Our wonderful team of Hooded Vultures are always a huge crowd-pleaser and they’re all very hard working birds. They have fantastic personalities and are great to work with. I adore working with all of our Hooded Vultures and it’s their diverse personalities that really make them shine in demonstrations.

A particular favourite I have in the team is the Sundance Kid. On the right day with good conditions, he truly is a marvellous flyer, going up to soar with our team of Black Kites and then stooping back into the arena over people’s heads. He’s a bird I could watch fly all day and definitely the showman of the team in displays.

But we also can’t forget the lovely Fagin as well. He is an incredibly reliable member of the team and will happily do all sorts of different things, from flying in both our Wings of Africa and Valley of the Eagles displays as well as sometimes meeting with the public in our experience sessions. He’s really great in all these roles though, if you’re not paying attention, he will live up to his name and pickpocket any food he can; this just makes us love him more!

By Katy Barnes, Bird Team