Sibenik Birds of Prey Rescue and Study Centre

It wasn’t quite what we were expecting. This wasn’t the usual bird show with owls skimming noiselessly over the crowd and eagles swooping down to snatch a morsel of meat. Here they treat injured birds of prey and returned them to the wild. They also study the birds’ role in the ecosystem. As Emilio the proprietor explained, we really have no complete idea of how the ecosystem works, except that everything is inter-dependent; with so many bird species on the endangered list we don’t know what will happen if these disappear.
The Centre’s mission statement is to sustain raptor species in Croatia in order to preserve the natural balance, and at the same time to add some knowledge of how it all hangs together.
It wasn’t all theory. Emilio’s gloved hand was holding this magnificent eagle owl as he was talking to us. It looks cross, but actually isn’t, although you need not to stare eyeball-to-eyeball as this is threatening, as in the human reaction, “What are you staring at, mate? “

Instead of the set-piece performance, Emilio let us handle the birds under his supervision and here is Jane with a Harris hawk having landed on her glove. Harris hawks are not to native to Croatia and these were bought from credited breeders for display purposes, as the Centre doesn’t want to be accused of exploiting Croatian birds brought in for treatment.

There is a high-tech operating theatre on site and a local vet with special training who comes in to treat the sick birds. There is also a retired English lady who helps out and who ran a raptor centre herself in Monmouth. She raced cars before that. This sort of place appears to attract dedicated but offbeat characters. Emilio for instance had orange dyed hair!  

The final photo seems to sum up the essence of a hawk: focussed and fearless. However, their aggression is different to a dog’s. If you try to take a dog’s food away, it will probably go for you. The hawk’s reaction is to continue to eat what it can still get at: it just concentrates on the food.