, how they use their claws. The owl last year ate some food so people could see how they eat. He goes over a lot of those behaviors and how they’re built to do what they do for a living.”
