Meet the Residents

www.lightwatervalley.co.uk

The Lightwater Falconry centre is located at Lightwater Valley Theme Park in scenic North Yorkshire.

A magical experience

With our enthusiastic, friendly and hands-on approach we aim to capture the public's imagination and give them a magical experience that will remain in their thoughts long after the day is over.

We hope you enjoy reading through this guide and learning more about our magnificent birds of prey.

Digit the American Kestrel (falco sparverius) Hello! My name is Digit and I'm an American Kestrel. Sometimes people call me a Grasshopper Hawk (because I quite like eating them) or a Killy Hawk (because of the call I make). I'm also often called a Sparrowhawk, but that's just because people mix me up with real Sparrowhawks which are completely different birds. In the wild, my relatives can be found throughout central and western Alaska across northern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south throughout North America, into central Mexico and the Caribbean. Sometimes we also visit Europe as well. In fact, we're the only kestrel found in the Americas ...but there are an awful lot of us! We're quite small birds, with wingspans of up to 60cm (24inches), and we don't tend to live much more than about 15 months in the wild. In nice safe places like the Talon Falconry Birds of Prey Centre we can easily live over 10 times as long! We live in lots of different habitats including grasslands, meadows, deserts, and other open to semi-open areas. You can also find us in and around built up areas. As long as there are places for us to perch, open areas for us to hunt in, and cavities for nesting we're quite happy. Sometimes we use old nests abandoned by other birds such as Red-Tailed Hawks, and we also don't mind nest boxes. We mostly eat grasshoppers, dragonflies, lizards, mice, voles, and other small birds which we spot from perches or by hovering in the air with really fast wing beats. Just occasionally we might catch something larger like snakes, bats or squirrels.

Meet the residents

Digit

Hello everyone - Ollie, Ted and Cybil here! We're all Barn Owls!

Barn Owls are the most widely spread of all owls, and one of the most widespread of all birds. We live all over the world and are found on every continent except Antarctica. Our wingspans can be up to 110cm (43inches).

In the wild we don't usually live very long before predators or accidents get us - in fact we often don't even make it past our second birthday. Here at Lightwater Valley Falconry where it's a lot safer, we might live to be 20 years old or more.

Although we live in all sorts of places we prefer woodland, heaths and moors. During the day we roost in tree hollows, farm buildings and thick foliage. We tend to be very sound sleepers, so you might find it difficult to wake us up until night-time.

We're best at hunting small animals such as mice and voles, which we find using our really good eyesight and excellent hearing whilst flying silently just a few feet from the ground. We prefer to hunt along the edges of woods. Sometimes we'll also sit on fence posts and other low perches to look out for food.

Pound for pound, Barn Owls probably eat more rodents than any other creature. A family of 2 adults and 6 young might eat over 1,000 rodents during the 3-month nesting period. This makes us perfect for helping farmers keep down rodent pests - much more effective and environmentally friendly than using poison.

It wasn't all that long ago that people didn't like us though, because they thought we were a bad omen. That's why we are also known as "Demon Owl", "Death Owl" or "Ghost Owl".

Barn owls make lots of different sounds. The most common sounds you'll hear us make are alarm shrieks, conversational calls (shorter, less intense shrieks), and a rapid squeaking or ticking. The rasping call of our youngsters asking for food can be heard almost continuously from soon after sunset until just before sunrise. The young also hiss and bill-click when disturbed. Despite what people think, one thing we never do is "hoot"!

Ollie, Ted & Cybil the Barn Owls (tyto alba)

