Meet the IRFC Flying Team!
This video introduces the members of the IRFC Flying Team that work hard flying the fields of Northern Arizona, classrooms, and outdoor venues inspiring the public to care about their wild counterparts. In the grand scheme of things, this is a small team. However, in only six years, they have collectively conducted 100's of programs and reached well over 30,000 people and educated thousands of children.
They have moved women to cry, inspired students to switch their college degree plan to wildlife biology and impacted an entire kindergarten class with their own do not litter plea because litter hurts raptors.
They have all changed the minds of people that otherwise thought of them as 'mindless killers' without much personality. These seven birds have made their marks on the world and the hearts of many.
BIRDS ON THE FLYING TEAM ARE ON OUR USFWS & AZGFD PERMITS!
Finley lost his battle on February 26, 2022 and is still in this video. An updated video will be made later but please watch his part in it and see what a wonderful little falcon he was. Finley was intensely loved and we miss him very much.
Leroy!
We would like to introduce Leroy! He is a 11-year-old male Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) from Lincoln, NE. He was actually born in the New Orleans area on April 13, 2013, and went to live with his falconer at four months old. In April 2018, we were approached to provide a loving family when his current falconer could no longer hunt with him in the fields of Nebraska due to knee surgery. We were honored and thrilled to be chosen as Leroy's new family! He is very loved and just a little spoiled by his family and friends.
Leroy is an experienced hunter and is just about the sweetest little boy ever. Leroy is usually everyone’s favorite and if you are ever lucky enough to meet him, you will understand. He has a real way with the ladies too; they just go nuts over him! Leroy LOVES children and prefers them over anyone else but if adults is all he’s got; he will do just fine.
Leroy is now flying the fields of Northern Arizona looking for rabbits!
He is doing our Raptor and Falconry Experiences so be sure to book an experience to meet him.
Enedina!
Pronounced: n-uh-deena
She is a captive bred Saker Falcon and was hatched in Missouri on April 16, 2022 so she is still quite young and has finished her second season and you can follow her progress on our social media and her YouTube playlist.
The Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) is the second largest falcon species in the world and prefers the open grassland and agricultural areas of Central Eurasia and parts of Northern Africa to a lesser degree. They are on the ICUN Red List as Endangered.
They are the fastest bird on the planet, only to be beaten by the Peregrine Falcon. Sakers are specialized predators that prey on ground-dwelling mammals, but will prey on birds as well. Their fast horizontal flying style allows them to be successful in wide open landscapes.
The name Enedina is Gaelic for ‘soul’. Her parents created her very shortly after Finley, our American Kestrel, died and it is our wish that his soul lives through her to continue his legacy in Raptor Conservation. For Finley’s story go here: Finley's Legacy
Follow Enedina’s Progress!
Quinn!
Photo: Ted Grussing
Quinn is a female dark-morph Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis). She came to us in December 2018 from another falconer who had time constraints as a veterinary student. She is a dark morph so, she does not look like a typical Ferruginous Hawk…she is darker! This is a genetic mutation. She is considered quite rare!
She was wild trapped as a 3-week-old nestling in Utah in May of 2014 so, Quinn is 10-years-old. She is an imprint which means she thinks she is human! …and a princess.
Ferruginous Hawks are our largest Buteo (soaring hawk) in North America. And Quinn is a big girl! She weighs around 1600-1900g which is almost 5 pounds. They have a very unique way of surviving in the wild and we are lucky enough to have this species year round in Northern Arizona.
The specialize in ground squirrels and prairie dogs. They prefer wide open grasslands and will nest on the ground if a lonely tree is not available. We are losing our grasslands and urban development is encroaching on their habitat. They are a species of conservation concern which means they are in trouble. It is believed their numbers are declining but researchers cannot be sure due to the difficulty in studying this species; they don’t like humans! They are a specialist, which means they are picky to where they live and what they eat, on top of not liking humans. You can see why this species just might be in big trouble.
Ferruginous Hawks are notoriously difficult birds to train and handle but Quinn tries to do her best. This is why Ferruginous Hawks aren’t used very often in educational programs with the public or even falconers use them for falconry. So you do not see them very often. They are really a strange bird and not for beginners and even some non-beginners.
