Filming the Falklands

Field work in the Falklands took a school yard turn this month as Hawk Mountain's Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science Dr. Keith Bildstein and graduate student Melissa Bobowski presented the inquisitive striated caracaras with a series of intelligence tests. The striated caracara is a scavenging raptor, often called the "Johnny Rook," and the subject of a long-term Hawk Mountain study.

Two of the tests have been outlined in a new post by Bobowski on the Hawk Mountain blog called "The Vulture Chronicles." The antics also were filmed by a BBC film crew visiting Saunder's Island to record the caracaras as part of their new series "Deadly Pole to Pole." The great news is that we had cameras, too, and so you can watch our own short video clips of the birds at work and read Melissa's background blog:

Read Melissa Bobowski's blog post now, or, jump to watch Intelligence Test #1: