My Holiday

Wingspan National Birds of Prey Centre.

What is this place you ask and where is it?

This place is on Paradise Valley road as you go to Rotorua.

It houses injured NZ Falcons and other birds who need care, like Tahi a barn owl she has a broken wing that can’t be fixed so is a permanent resident at Wingspan and her name means one as she is the only Barn owl in captivity in New Zealand. They also have Moreporks one is called Frodo.

They have a museum about the history of the Falcons and what are the predators to them and how we can help to protect them.

At 2pm everyday they do a demo with 2 NZ falcons. The day we went we say Atareta she was a beautiful female bird who was trained by a Local Morrinsville Man Andrew Thomas whom my mum and dad know.

Atareta and Andrew showed the audience how she flew and how she captured her prey by using a lure. The next bird was a boy falcon called Mojo That had a bell on his tail so his trainer knew were he is also because he gets up to mischief and hides in the trees. We got to have a hold of Atareta this is me holding her. The other picture I have is of Mojo who is demonstrating with a lure  how he hides his food when there is a predator around or if he has a full crop.

This is a non government funded trust so relies on donations and people/clubs sponsoring birds for their upkeep. The entry fee you pay helps feed the birds and helps with the maintenance of the complex.

I highly recommend you to visit Wingspan and find out for yourself just how amazing these falcons are.