Gwen
Peregrine Falcon
Gwen is a retired falconry bird who needed a good retirement home. Falconry is an ancient sport that has been modernized in a few ways. Royals would trap wild birds and train them to hunt with them. This sport was passed down through generations and is still very popular today. Of course, there are many regulations on how to be a proper falconer now. Gwen was born at a hawk breeding facility with her life destined to be a falconer’s bird. Now days, people don’t always trap birds from the wild, they purchase birds that were bred specifically for this purpose, and they don’t always just have the birds for hunting. Gwen actually had a job! Gwen’s job was to scare away pest birds from agriculture, landfills, and different public areas like shopping centers and resorts. However, birds can’t do this forever, so her falconer decided to find a nice home for her where she can live out retirement as an education bird. Gwen is still working on training to become an educational ambassador (it’s quite different than chasing around birds for a living) but will hopefully be the star of educational outreach programs some day soon. In the meantime, you can come see Gwen when you come for a tour!
Did you know that Peregrine Falcons are the fastest animal in the world? When Peregrines go into a dive, they have been clocked at going over 250mph! They are very impressive flyers and are the models for most modern airplanes.