Birds of Prey Day

The word raptor is a general term that refers to all birds of prey including eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, ospreys, and many more. Raptor comes from the Latin word rapere meaning to seize, grab, or take by force—identifying these birds by the way they obtain their prey. People often wonder why we have birds at a reptile zoo. Well, modern birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs called theropods! Birds actually share many traits with these extinct relatives, including three forward-facing toes, a fused collarbone (or “wishbone”), hollow bones, and feathers! Basically, we’re hosting Birds of Prey Day for the same reason we have exhibits with parakeets and emus: birds are dinosaurs (and by extension, reptiles)! To learn more about the link between reptiles and birds, read our blog How Birds and Reptiles are Related.