While we’ve been closed, our team have been busy caring for our birds, and preparing the Trust for another jam-packed year! We checked in with Bird Team member Katy Barnes about working with our birds over winter.
“It has been a busy winter on the Lower Section of the Hawk Conservancy Trust! Every year during this closed period, we have a good spring clean here at the Trust, making sure we’re ready for another fun year.
The Lower Section of the Trust is often one of the first places visitors explore when they visit. It’s where one of our biggest aviaries is – known to many as the ‘Vulture Restaurant’. It’s the aviary that our breeding African White-backed Vultures call home. Each winter, we give this aviary a massive clear out ahead of their breeding season, where they are left much to their own devices! All of the vultures are moved to their holiday aviaries while the Bird Team carry out this deep clean. This involves installing lovely new perching branches for the birds to use – it’s always quite a feat to find branches big enough for these large birds! We completely clear out their nesting areas too, and give them lots of natural materials ready to decorate their nests however they see fit.
This aviary is also used as a holiday aviary for some of our other vultures while their own aviaries are being prepared for the season. This year, we had two very special guests staying – our breeding pair of White-headed Vultures, Angus and Satara! They stayed with us here on the Lower Section while the finishing touches were made to their new aviary in at the Top of the Trust. They are such an awesome pair, and it was a privilege to care for them alongside our other vultures. They are now happily settled into their new aviary, which looks absolutely fantastic! We are hopeful for another successful year of breeding for these birds to help boost their numbers as part of European Ex-Situ Breeding Programmes (EEP’s).
Speaking of vultures, one of our most iconic vultures has been trying out a new home here with us on the Lower Section – Boe the Egyptian Vulture! She’s actually moved in with our Northern Bald Ibis Rafiki, and the pair seem to be getting on very well. They both have their own inside areas, with their own heat lamps; I like to describe them as birds that are happy to share a living space, but not a bedroom! They have a really fun dynamic –Rafiki is very enthusiastic, whereas Boe is calm and serene. During one of the Winter VIP Experiences I hosted last month, two of my lucky guests got the amazing opportunity to go inside this aviary and meet these two characters. Rafiki was so excited, he spent much of the time selecting the perfect stick to present as a gift to them – which they were delighted to be gifted and kept hold of!
Another larger than life character that lives on the Lower Section is our internet-famous Secretary Bird, Angola. While we’re not in the summer season, Angola takes a nice, long rest period over the winter. To make sure he keeps physically and mentally fit, we work with him through different forms of enrichment and training. This year, Angola has begun Target Training – a method of training where Angola will touch a part of his body to a target so it can be inspected for health checks and general care. In return, he gets a very tasty treat. This is Angola’s first time using this training method, and mine too, so we’re learning together! Despite his size and power, Angola can actually be quite a gentle bird, and can be a bit nervous of new things. Despite this, he’s not been phased by this new part of his routine – in fact he’s quite indifferent to it! A problem I was not expecting to encounter. So much of this training though is building up our strong bond, so he is relaxed and trusting of me and the seemingly-odd things I do to keep him healthy. We’ll keep you updated on his progress as our training continues.”
