Rock City Raptors
Back for its 8th year in 2012, come and see hawks soaring in the sky above Rock City. Get a glimpse at a nocturnal hunter, the owl. Meet a vivacious vulture! Enjoy this rare opportunity to witness these powerful and majestic birds up close. A unique learning experience high atop Lookout Mountain at Rock City!
Updates on "Lookout" and Our Peregrine Release Project
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Event Hours
Memorial Day – Labor Day
Thursdays - Sundays
Show Times are 11am, 1pm, and 3pm
(additional show Saturdays at 4:30pm)
*Event Included with Regular Rock City Admission
Event Activities
- The Rock City Birds of Prey show is presented by S.O.A.R (Save our American Raptors) in the Critter Classroom
- This show includes several birds flying and walking through the crowd and provides great information on these Birds of Prey including hawks, owls, bald eagles, and vultures.
- The Critter Classroom is a stadium seated, outdoor facility located just inside the entrance to Rock City.
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Updates - Peregrine Release Project
2011 Release:
Brother peregrine falcons Lookout and Chatty were released from Rock City Gardens on July 11, 2011. The unique thing about this fourth peregrine release from Rock City is the solar satellite transmitter Lookout is wearing, able to be tracked anywhere in the world and is the only peregrine tracking of its kind in the southeast. John and Dale Stokes with Save Our American Raptors (S.O.A.R.) are able to track the bird through satellite telemetry and plan to update the public with their progress at soarsouth.blogspot.com and www.soarsouth.org. You can also track the bird below using this Google Earth map.
The Peregrine release program is an ongoing project for Rock City Gardens. Previous releases have included birds named "Garnet and Frieda" after the founders of Rock City, Garnet and Frieda Carter, "Rocky", "Ted" and "Zenith". This is the fourth hacking effort at Rock City since 2006.
Information on Satellite Telemetry and Peregrine Falcons:
From Dale Stokes, Save Our American Raptors
The groundbreaking aspect of the satellite telemetry
device placed on "Lookout" is that there has NEVER been a peregrine falcon
monitored with this tracking device released so far south. This is very
exciting because Lookout's journey and route from the south may be
completely different from the peregrines released up north. Lookout is
providing very important information to the global picture of the movements of
peregrine falcons!
The satellite telemetry device is state-of-the-art, weighing 22 grams (very
light) and is a solar unit that can take readings for up to three years.
This complex piece of equipment contains a microcomputer, which takes 12 fixes
a day on the bird's location, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. This data is sent to GOOGLE
EARTH where everyone can witness the travels of the wonderfully important
peregrine falcon named Lookout.
The peregrine's forte is its speed - it usually impacts its
prey mid-air going over 175 miles per hour, making it the fastest bird in the
world! Due to DDT pesticide, the peregrine has had a tough time over the
past 50 years and is still on the endangered list in many states. Captive
breeding and release projects, such as the one with Rock City and S.O.A.R.'s
partnership, have brought the peregrine falcon back from the brink of
extinction. This cooperative goal is to increase the population numbers of the
peregrine who once inhabited the northern Georgia region.
2010 Release:
On July 28, 2010, two peregrine falcons were released from their hack box at Rock City Gardens by John and Dale Stokes with Save Our American Raptors (S.O.A.R.). The month-old birds flew here (by plane) from Minnesota, bred by Andy Kramer. Fitted with transmitters, the birds are expected to take flight back into their natural habitat, hopefully to make this region their home, since there are currently no nesting pairs in this area.
One bird is named Ted. Rock City opened up the naming of the other bird to our Facebook Fans - who chose Zenith as the name for one of the falcons. As Amy, who first offered Zenith as an option, explained the name suggestion - "Rock City is ATOP Lookout Mountain, so it is very fitting for a high-flying falcon to be released from the zenith, or top, of such a great place."
New Additions in 2010:
Meet Theo the Owl and Bonnie the Peregrine Falcon - two of the newest additions to the Rock City Raptors show!
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Theo the Owl |
Bonnie the Peregrine Falcon |
What's Blooming at Rock City?
| In summer, check out all of our summer annuals blooming all summer long. |
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Community Partner
Rock City is proud to work with S.O.A.R. – Save our American Raptors in bringing this Birds of Prey Show to Rock City Gardens.
S.O.A.R – Save our American Raptors
*Additional charges apply for food, drinks, some activities, & accessories.