Shedd Aquarium Puts On An Air Show With Birds Of Prey

By Anna Deem in News on Oct 16, 2010 6:30PM

Although birds aren't exactly the first thing one thinks of when visiting the Shedd Aquarium, since 2004 the aquarium has slowly been adding birds of prey to its collection. Now a group of predator birds--four red-tailed hawks and two owls--that were wounded in the wild, are the stars of a new air show at the Shedd. Maggie Fahner, the Shedd's animal program collection manager, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the birds of prey paint a more complete picture of a water ecosystem. "These animals naturally gravitate towards clean water sources," Fahner said to the Sun-Times. "And birds of prey like to fish."

When they're not flying through the air, the birds live in a specially designed "Birds of Prey" suite that accommodates their diet of frozen rats, mice, quail, and chicken necks. They also fly through the Oceanarium when the area is closed to visitors, and several times a day during shows. "With the flights for these birds that's exercise, energy they get to expend," Fahner said to the Sun-Times. "They get food reinforcement and applause reinforcement. They feed off our positive energy."