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Year of the Bird

2/20/2018

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​Are you celebrating Year of the Bird at your facility? 2018 marks the signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, one of the oldest and strongest pieces of legislation protecting wildlife in the USA. Year of the Bird is being coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, Birdlife International, and National Geographic. Big events you can celebrate are International Migratory Bird Day (May 12) and World Bird Day (October 13), International Vulture Awareness Day (September 1), plus you can host or encourage participation in Hawk Watch counts in the fall, the Great Backyard Bird Count (February 16-19) and Christmas Bird Counts which take place in December.

There’s a Year of the Bird Network on Facebook for your organization’s coordinators to join and you can register your organization on the BirdYourWorld.org website as a partner, where lots of other resources are available, too. We’ve also been loading resources right here on the Raptor TAG website (RaptorTAG.com/YearOfTheBird) to celebrate birds (especially raptors!) all year long! Check out the monthly theme calendar to get started.  

If you’ve got some great activities or lessons you’d like to share on the TAG Education, IVAD, or YOTB pages, we’d love to see them!

​Don’t forget to use the hashtags #BirdYourWorld and #YearOfTheBird. 

What activities are you planning this year? Comment below! 

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The Talon: Call for Newsletter Articles

12/15/2017

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Hello!
The Raptor TAG is preparing its very first newsletter! We’re looking at producing this quarterly and hoping to include the sections below. So this is the official call for articles!
If you would like to contribute an article, please contact the point person listed below. The deadline for the first issue is January 10, 2018. 
We’re looking the following for regularly reoccurring sections, but they’re not meant to be restrictive – so if you have something else you’d like to contribute, feel free to contact me via email Jacque.Williamson@state.de.us. ​
For information about content sections or to subscribe to The TALON, visit our Newsletter page
Newsletter Subscribe
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New online database could reduce poisonous threat to vultures

9/2/2017

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(text from the Peregrine Fund eNewsletter & Endangered Wildlife Trust)
The Peregrine Fund is excited to be part of a team announcing a new online database that could reduce vulture poisoning incidents in East Africa. 
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Using poisons to kill wildlife in Africa has had a devastating effect on many species over the past decade. Species killed by poison include, lions, hyenas, elephants, eagles, and more. Vultures are often impacted at a higher rate by a poisoning incident due to their propensity for feeding in large groups and because they are often the first to arrive at a carcass. The Peregrine Fund has been working with partners across Africa to put an end to the practice of poisoning wildlife, and in collaboration with the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Vulture Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and The Gadfly Project, we have now collated all historical and current incidents of wildlife poisoning into the new African Wildlife Poisoning Database (AWPD). We are particularly excited to be launching this new database now as this weekend the world will be celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD). IVAD is the first Saturday of September each year set aside for organizations around the world to highlight vulture conservation and awareness. 
Read more about the AWPD.
  • So far, this database contains records of 272 poisoning incidents that have killed over 8,000 animals of 40 different species, from 15 countries. ​
  • Poisoning is the most significant threat to vultures in Africa and Eurasia and, over the last 30 years, has contributed to declines in excess of 80% in some African species.
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Raptor TAG Celebrates IVAD

8/19/2017

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International Vulture Awareness Day 2017

Dear Colleagues,
 
Saturday, September 2 is International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD)! Many of you have been celebrating IVAD at your institutions for years, and we welcome those celebrating it for the first time this year. All of you are advocates for vulture conservation every single day!
 
 This year, we are joining together to coordinate our efforts and share resources to make IVAD an even more effective tool to raise public awareness about the dire need for vulture conservation. Our goals are to:
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  • Encourage more institutions to celebrate IVAD by creating a centralized location for resource sharing;
  • Coordinate the conservation messaging that goes along with IVAD in order to broadcast the information more effectively;
  • Expand the network of professionals dedicated to vulture conservation in order to more easily share information, strategies, and ideas about IVAD on a global level;
  • Reframe the way people think about vultures and start a new #VultureCulture
​The Raptor TAG education advisors have put together a field activity guide to help everyone come up with new ways to celebrate IVAD at your institutions. This activity guide contains suggested conservation messaging and action items around which IVAD activities can be centered, as well as ideas, templates, and information about games, crafts, and activities. It also includes a quick highlight of ongoing vulture conservation efforts in the field.
This information and additional resources is available on the Raptor Tag website.
IVAD 2017 Resources
In coming together to celebrate International Vulture Awareness Day, we can speak as one unified voice about the importance of saving vultures and the ecosystems of which they are a critical part!
 
We’ve created lots of great resources on the Raptor TAG website for IVAD, but also check out VultureDay.org to register your event and find even more resources! Together we can make a huge impact on the lives of vultures!
 
Sincerely,
 
The Raptor TAG
 
PS- Talking about your IVAD Activities? If you celebrate IVAD this year, we’d love to know about it! Share photos on social media with the hashtags:
 
#IVAD2017
#VultureCulture
#KeepCalmAndCarrion
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What Makes Owls' Flight so quiet?

3/2/2017

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Published recently in Interface Focus, Features of owl wings that promote silent flight, reviews the morphological and aerodynamic properties of an owl's wings and feathers that promote silent flight. Read the full article here. 
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News from northern Kenya and beyond

2/17/2017

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Read about updates from the Peregrine Fund's Assistant Director of Africa Programs, Dr. Darcy Ogada, with updates from the field on their ​Rüppell’s Vulture project. 
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Click for full PDF
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American Kestrel Symposium

1/31/2017

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In January, 2017, The Brandywine Zoo's Delaware Kestrel Partnership and the American Kestrel Partnership partnered to offer the first American Kestrel Symposium. Researchers from across the country, professionals and citizens, came together to discuss kestrel nest box projects and conservation efforts. Read more about it by clicking the right image or check out the Symposium's Full Abstracts. 
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Vultures in Crisis

12/12/2016

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Read More
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    TAG Notes

    The Raptor Taxon Advisory Group aims to help proliferate information relating to the husbandry, education, conservation, and research of raptors around the world. 

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  • Home
  • Newsletter
  • Resources
    • Education >
      • Vulture Education
      • Year of the Bird
      • Raptors as Program Animals
    • Events
    • Issues >
      • Microtrash
      • Vulture Crisis >
        • Asian Vulture Crisis
        • African Vulture Crisis
      • Lead Poisoning
      • Rat poison
    • Position Statements
    • Training
    • Enrichment
    • Husbandry >
      • Husbandry Idea Gallery
      • Husbandry Products
      • TAG Manuals
  • raptors
    • Vultures >
      • African Vultures >
        • Cape Vulture SSP
        • Lappet-Faced Vulture SSP
        • Hooded Vulture SSP
        • Ruppell’s Griffon SSP
        • White-Backed Vulture SSP
      • Asian Vultures >
        • Eurasian Black Vulture SSP
      • New World Vultures >
        • Andean Condor SSP
        • California Condor SSP
        • King Vulture SSP
    • Eagles >
      • Steller's Sea Eagle SSP
      • Harpy Eagle (Candidate)
    • Falcons >
      • African Pygmy Falcon SSP
    • Hawks
    • Secretary Bird SSP
    • Owls >
      • Burrowing Owl SSP
      • Eurasian Eagle Owl SSP
      • Snowy Owl SSP
      • Spectacled Owl SSP
      • Verreaux's Eagle Owl SSP
  • Conservation
    • African vulture SAFE program
    • Egyptian Vultures in Oman
    • Bird Window Strikes
  • T-Shirt Store
  • About
    • Contact