Avian Behavior Conservancy

11/29/2025

“A paper published a year ago in the American Economic Review concluded that in certain districts, “the functional extinction of vultures — efficient scavengers who removed carcasses from the environment — increased human mortality by over 4% because of a large negative shock to sanitation.” “

The near-extinction of vultures in India has had severe consequences.

11/28/2025

Mini fly off story with our hardest working bird. We endeavor to share the ups and downs of working free flighted birds, as there are so many uncontrollable variables when working with them. There will be really tough times with even the most seasoned of flyers and that’s exactly what happened with our falcon. She is a strong flyer but at the end of her lure flight a big gust of wind blew her into a valley that she had a hard time pulling out of during our Hawk Walk class. The group carried on with the class while I went to check on her post. She saw me about 100 yards away in a very inconvenient spot and came flying towards me. saker falcons don’t have the greatest of turning radius especially since it was already windy. Even still Halley slammed on the brakes and helicoptered down on to the lure.

If you are looking for guarantees, flying birds is not your jam. It can be chaotic and scary sometimes, but in these moments you develop a lot of problem solving skills as well. Type 2 fun 😆

11/25/2025

Thanks to your support at our fundraiser on November 19th, we were able to purchase 2 GPS tracking devices for kestrels for the Golden State Kestrel Research network. We also have lodging and transportation covered for the 3 day event with raptor biologists in January 2026. Thank you to everyone for coming out and making real conservation happen!

11/24/2025

Proof positive that when a parrot asks to step up and you have other plans in mind, you get to see the dinosaur come out 😂😂 Leo the hyacinth macaw is the most polite asking for a step up with his spider toes just dangling expectantly. But don’t be fooled: once he steps up, you get to see the first date clinger status that his personality truly embodies!

11/21/2025

Our fundraiser last night at Upper East on Grand Avenue in Escondido was a huge success!! Thank you to all of our generous supporters that came out, had some great food, bought raffle tickets, and bid on our auction items. It was so much fun to connect with all of you and congrats to all of the winners! Thank you for helping us get closer to our fundraising goals for our conservation projects starting in just a few weeks!

11/21/2025

This juvenile red shouldered hawk came to me super food insecure, covering the tiniest morsels and would even turn around on my glove with his back facing to me every time I gave him a piece of meat. Bit by bit over the last few months, I have steadily raised his weight and his skills so he is confident, well mannered, and even less vocal (somewhat 😆 I actually don’t mind his calls).

He likely never caught a single meal for himself and was extremely skinny with some weak feathers when he came to me. But he is so sweet and earnest, it has been fun learning with him. And now he is a tubby little guy finally. Most people are not well equipped to feed wildlife, teach them how to survive when released, or keep them in a way that avoids imprinting. This can make them dangerous, especially as they start to reach maturity. Some imprints can be flat scary. It takes a lot of skill!

11/19/2025

Goldie the American kestrel is as excited as we are for tonight’s fundraiser as Upper East on Grand in Escondido. Yall the raffle and silent auction is HUGE! Our education coordinator Lindsay pulled together some really cool items, and so many generous gifts have been donated by community members, volunteers, friends, and supporters!! Meet our prince, Nelson (we call him Nellie), eat some great food, and let’s keep bridging the funding gaps in conservation! We are kicking off the 2026 American kestrel nestbox monitoring season in December! Goldie needs you 🫵💪

11/18/2025

We wrapped a very special week with guests at our Advanced Animal Training Workshop. So many great science minds and thoughtful conversations. It was lovely to connect and see lightbulb moments in animals and humans. And we flew a lot of birds!

11/13/2025

Palm cockatoo beaks are so big that they don’t close all the way. Even still they can exert tremendous pressure when they want, spinning a macadamia nut in the shell to the perfect place, finding the weakness to crack it. Our palms rarely actually bite people though, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn.

Palm cockatoos are one of the most destructive parrots I have met. They can do so much damage with their beaks that they don’t have to do much to wield incredible power. I have dents in my walls, a broken laptop, appliances, furniture, and much more all from a casual “test bump” even from palm cockatoos coming inside temporarily for whatever reason. And if you feel terse about the situation and treat them brusquely, you might have to endure the dreaded foot stomp of indignation that follows 😂