Ollie

Ted

Cybil

Meet the residents

Hello there! My name is Eroll and I'm a Bengal Eagle Owl, although you might also know me as an Indian Eagle Owl or a Rock Eagle Owl. In the wild, my relatives live throughout southern Asia. They are mostly found in hilly and rocky scrub forests, and are usually seen in pairs. We have a deep booming two note call that you'll usually hear at dawn and dusk. Young birds produce clicks and hisses, and open up their wings to appear larger than they are to frighten off predators. Nesting birds will fly in zig zag patterns and mob any potential predators who approach the nest ...including people, so watch out! Most of the year we like to eat rodents, bats and birds, although birds are mostly a winter favourite. We catch birds up to the size of peacocks. When eating rodents, we tear them up first rather than swallowing them whole like some owls do. Because we're large owls with a distinctive face, large forward-facing eyes, horns and deep resonant call we've become linked with a number of rather nasty superstitions. Like many other large owls, we're considered birds of bad omen, which is really unfair! Some people think that if we make our deep haunting calls from a house top, this foretells the death of an occupant. In our native lands there are several rituals involving capturing and killing us! One very widespread superstition says that if one of us is starved for a few days and beaten, then we will speak like a human and predict the future of the tormentor or bring them wealth. Another cruel ritual involves killing one of us to find a lucky bone that moves against the current like a snake when dropped into a stream. Belief in these superstitions has led to our species being attacked in many areas by tribal hunters. Capturing us is illegal under Indian law but an underground market still leads poachers to hunt us down.

Eroll the Bengal Eagle Owl (bubo bengalensis)

Eroll

Meet the residents

G'day, mates! My name is Bobby and I'm a Boobook Owl. My relatives live all over Australia and parts of New Zealand - as long as there are some trees around, we're happy. In fact, we're the smallest owls in Australia, with wingspans reaching just 85cm (33.5inches). Mostly we're nocturnal, coming out when it's still dark in the evening and morning to hunt. The rest of the time we'll be perching somewhere out of sight in the leaves of trees. We'll eat almost anything we can manage to catch including small mammals such as mice, small birds, frogs, lizards, and large insects such as moths and grasshoppers. Mostly we perch somewhere until we see something we like, then pounce on it - but we're very fast and agile if we have to give chase. If anything scares us we sit bolt upright, press our feathers in tightly against our bodies, and turn sideways on so we look a lot taller and thinner (sucking in our guts to look more impressive, you might say).

Bobby the Boobook Owl (ninox novaeseelandiae)

Bobby

Meet the residents

Brian & Belle the Common Buzzards (buteo buteo) We're Brian and Belle the Common Buzzards. Our relatives live around most of Europe and into Asia, except parts of eastern Britain, northern Scandinavia and Iceland. We're about average size for a "raptor", with a wingspans of up to 150cm (60inches). We like to live in woodlands, usually on the edges, but prefer to hunt over open land. Although we like small mammals best, we'll eat almost anything, including pheasant, rabbit, snakes, lizards, and carrion. We're very strong, and can pick up food of all shapes and sizes! Sometimes you might see us walking over freshly ploughed fields searching for smaller prey like worms and insects. Buzzards don't usually form flocks, but you might see a small group of us together on migration or in good habitats. We're very fierce when it comes to protecting our territory, although we don't usually have to resort to fighting - mostly just acting tough does the trick in scaring off rivals. In the wild, to attract the ladies, Brian would perform a spectacular flying display just before the start of spring, known as "the roller coaster". He'd rise high up in the sky, then dive downward in a spiral, twisting and turning as I came ...Then he'd do it all again a few more times! We mate for life, so he's got to make sure he looks really impressive! Although there are now about 40,000 breeding pairs of Buzzards in Britain, we didn't used to be so "common". In the 19th century we used to get shot by gamekeepers and disappeared from quite a lot of Britain, but when lots of gamekeepers enlisted to fight in the First World War our numbers recovered again. After that, people started to leave us alone a bit more. There was another problem back in 1954, when myxomatosis almost wiped out all the rabbits in Britain. Rabbits are our favourite food, so many of us went hungry and our numbers began to go down again. Rabbits are common again now though, so our numbers are on the increase.

Brian

Belle

Meet the residents

Flash, George & Rocky the European Eagle Owls (bubo bubo) Our names are Flash, George and Rocky and we're European Eagle Owls. We're actually the biggest and most powerful owls in Europe, with wingspans of up to 180cm (6ft). Our relatives in the wild mostly live in North Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. We like to live in lots of different places from coniferous forests to warm deserts, however we like rocky landscapes best. If we were in the wild we might live to be 20 years old, but because we're being looked after here at the Talon Falconry Birds of Prey Centre we could live to be 45! We eat all sorts of food including rabbits, hare, game birds, foxes, other birds of prey, and even small roe deer if we get the chance. Although we will take prey on the ground or in full flight, we do prefer to hunt in open spaces. Even without our talons, our feet are strong enough to burst a tennis ball ...so please don't make either of us cross!

Flash

George

Rocky

Meet the residents

Jade the Goshawk (accipiter gentilis) Hi! I'm Jade and I'm a Northern Goshawk, but in Europe and North America I'm usually just known as a "Goshawk" because there aren't any other types of Goshawk living there. My relatives in the wild live all over the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. Female Goshawks have wingspans of up to 127cm (50inches) but males are a lot smaller, with wingspans only reaching up to 105cm (41inches). In general we like to live in coniferous forests, but we don't mind woods or even urban parkland. We're very secretive, and you won't see us very often, even near where we nest ...And we're very fierce when defending our territories, even from passing humans, so you'd better be careful! Actually, the best time to see us is in the spring breeding season when we perform our impressive "undulating flight displays". Goshawks hunt various birds, and mammals like rabbits or squirrels, in all sorts of woodland areas. We'll often use cover to ambush our prey, flying low and fast to use the element of surprise. The Northern Goshawk appears on the flag of the Azores, Portugal. In fact, the archipelago of the Azores takes its name from the Portuguese language word for Goshawk because the explorers who discovered the archipelago thought the birds of prey they saw there were Goshawks ...Although it was later found out that these birds were actually Kites or Common Buzzards (doh!).

Jade

Meet the residents

Willow the Great Grey Owl (strix nebulosa) Hello! I'm Willow, a Great Grey Owl. We're also known as Great Gray Ghost, Phantom of the North, Cinereous Owl, Spectral Owl, Lapland Owl, Spruce Owl, Bearded Owl and Sooty Owl. I think "Phantom of the North" sounds the coolest! We're very large owls, with wingspans of over 152cm (60inches) ...Although we actually look a lot bigger than we really are because our fluffy feathers, long tails and large heads hide the fact that our bodies are really a lot smaller and lighter than most other large owls. Here in the Talon Falconry Birds of Prey Centre I might live to be 40 years old! In the wild, my relatives live all across Alaska, Canada, northern Europe and Asia. We mostly like to live in dense forests with open areas such as bogs and meadows nearby. We don't build our own nests - usually we use old nests built by other large birds, but don't mind using broken-topped trees or holes in large trees. Great Grey Owls mostly hunt at night, near dawn and dusk. Our favourite food is small rodents such as voles and rabbits, but we'll also eat other birds, frogs and beetles. We wait, listen, and watch for prey, then swoop down to grab it. Sometimes we might also fly low through open areas in search of prey. We have fantastic hearing, and our large disk-like faces (known as "ruffs") act like satellite dishes to help focus sound to our ears. In fact our hearing is so good that we can find rodents moving around under 60cm (2ft) of snow with pin-point accuracy ...And then we can crash through the snow (even though it might be compact enough support the weight of a whole person) to catch them. We're also quite famous! A Great Grey Owl features in the 2010 film "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole", and in the Harry Potter books and films Ron Weasley's owl Errol is a Great Grey Owl.

Willow

Meet the residents

Mirage the Gyr-Saker Falcon (falco rusticolus x cherrug) Hello! I'm Mirage, and I'm a Gyr-Saker Falcon. This means I'm a cross between a Gyr Falcon and a Saker Falcon, and I've inherited all the best qualities of both types of bird! In particular, we make very good hunting falcons... Hunting techniques very across different types of falcon. Peregrine Falcons makes very good use of the downward swoop (or "stoop"), but Gyr and Saker Falcons prefer to "tail-chase". Gyr Falcons are extremely fast and powerful, and can even beat Peregrines in a straight flight. They are also able to overpower prey on the ground. Saker Falcons often fly closer to the ground than Gyr Falcons, are very aggressive and completely fearless. Even though they are smaller than the Gyr Falcon, they make up for it in spirit! ...So when you combine the speed and power of a Gyr Falcon with the aggression and fearlessness of a Saker Falcon you get a superb hunter ...like me!

