Raptors

    Raptors are birds of prey.  That mean they eat meat and many of them like MICE.  Many raptors hunt for their meat but some look for food that is already dead! Some raptors hunt during the day (diurnal) and others prefer the night time (nocturnal).  Raptors come in all sizes and colors and can be found around the world in many types of habitats.  Raptors have three special characteristics that make them a raptor.  They have sharp talons on their feet that are great for grabbing and carrying their prey, a hook beak great for tearing the meat apart, and excellent vision!  The vision test we take in school would be a piece of cake for a raptor!  Many of them can see their meal a couple of miles away.  Depending on which raptor you are talking about, they also have other special talents.  Some raptors are extremely strong and kill their prey with their grasp like the eagles and other raptors have a sense of hearing that is unbelievable like the owls.  Other raptors can fly so fast through the sky like the falcons.  Raptors are very special birds.
     Birds are in a class called Aves. Scientists use something called scientific classification to divide 'Aves' into groups of birds that are alike in some way.  This means that ALL birds in the world have been separated into sections based on what is alike about them.  Then the scientists divide each group of birds into a smaller group--still based on things that are alike.  
    An example of how this works is to imagine that you are in school. Your teacher wants to take the whole class and divide you into groups based on what is alike about you.  She tells all of the blonde children to go in one corner and brown-haired in another, and red-haired in still another. She then takes each group and separates them even more by eye color.  So, the blonde 'class' might have two groups inside of it: blue eyed children and brown eyed children.  These two groups might be split again into children who are right handed or left handed.  (For more on how scientific classification is done, click here.) 
    Falconiformes and Strigiformes are two orders in the class of Aves.  This is where the raptors come in! 

Falconiformes:  

Are daytime hunters. (diurnal)
Have talons and strong, curved beaks
Have a toe in the back of its foot, opposite the front one, for holding prey
Have females that are larger than males

Are mainly meat eaters. (carnivorous)
Hunt by sight

    However scientists were still having trouble deciding which bird goes in which order so the Falconiformes were divided again into families.  They needed to do this because they were not only working with likenesses you can see but also the changes in molecules and chromosomes in the birds over thousand of years.
    Falconiforme families are:

Falconidae: falcons
Accipitridae:  hawks, kites, and eagles
Sagittariidae:  Secretary Bird
Pandionidae:  Osprey
Cathartidae:  vultures

Strigiformes

   The other order of raptors is called Strigiformes.  Some of their characteristics are the same as the Falconiformes but many are different.  The Strigiformes have the following  characteristics:

Hunt at night.  This means they are nocturnal.  This is a big difference from Falconiformes who hunt during the day.
Have a curved beak.
Have talons with a toe that can face frontward or backward.

 Have eyes that always face forward.  If they want to see to the right or the left, they have to turn their whole head.

Have a flat round or heart-shaped face that is called a facial disk.

 Have really good hearing that helps them find prey in the dark.  Most people think that owls are successful nighttime hunters because they see so well.  In fact, it is because they hear so well!  Their ears are a slit under their facial disk.  The feathers on the facial disk plus the feathers behind the ear slit guide sounds into their ears.  Their ears aren’t across from each other like our nice mice ears.  One of theirs is lower than the other.  This helps them find us easier.  Owls hear so well that they can hear MICE moving around under snow. 

Have soft downy feathers that help them fly quietly.

Will swallow their prey whole and then throw up all the parts that their bodies can’t digest.  The indigestible parts form an owl pellet. 

    The scientist felt they needed to divide the Strigiformes into families like they did with the Falconiformes. However they only divide the Strigiformes into two families.  They are the Tytonidae and Strigidae.

    Click here for the differences between Tytonidae and Strigidae and a list of the owls on our site.

Works Cited:

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

“Order Strigiformes.”  18 Oct. 2007.  <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Strigiformes.html>.