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Our Facilities
Gyrfalcons are
notoriously difficult to keep alive, succumbing to a variety of ailments
due primarily to the extreme nature of their native environment - they
breed near and even north of the arctic circle throughout the northern
hemisphere. We hypothesized that cool dry air might lower stress levels of
birds which would normally only visit our area during the depths of winter.
Since Kansas'
summer is as extreme as our winter, we decided to enclose and air condition
the barn once temperatures get to levels which might stress the birds. We
have never lost a bird housed in this facility.
The breeding
barn is modeled after concepts developed at Cornell University
and later the Peregrine Fund. Larger chambers for the naturally paired
gyrfalcons and smaller 8x10 enclosures for interaction with human-imprinted
individuals. Photoperiod is not an issue, as skylights provide the necessary
sunlight stimulation to the pineal and pituitary glands of the birds - and Kansas is far enough
north that no supplemental light is needed to induce gonadotropism and
subsequent breeding response.
Even if your
bird does not undergo a full wild hack, the hack or round barn, netted on
top and equipped with cool rooms, is one of the largest in existence in the
world. Your bird will be fully muscled from making laps around the five
hundred foot interior circumference of the building. We have observed young
birds flying up to five miles at one time in this incredible facility.
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