Mirage

Meet the residents

Bonnie and Denis the Harris Hawks (parreuteo unicinctus) Hi, we're Bonnie and the Harris Hawks. Our wingspans are only about 1.1m (3.6ft), but don't let that fool you - we're great hunters! Our relatives in the wild mostly live in areas of sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (as long as there's some trees). You'll find a lot of us in the south-western United States, Chile and Argentina. We are permanent residents and don't migrate. We are called "Harris Hawks" in honour of American farmer and naturalist Edward Harris - he didn't discover us, but his close friend a famous ornithologist John James Audobon did. We love to eat small mammals, birds, lizards, and large insects ...But we also manage to catch much larger animals like jackrabbits by hunting together in groups, which is unheard of for most birds of prey. Family hunting groups tend to range in number from 2-6, and we're quite happy to share out prey with other family members. The fact that we're so sociable, intelligent, and easy to train means that we are now the most popular falconry hawks in the West (outside of Asia).

Bonnie

Denis

Meet the residents

Smudge the Indian Scops Owl (otus bakkamoena) Hiya! I'm Smudge, and I'm an Indian Scops Owl. I'm small compared to most owls, but Indian Scops Owls are amongst the largest of the Scops Owls family, and we have wingspans of up to 23cm (9inches). In the wild, my relatives live throughout most of Asia, Pakistan, northern India and China. We mostly prefer to live in forests, gardens, orchards, and other wooded areas, because we like to nest in tree hollows. We are nocturnal owls, hunting by night mostly for insects but sometimes rodents, lizards and small birds as well. If you hear our call, it's a soft single note (a bit like "whuk?"). In fact, some people say we sound a bit like frogs. Our natural camouflage means that you'll find it difficult to spot us during the day ...Although other small birds sometimes mob us while we're roosting and this can give away our position!

Smudge

Meet the residents

Spud the Little Owl (athene noctua) Hi! I'm Spud, and I'm a Little Owl. In fact we're the smallest sort of owl you can find in Britain, and our wingspans only get to be about 55cm (22inches). My relatives in the wild live all over the warmer parts of Europe, Asia, Korea, and north Africa. We didn't use to live in Britain, but were brought here in 1842 and have thrived here ever since. During the 20th century we were also introduced into New Zealand. We build our nests in all sorts of places, including holes in trees, rocks, cliffs, river banks, walls, buildings, man-made bird boxes, etc. If we like where we nest, we often return to the same place year after year, and in Britain one Little Owl was recorded using the same site for over 25 years! On the whole we like to live in woodlands, fields, parkland, wasteland, and open country in general. We like to eat mice, small birds, worms and insects, but we are also one of the only owl species to eat plants and berries. To be honest, we're not all that active - in fact, you can often see us perching in plain sight in trees or on poles during the day. Usually we hunt around dawn and dusk, swooping down from a perch to catch our prey. The Little Owl was sacred to the goddess Athena, from whom we get our latin name "Athene noctua".

Spud

Meet the residents

Rocket the Peregrine Barbary Falcon (falco peregrinus x pelegrinoides) Hello! I'm Rocket, and I'm a Peregrine Barbary Falcon. This means I'm a cross between a Peregrine Falcon and a Barbary Falcon, and it's great because I have the best qualities of both types of bird! The Peregrine Falcon is not only the fastest bird on the planet, it is the fastest creature in the entire animal kingdom alive today. During its steep dive (or "stoop") when hunting prey, it can reach speeds of up to 380kph (240mph) ...Which is faster than a Formula 1 racing car. The Barbary Falcon is well known for its great enthusiasm and stamina when chasing its prey and is also closely related to the Peregrine itself. If you combine the two species you get a bird like me, with amazing speed and endurance!