She does our raptor experiences but don’t expect to hold this handful of a hawk. She is a diva! However, she is an impressive hawk and definitely worth including in your experience.
Her ‘Birthday Video’ is our most viewed video
on our channel! Check it out!
Lennox!
Photo: Ted Grussing
Lennox is a juvenile, male American Kestrel born on May 6, 2023. His name is Scottish/Gaelic for elm grove. It was a woodland theme that year. He arrived June 27th and for the first 2-3 months he just settled into his new life as well as finishing growing up a little bit. Although he looked ‘grown up’ he was still only 7-weeks-old and his bones needed more time; also, the first couple of weeks he was here, he slept most of the time which lead me to suspect he didn’t feel well.
He is all good to go now! No sleeping during the day and has grown to be quite bossy! His official training has begun (spring 2024) and has some big talons to fill. No one will ever replace Finley [Finley’s legacy] but Lennox does have an important job.
If you would like to learn more about American Kestrels go to our blog: Species Spotlight Series American Kestrel!
To watch Lennox’s journey, go to his playlist on our YouTube channel.
Follow his progress on our social media
Druantia!
Druantia: Queen of the Druids Pronounced: Drew - an - tia
Druantia is a young female Turkey Vulture who joined the IRFC Flying Team in April 2024 when she was still under a year old. She was hatched in the wild during the summer of 2023. Unfortunately, someone thought she was so cute that they illegally kidnapped her from the wild. Later, they decided they didn’t want a "pet vulture" and turned her over to the Raptor Conservation Alliance in Elmwood, NE. Since she was raised by humans from such a young age, she became "imprinted." This means she now sees herself as a human or thinks we are all Turkey Vultures, making it impossible for her to be released back into the wild.
Druantia also came to us in horrible feather condition, most of them broken or malformed, which likely happened because she didn’t get the right nutrition while she was with her kidnappers. Even if she was not imprinted she would have needed to stay in rehabilitation until this summer in order to grow a new set of healthy feathers because she was unable to fly in this feather condition. She had no tail! That is her steering, stopping and lift!
When Druantia arrived at the IRFC, we weren’t sure if she was male or female. In some raptor species, you can tell the difference by their size (females are usually larger than males) but there can be overlap in weights, big males confused with small females; or by the colors of their feathers. This is known as "dichromatic sexual dimorphism," a fancy way to say, means you can tell the males and females apart by their feather colors. American Kestrels and Harrier Hawks are good examples of this in North America.
So, how did we figure out that Druantia is a girl? We did a DNA test! Then, we had a big Gender Reveal Party at the Arboretum at Flagstaff to celebrate. We even cut into a huge vulture egg cake that was pink inside to reveal she’s a girl. This event was her first introduction to the public!
Since then, Druantia has been focused on growing new feathers and getting used to her new job with the IRFC Flying Team. By late summer, she began her training and started adjusting to her new life as a "celebrity vulture."
Why Vultures Are So Important
Vultures are amazing birds, and they often get a bad reputation in movies and the media. But they are not dirty, ugly, or evil. In fact, they are very intelligent and have great personalities. Vultures are the most effective scavengers in the world and play a huge role in keeping our environment clean. They are nature’s cleanup crew, getting rid of dead animals that could spread disease. Thanks to their very acidic stomachs (with a pH of 2), they can safely eat meat contaminated with deadly bacteria and viruses, like anthrax, rabies, salmonella and E. coli. By doing this, vultures help prevent the spread of disease and keep our environment smelling better and looking cleaner too.
Want to know just how important vultures are to the environment? Let's look at the Asian Vulture Crisis. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, 99.7% of the vultures were wiped out because of a drug called diclofenac, which was given to old cattle. The drug stayed in the dead cattle’s bodies, and when vultures ate the meat, it caused them to die of kidney failure within a few days. The governments noticed something was wrong when there was a big increase in rabies cases and more leopards coming into villages. Why? Because with fewer vultures around to eat the dead cattle, more feral dogs were feeding on the carcasses, leading to more rabies, and leopards were hunting these dogs.
