Raptorama!
By Dan Guarino
Visitors stepping up to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Center in Broad Channel were greeted on Saturday, October 12, with a large sidewalk chalk drawing bidding them “Welcome To Raptorama.” This annual event, now in its successful seventh year, brings visitors of all ages face to face with raptors, the several species of swooping birds which hunt for their food.
It’s “a partnership program between the American Littoral Society, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, NYC Bird Alliance, and the National Park Service,” said Don Riepe, Jamaica Bay Guardian and previous American Littoral chapter head.
This year they were joined by new partner, the Wildlife Center of Long Island (WCLI). “We’re here to introduce you to some of our ambassador animals,” presenters explained to some 300 attendees, noting the word for the birds’ sharp hunting claws, “talons”, comes from Latin, meaning “to grasp or seize.”
WCLI first introduced “Amelia,” an American Kestrel. The smallest breed of falcon, weighing 3-6 ounces, it can dive at up to 60 mph. Next was “Otis,” a one-eyed, Eastern Screech Owl. Due to their acute development, owls’ large eyes cannot move up-down or side-to-side like humans, but instead these birds can rotate their whole head 270 degrees around and 90 degrees up or down.
Each bird was carefully carried through the crowd, much to the delight of many children there. “I’m taking a picture of the big bird owl,” said one little girl, excitedly holding up her mother’s phone.
“Marcus,” a Great Horned Owl residing at WCLI since 2004, represented one of the largest species in the Americas, with wingspans of averaging 4.5 feet, yet weighing 2.2 to 3.8 lbs. “Does he have a mommy and daddy?” one little boy asked. “Yes,” a handler responded.
Lastly, the large Red-Tailed Hawk, “Baby,” came “to us as a nestling.” While he majestically flapped his wings, visitors learned the dark ridges over his eyes help block the sun’s glare while hunting. Their “life expectancy in captivity is 30-35 years.”
Later Don Riepe and NYC Bird Alliance’s Tod Winston led a warm, sunny day “Hawk Walk” around the Refuge’s West Pond. Riepe reported, our “group saw several species of hawks, many Great and Snowy Egrets, plus two adult Bald Eagles soaring high above.” The American Littoral Society notes, “Most people don’t realize it, but raptors migrate in good numbers along the Rockaway peninsula this time of year,” Riepe said,
Other activities included Bird Olympics featuring a “Peregrine Dash” and “Bald Eagle Boogie,” a new temporary “Raptors of Jamaica Bay” exhibition by award-winning Gotham Taxidermy founder Divya Anantharaman, Junior Ranger activity books and a National Parks invitation to borrow a free pair of binoculars to observe raptors in the wild.
Riepe advises the next free “Raptorama” program, featuring some 15 hawks, falcons, eagles, and owls, will be at the Salt Marsh Nature Center, located at 3301 Avenue U in Marine Park, on Saturday, October 19, at 2 p.m. For more info contact don@littoralsociety.org
Photos by Dan Guarino.