Rocket

Meet the residents

Melvin the Red Kite (milvus milvus) Hello! I'm Melvin the Red Kite. In the wild my relatives live mostly in western Europe and north-west Africa, although they often spend the winter further across into central Europe and further south into Turkey. We used to be very rare indeed, but conservation projects have helped restore our numbers a little bit in recent years. We are big birds with wingspans of up to 180 cm (70inches) and live in all sorts of places from woodlands and valleys to wetland and rough pastures. I have to admit our nests are usually pretty untidy efforts - they are quite large (up to 2 feet across) and we build them out of sticks in the forks of trees. It is easy to recognise us because of our very distinctive forked tail and striking chestnut red colour (with white patches under the wings and a pale grey head). We're very agile, and can stay up in the air for hours with hardly a beat of our wings. When we find a partner we mate for life, and the female can signal young hatchlings to "play dead" if she thinks there's danger about. In the wild we only tend to live 4-5 years, but might live into our mid twenties if looked after in a centre like Talon Falconry. We tend to be scavengers rather than hunters and like to eat carrion, although we will also catch small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, young hares and rabbits, as well as frogs, birds and worms.

Melvin

Meet the residents

Elvis the Red-Tailed Hawk (buteo jamaicensis) Hi! I'm Elvis and I'm a Red-Tailed Hawk. My relatives in the wild live all over North American from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. Back home we're sometimes known as "chickenhawks", although we hardly ever actually eat chickens, and in Europe we're known as buzzards. We're quite big birds, with wingspans of up to 145cm (57inches). We can live almost anywhere, including deserts, grasslands, woodland, tropical rainforests, agricultural fields and urban areas. Given the choice we like areas of mixed forest and field best, especially if there are high bluffs or trees that we can use as perch sites. There are a lot of us about too, partly due to you humans - the clearing of forests in the American Northeast created hunting grounds, while the preservation of woodlots left nest sites. The planting of trees in the west allowed us to expand our range by creating nest sites where there had been none. Also, the building of highways with utility poles next to treeless medians provided perfect places for perch-hunting. We eat all sorts of small animals including mice, voles, chipmunks, ground squirrels, tree squirrels and woodchucks, although we also sometimes eat shrews, bats, snakes, waterfowl, fish, crustaceans and insects. When hunting we usually swoop down from a perch to grab our prey - either catching birds whilst in flight or chasing prey along the ground from a low flight. Although we mostly fly around 32-64kph (20-40mph), we can manage up to 190kph (120mph) when diving! When we find a partner we usually mate for life, and our nests can be up to 90cm (3ft) tall and 71-97cm (28-38inches) across. Because there are so many of us, and we don't mind being trained, we're very popular with falconers in the United States. The Red-Tailed Hawk also has significance in Native American culture - our feathers are considered sacred by some tribes, and are used in religious ceremonies.

Elvis

Meet the residents

Amber the Saker Falcon (falco cherrug) My name is Amber and I'm a Saker Falcon - a very large breed of falcon indeed, with wingspans of up to 130cm (4.3ft). In the wild my relatives live in eastern Europe, Asia, Mongolia and Russia, but they tend to migrate southwards in wintertime to Ethiopia, the Arabian peninsula, northern Pakistan and western China. We especially like open grasslands, preferably with some trees or cliffs, and feed mainly on rodents and birds. In Europe our favourites are squirrels and pigeons. When hunting we tend to chase our prey by flying horizontally over the ground, rather then dropping straight down on them from a great height like Peregrine Falcons do. If I'm honest, we Saker Falcons can't usually be bothered to make our own nests. Instead we lay around 3-6 eggs in old stick nests in trees which were once used by other birds such as storks, ravens or buzzards. We also like to nest on cliffs. The Saker Falcon is the national bird of Hungary, known as "Turul" in the Hungarian mythology. The Turul became a symbol of power, strength, and nobility, and it is still used today on the coat of arms of the Hungarian Army and the Office of National Security.

Amber

Meet the residents

Jaye the Siberian Turkmenian Eagle Owl (bubo bubo sibiricus x turcomanus) Hello! I'm Jaye and I'm a Siberian Turkmenian Eagle Owl. This means I'm a cross between a Siberian Eagle Owl and a Turkmenian Eagle Owl. To be honest, both types of owl are very similar anyway and this is a very common combination. We're generally well known for being very friendly and easy to handle. Siberian Eagle Owls come mostly from the western Siberia and Bashkiria regions, whilst Turkmenian Eagle Owls range from Kazakhstan to West Mongolia. In the wild they would live in rocky and mountainous regions as well as in open forests, although sometimes you might find them in semi-desert regions as well. We mostly like to eat mammals from shrew to small deer, as well as birds, amphibians and reptiles.

