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Canadian Raptor Conservancy protects birds of prey

Canadian Raptor Conservancy is one of the largest captive breeding projects in the world. The Port Diver, ON. based organization has more than 200 captive-bred birds at its facility, and regularly breeds over 15 different species each year.

Canadian Raptor Conservancy is one of the largest captive breeding projects in the world.

The Port Diver, ON. based organization has more than 200 captive-bred birds at its facility, and regularly breeds over 15 different species each year. Many of the species are endangered species and some of their offspring are sent back into the wild through organized release projects around the world.

To raise awareness about raptors in general, and the conservancy in particular they send out travelling shows to introduce to the birds.

For Matt Morgan, a wildlife educator and raptor trainer, it’s a dream job.

“I do this all year long. I travel across Canada,” he told Yorkton This Week as his travels brought him to the Yorkton Exhibition for daily shows highlighting raptors.

Morgan, who grew up in Toronto, said when he was a youngster his family went to bird shows at the Toronto Zoo, and his interest in birds such as hawks and falcons was set.

When old enough he became a licenced falconer after “working through an apprenticeship program.” The apprenticeship is important for its hands-on experience because as Morgan noted while you can read a lot about falconry “books are just books”.

The first bird Morgan owned was a Harris Hawk, a species native to further south into the United States.

“It’s a fairly standard beginner bird,” he explained.

“The Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina,” details the conservancy website at http://www.canadianraptorconservancy.com

“It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo. The name is derived from the Greek para, meaning beside or near, and the Latin buteo, referring to a kind of hawk; uni meaning once; and cinctus meaning girdled, referring to the white band at the base of the tail. John James Audubon gave this bird its English name in honor of his ornithological companion, financial supporter, and friend Edward Harris.

“Individuals range in length from 46 to 76 cm and generally have a wingspan of 1.1m. The average weight for males is about 710g, while the female average is 1020g. This is a sexual dimorphism of about 40%, with the female being larger than the male. They have dark brown plumage with chestnut shoulders, wing linings, and thighs, white on the base a tip of the tail, long, yellow legs and a yellow beak.

“The bird lives in sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range, including mangrove swamps. Harris's Hawks are permanent residents and do not migrate.”

As his interest in falconry grew Morgan saw a conservancy show and mentioned he would be interested in working with them. As it happened a full-time job opened up and they called him to apply, and he got the job and has been with them for nearly five years.

Morgan said the conservancy is involved in a variety of areas of conservation, including the facility caring for sick and injured birds of prey that have come from wild populations. If possible the birds are returned to health and released back into the wild, and if release is not possible they remain cared for.

Wild birds are not used in shows however. All of the birds used for demonstrations are captive-bred, he said.

The facility also works on a variety of conservation programs related to birds of prey.

“This includes "Operation Falco Slovakia" which is a project to help restore the endangered Saker Falcon to the Republic of Slovakia. Canadian Raptor Conservancy bred Saker Falcons for release and was used as a consultant to help establish a breeding facility in Slovakia,” detailed the website.

The Canadian Raptor Conservancy is one of the founding partners of the Ontario Barn Owl Restoration Project.

Morgan explained the barn owl population while widespread in Ontario “is on the verge of extinction.”

“The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. They are found almost anywhere in the world outside polar and desert regions,” detailed the website.

“The Barn Owl is a pale, long-winged, long-legged owl with a short square tail. Depending on subspecies, it measures between 25 and 45 cm in overall length, with a wingspan of about 75 to 100 cm.

“Its head and upperparts are a mixture of buff and grey (especially on the forehead and back) feathers in most subspecies. All have fine black-and-white speckles…

“The Barn Owl builds a nest of sorts, but unlike in typical owls it is just a scrape in any unsorted debris as has assembled in a hollow with narrow entrance. Typical nest sites include tree stumps and cliff crevices, but these owls will readily nest in attics, vacant and ruined buildings, and even wells, chimneys, hunting blinds and similar locations.”

Morgan said obviously a prime nesting location are barns, which are increasingly metal clad in Ontario making them hard to access,

The barn owl also suffers because of rat poison. Morgan said when people go out to kill pests the owls end up eating the poisoned vermin. When dead barn owls are found in Ontario they always show at least some level of rat poison, he said.

Habitat loss is also an issue, with the barn owl preferring grasslands, said Morgan, adding some 95 per cent of grasslands in Ontario have been lost in the last 20-30-years.

Other projects have seen the Canadian Raptor Conservancy contribute several young peregrine falcons to the Ontario Peregrine Falcon Recovery Team.

Morgan said it certainly is not all bad news in regards to raptor populations in Canada, For example the bald eagle population in Ontario has strengthened to where it is nearly off the endangered species list.

In general Canada does a credible job of protecting the birds, as an example banning the use of DDT, but that is not the case in all countries.

The Swainson's Hawk, named after William Swainson, a British naturalist “are declining in some parts of their range due to loss of habitat. Although the use of DDT has been banned in the United States, the Swainson's Hawk still encounters pesticide use when it migrates in the winter to Argentina. Known as the locust hawk, the hawks will eat numerous amounts of these insects and in turn ingest a high amount of toxin, which causes thinning of egg shells,” explains the website.

Morgan said educating the public about raptors is a big part of why they take birds on the road. He said many people have heard about raptors, but not everything out there is factual.

“Awareness is a fairly big thing … We try to replace the myths with interesting facts about them,” he said.

Morgan said if they can educate everyday people they will “put pressure on people who can make changes” to better protect raptor species.