FIELD TRIP: Birds of Prey and Raptor Facts

Grab your stuff and hop in our van full of weirdos to check out Boise Idaho’s finest attraction: a 580 acre preserve of land that is absolutely flush with raptors who could eat your eyeballs. We’re back with another field trip episode, this time visiting The Peregrine Fund’s World Center For Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. We got a tour from Vice President of the Peregrine Fund Dr. Chris McClure to meet so many birds including California Condors, Harpy Eagles, American Kestrels, Barred Owls, Bald Eagles, and of course the Peregrine Falcon. Also: industrial sized easter eggs, puppet parents, commuting with flesh eating dinosaurs, and the sexiest hat you’ve ever seen.

Listen via Apple, Spotify, Google (is having outage issues), Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The World Center For Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho

Follow the center on Instagram and Twitter, Chris McLure’s Twitter

A donation went to The Peregrine Fund


Links to things we discussed:

Rich Stallcup’s “Farewell, Skymaster” Open Letter

John Bartell’s Falcon Sex Hat Video for ABC 10 Sacramento

Chris McClure’s research

Environmental Econ via the EPA

Enviro Econ 101

Crested caracaras

Falcon genomics in the context of conservation, speciation, and human culture

Peregrine falcon

Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals

Falcon Visual Acuity

Details That Look Sharp To People May Be Blurry To Their Pets

Rapid diversification of falcons (Aves: Falconidae) due to expansion of open habitats in the Late Miocene

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon Migration: A Complete Guide

Restoring Aplomado Falcons to the United States 

DDT dumped off Catalina Island

“Beyond the Brink” documentary via the Peregrine Fund

What is “hacking?”

Peregrine Falcon Delisted

Falconry Permitting Guidelines

UAE conservation fund saves thousands of falcons, raptors from electrocution

Infidelity Common Among Birds and Mammals, Experts Say

Copulation hats

The Purpose of Falconry Hoods

Most Female Raptors Are Bigger and Stronger Than Males, but Why?

Remembering Tom Cade, the Father of Peregrine Falcon Conservation

Craighead House

Star Wars' Original Millennium Falcon Design (& Why Lucas Changed It)

How The Millennium Falcon Got Its Name

Tomial tooth

Condor debate

The letter

How big is a condor foot?

Turkey Vulture Facts

Why do Vultures Self Defense Vomit?

Vomit bird throws up a defense against predators

Here Come the Condor Chicks of 2023!

General Bald Eagle nesting information

The Harpy Eagle

Meet the birds of the Peregrine Fund

Golden Eagles, Peregrines, and Harris’s Hawks

Visual Imprinting in Birds: Behavior, Models, and Neural Mechanisms

The Mysterious Thomas Hayes (and Christine!)


Other episodes you may enjoy:

Chickenology (HENS & ROOSTERS)

Wildlife Ecology (FIELDWORK)

Condorology (CONDORS & VULTURES)

Pelicanology (PELICANS), Plumology (FEATHERS)

Ornithology (BIRDS)

FIELD TRIP: How to Change Your Life via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

FIELD TRIP: An Airport Full of Neuroscientists

FIELD TRIP: My Butt, a Colonoscopy Ride Along & How-To

FIELD TRIP: A Hollywood Visit to the Writers Guild Strike Line

P-22: The Life & Death of an L.A. Cougar

Carnivore Ecology (LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS)

Cervidology (DEER)

Urban Rodentology (SEWER RATS)

Oology (EGGS)


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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Mark David Christenson

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Field TripsAlie Ward