General Raptor Information
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - Please send your responses so we can learn from each other. :-)
Raptor Centers (US and Foreign) - follow these links on this list to learn more about raptors and conservation efforts around the world.
General Information about Raptors:
- Raptor Adaptations - taken from Delaware Valley Raptor Center
- How Birds Got Their UV Vision - taken from Yahoo
- Bird Color Vision (pdf) - taken from "Ornithology", second edition, by Frank B. Gill
- Cross-section of an Owl Eye - taken from The Owl Pages (www.owlpages.com)
- How Owls Twist Their Heads Almost 360 Degrees - taken from National Geographic
- Birds and Alligators share lung structure and ancestor - BBC story about why birds and alligators have survived for so long.
- Bird Respiration - a web page from Eastern Kentucky University - submitted by Kerri Pierce
- Raptor Digestion Facts (pdf) - compiled by Wendy Tresouthick
- Barred Owl Pellet Contents (pdf) - article co-authored by Volunteer Rikki Eul from a northern Michigan site. (They found porcupine quill!) - NEW!
- Raptor Waterproofing and Digestion - from a July 6, 2007 update
- How many feathers do hawks, eagles and falcons have?
- US National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory - Feather Atlas
- Raptor Grasping Power - an online article from www.lubbockonline.com/stories/032606/gue_032606062.shtml
(Most relevant information is in blue font.)
- How Raptor Talons Fit Their Prey - a blog from the District of Columbia.
- BBC Article about how long raptors live in the wild:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8202281.stm
- Evolutionary Convergence - a short, informal paper written by Anne Marie Smith for an ornithology class. It's amazing how little scientists actually know about the taxonomy of birds of prey. It will be interesting to see the results of Tree of Life project.
- Why Some Female Birds are Larger than Males - from Birding Magazine, June 2001
- Hawk Species at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary - an online resource from a sanctuary in Pennsylvania.
- Wonderful video of an Osprey fishing.
- Basic Classification of North American Raptor Species
Scientists are still working on the classification of raptors, but here's one version.
ORDER
FAMILY
MAIN SUBGROUPS
GENERA
SPECIES
Ciconiiformes
Vulturidae (Cathartidae)
vultures
3
3
Falconiformes
Accipitridae
kites, harriers, accipiters, buteos and allies, eagles and ospreys
(accipiters, buteos and allies are groups of hawks)
13
23
. Pandionidae
ospreys
1
1
Falconidae
falcons,carcaras
2
7
Strigiformes
Tytonidae
barn owls
1
1
Strigidae
typical owls (various)
10
18