Live Falconry in the Science Weeks of the University of Navarra
Live Falconry in the Science Weeks of the University of Navarra
The Sturnus Care Center performed a birds of prey show for dozens of students from high school diploma
More than 400 students from 13 schools participated last week in the activities organized by the University of Navarra on the occasion of the Science Weeks 2010. Among the proposals aimed at disseminating science among young people, the Science School organized a live falconry show at position of the Sturnus breeding center, directed by biologists Luis Lezana and Mª Pilar Ríos.
In it the students were able to see the live flight of a Siberian eagle owl, the largest of the species, which, explained the expert and former student of Biology, "can perceive up to 30,000 kilohertz of sound thanks to its hypersensitive membrane. In addition, the feathers on its head, contrary to what many people think, are not its ears, but a reason to go unnoticed in the branches of trees, where they spend most of their time hunting".
Likewise, Luis Lezana clarified that the use of owls in falconry "is different from that of eagles and other animals because they only obey out of trust, they are not motivated by hunger. An owl is capable of starving to death and not coming to your hand".
Regarding the color of their eyes, Lezana clarified that orange eyes are typical of birds that hunt at dawn, dusk and throughout the night; yellow eyes are exclusive to dawn and dusk hunters and, finally, black eyes are of birds that only hunt at night.
In addition to the Siberian eagle owl, the students from high school diploma In addition to the Siberian eagle owl, the students watched the flight of an American eagle -a young male with a wingspan of 2.40 meters-, a snowy owl, a Java owl -which has been bred in captivity for the first time in the world- and a hawk. The experts explained the differences in their flight, hunting habits, etc., about all of them.