New Swooping Hawk Thrills - With a Purpose

When Marie, a Harris’s hawk, swoops over the heads of visitors at the Museum, it’s a sensation that few ever forget. The new Curator of Living Collections James Dawson has begun incorporating the Raptor Free Flight Program that he created into two daily Desert Dwellers shows that feature live animals throughout the summer. During most of the shows, Marie thrills visitors with her flying abilities.

Dawson, an internationally recognized expert on raptors, said, “She flies right over their heads, and they love it. The energy is so great when they do that. She flies back across the crowd in the pavilion, and she’s right in there with them. The sense of boundaries evaporate.”

Marie has been instrumental in Dawson’s work with utility companies to safeguard power lines and poles that can electrocute raptors.

“She has had a deep affect on the conservation of her species and changing attitudes,” he said. “I did more than 90 presentations with utility companies in doing avian protection programs throughout the High Desert.”

A Peregrine falcon named Indy also meet visitors at the Museum close up, from the gloved arm of a wildlife specialist.

“This is such a great species for conservation messaging because it came back from the brink of extinction in the 1970s,” Dawson said. “I like to tell positive stories about how we can fix things and how we have fixed things.”

He has worked with such diverse groups as the Department of Energy, Westinghouse Electric, mines and prisons. He recently has partnered with utility and power companies in Arizona to prevent accidental electrocutions of birds that perch on power poles. Working with power companies, he organized a series of workshops to help them create and launch avian protection programs.

“Education is the key to understanding the world we live in, and scientists have an obligation to bring science to the public,” said Dawson. “I also feel strongly that people must make both intellectual and emotional connections with the natural world to understand and appreciate it