Jaye

Meet the residents

Fred and Wilma the Snowy Owls (bubo scandiacus) Our names are Fred and Wilma and we're Snowy Owls, although you might also know us as Arctic Owls, Great White Owls or Harfangs. Our wingspans are about 1.5m (4.8ft). In the wild we'd probably live for about 9 years, but here at Lightwater Valley Falconry we could live to be 35 years old. The Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec, and our relatives nest in the Arctic tundra of the northernmost stretches of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia. Our thick feathers, heavily-feathered taloned feet, and light colours make us well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle. In the wild we'd eat lemmings, other small rodents, rabbits, birds, and fish. We've got great eyesight and hearing, and hunt during the daytime, which is quite unusual for owls. Snowy Owls usually hunt using a "sit and wait" style - we'll sit until something comes into range, then catch it. We can snatch fish out of rivers and lakes if we're quick enough! Some Snowy Owls are quite famous, like Hedwig of the Harry Potter books and films. The king and queen of Ga'Hoole, Boron and Barran, in the film "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" are also Snowy Owls. For the Ogala Sioux Indians we represent the North and the north wind, and warriors in the past that did well in combat wore a cap of owl feathers to symbolize their bravery.

Fred and Wilma

Meet the residents

Henry the Tawny Owl (strix aluco) Hello, I'm Henry the Tawny Owl. We're stocky, medium-sized owls, with wingspans of up to 96cm (38inches).

My relatives in the wild live almost everywhere around the UK and also Europe, North Africa, southern China, Taiwan and India. There are around 1 to 2 million of us in Europe alone. We like woodlands, forests or open parkland best, but we don't mind living in towns and cities either so long as there's some big parks or gardens around.

We nest in holes in trees, cliffs or buildings, or use old bird nests or squirrel dreys. When we move into an area, smaller owls like the Little Owl, Long-Eared Owl and Barn Owl need to watch out and we'll usually send them packing (if we don't eat them!). We're totally fearless when it comes to protecting our young so dogs, cats, and even humans better beware our sharp tallons! The famous bird photographer Eric Hosking lost an eye when attacked by a Tawny Owl he was trying to photograph near its nest - he later called his autobiography "An Eye for a Bird".

Tawny Owls nearly always hunt at night, unusually waiting on a perch watching and listening for prey moving below, then gliding or dropping quickly onto it. We eat mice, voles, moles and other rodents but will also catch earthworms, beetles, frogs, birds, rabbits and even fish if we get the chance. We mostly just wolf down our food whole, and then regurgitate the bones and other bits we can't digest as pellets.

Lots of people think we have exceptional night vision for hunting, but our eyes aren't really much better than those of humans ...It's our brilliant directional hearing that really gives us the edge.

Because we fly at night and have an eerie call, we have gained an unfair mythical association with bad luck and death. William Shakespeare used the Tawny Owl as an omen of bad luck in Julius Caesar (Act 1 Scene 3).

Henry

Meet the residents

Jasper the White-Faced Scops Owl (peliopsis leucotis) Hi! I'm Jasper and I'm a White-Faced Scops Owl. Scops Owls are fairly small, with wingspans of up to 68cm (27inches). You'll find my relatives in the wild living in a range of countries stretching across Africa from the Sahara to the Equator. We mostly like thorny scrubland and savannah woodland. We mostly like to eat large insects, scorpions, rodents and occasionally small birds. Like many owls, we are "ambush hunters", which means we'll sit patiently watching the woodland floor for movement and quickly pounce on unsuspecting prey! We have some really clever tricks to change our appearence when we're feeling threatened. If a slightly bigger owl comes along, we puff ourselves up and flare our wings to look bigger ...But if a really big enemy comes along we can pull our feathers inwards and stretch out our bodies so that we look almost like a tree branch and blend in with our surroundings. Nobody had heard of us much until we were featured in a Japanese video called "Transformer Owl", but now we're pretty well known everywhere.

Jasper

Meet the residents