So, what happened next? Sadly, three vulture species became critically endangered and may never fully recover and other species are endangered or threatened as well. The good news is that in 2006, the Indian government banned diclofenac and set up breeding programs throughout India and Nepal to help bring back the vulture population. But the problem isn’t over yet—not for Asian vultures and not for others. African vultures and the North American California Condor are also at risk. With a 99.7% population drop in Asian Vultures in less than a decade, could our vultures face a similar threat if we don’t change how people see these amazing birds and protect them before we will be fighting for our vultures?
Follow her progress on our social media
Bridger!
Photo: Eric Gofreed
Bridger is a 4-year old male Harris Hawk going into his 5th falconry season. He came from Montana when his first falconer wanted to fly a Red-tailed Hawk. His name is in honor of the mountain he saw outside his mews everyday, Bridger…named after the famous mountain man Jim Bridger.
This handsome boy was selected to hopefully keep Coral, my personal hunting bird, out of retirement. You can go to her playlist to learn of her backstory but the short version is: she contracted West Nile Virus in 2017 and has been experiencing increasing WNV flares with every year.
In 2023, I had retired her from falconry but decided to give this a go. A young intense male Harris Hawk that can do all the heavy lifting and she provides the experience of her 13 seasons. She will still think she is hunting like a proper hawk. Right?
[Spoiler alert! Coral is now permanently retired] But! Bridger is getting a girlfriend! A young female Harris Hawk born this year (2024). Stay tuned to find out how it goes by watching his journey on his playlist on our YouTube channel!
He has just finished his first season with IRFC and his 4th overall. All I can say is; “I CANNOT WAIT” to get this intense boy going next season. Watch his video here. He is fun to watch hunt and is all guts and heart. He has trouble with our ginormous jackrabbits so he is gaining a girlfriend this summer to help him out. Stay tuned for that excitement!
Bridger will be kept as my personal falconry bird for the most part. He might do some educational outreach just for socialization and enrichment but that will be all. No “hands-on” Experiences for this hardworking young man!
Follow his progress on our social media
Aylen!
PHOTO: Steve Comstock
Aylen is a 7-year-old female American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) that was wild trapped as a juvenile near Tucson by a fellow falconer. Sadly her first falconer could not continue falconry due to severe health issues. Aylen was transferred to her second falconer. Due to a host of constraints, her second falconer transferred her to IRFC (me). She officially joined the IRFC Team on October 5, 2020. We are honored to be her new family and she is very loved.
She was our smallest member on the team, Lennox has now taken that title, she weighs in at only a bit over 120g. She is tiny! The Tiny Princess! As we affectionately call her.
She is very sweet and ridiculously cute. She did come with some baggage that we are trying to sort but she has already made huge strides. Follow her progress on our social media and her YouTube playlist.
The goal is to get her out hunting grasshoppers just as she was meant to do! However, if we feel it is not safe for her due to her fear response under pressure, we will revisit. As of now, that remains the plan.
She does some programs but those are limited; sometimes she is a surprise addition to our Raptor & Falconry Experience participants.
Coral!
Taken back in her prime, Coral taking a break in the fields of Sedona.
Coral is a13-year-old, female Harris Hawk. She is captive bred and born in Gloucestershire UK. Yep, a native species from the Southwest USA originally from Britain...weird indeed. Her beginnings were complex and she has a long story to tell but that’s for another time. You can watch her really cool life story in her birthday video in her playlist below.
Michele acquired Coral while training her for the International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP) flying team; however, due to her ‘unique personality’ she failed miserably. When Michele came back to America, she brought Coral with her!
She has traveled all over since arriving in America, educating and showing off to the public from New England to Northern Arizona. When not flying around the fields of Northern Arizona, she LOVES her doing her job educating the public about her wild counterparts.
She was IRFC’s first flying team member, the only one in the beginning. Now that Leroy, Quinn, Enedina, Bridger, Lennox, Druantia (soon) and Aylen are trained in their jobs, Coral is retired from public life. For the most part she was Michele’s personal hunting bird until she needed to be retired permanently (Nov. 2023) from falconry due to effects leftover from her bout with West Nile Virus.