Blog
15 May Bird Vision: What Tina the Burrowing Owl Taught Me About Eyesight
Tina the burrowing owl spotted it before I did — a tiny flicker of movement that I completely missed. Birds are like humans in that they rely heavily on vision to perceive the world. But what they see — and how they see it —...
15 May Rebuilding Crate Training with Suyana: A Condor’s Comeback
If you have worked with a bird who has a hard time with the smallest of changes, such as a vulture, raven, or older parrot, you can probably appreciate that when 17 year old condor Suyana joined the Avian Behavior team after living her entire...
09 May Reframing Parrot Aggression – Key Takeaways from Our Roundtable
Aggressive behavior in parrots is one of the most common—and emotionally charged—challenges faced by caregivers. But too often, it’s a topic that gets reduced to quick fixes and generic advice that doesn’t address the underlying issues. That’s why we brought together parrot owners, trainers, and behavior...
02 May The Quiet Power of Owls
Some of our birds are work horses—and some of them are WORK horses when it comes to conservation education. Oakley the Harris’s Hawk, for example, is endlessly versatile. She's a class favorite in our Hawk Walk Falconry Experience, and for good reason. You get to see...
24 Apr Who’s That Bird? A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Larger Birds in San Diego and Southern California
If you've ever looked up into the Southern California sky and thought, “Is that an eagle? Or maybe something escaped from the zoo?”—you’re not alone. In San Diego County, we’re lucky to share our cities, canyons, and coastlines with a wide variety of native birds,...
17 Apr What Does It Really Mean to Give an Animal Choice?
Choice and control are really buzzy words in animal training. Here’s the thing about how we use them in animal training: it sounds really nice in a conference slide or an Instagram caption. But when you’re out there in the aviary or standing in front...
17 Apr Why Turning Off Your Lights Could Save a Bird’s Life
It’s that time of year when our skies are full of travelers—songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl—millions of them flying under the cover of night as they migrate north for spring. And as magical as that sounds, there's a very real problem they face along the way: light...
10 Apr Is This Owl a Good Ambassador Candidate? Here’s What You Should Really Be Asking…
It’s that time of year when people start making decisions about their next ambassador owl. Whether you’re raising a young bird or reassessing an existing one, the question always comes up: “Can this owl be trained?” I recently had a consult with a wildlife rehabber that zeroed...
02 Apr Do Owls Have Whiskers? Discovering Their Hidden Sensory Powers
There’s something that really stops you in your tracks when you meet Ripley, our spectacled owl. You might notice her soft, hoarse hoots or the calm way she just hangs out—but if you take a closer look, you’ll see tiny feathers around her beak. And...