/ Modified feb 27, 2013 5:47 p.m.

Museum Lets Raptors Take Wing

Twice-a-day free flights of red-tailed hawks, great horned owls

Red-tailed hawks, Harris’s hawks and great horned owls are among the raptors taking wing at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's "Raptor Free Flight" demonstrations under way for the winter season.

The birds are among 44 species of raptors identified in Arizona, and they have become quite common in Tucson, Phoenix and other urban areas.

The twice-daily shows, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., are scheduled through mid-April.

“It helps set us apart from almost any other zoo, wild animal park, anything like that,” said Dillon Horger, curator of raptor free flight. “It’s unique in the world of bird shows in that we really focus our attention on the birds themselves instead of the trainers, and it is natural history interpreting.”

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