Spotlight Bird
"King David" - a fledgling male prairie falcon
In August of 1994 the late Gerald Richards of Utah (The Sky Trails Pioneer) sent The Raptor Project a young fledgling male prairie falcon ready for training. he was a replacement for a bird that had been killed two weeks earlier by a redtailed hawk while back here in the Catskills.
This brother bird was quickly trained, but his first free outing on a beautiful August afternoon, he was snatched out of the sky by a redtailed hawk as well- perhaps the same bird coming back for dessert!
After a lengthy aerial battle this young bird miraculously broke free and flew home. He was immediately named "King David" because he had battled the giant.
Following King David and his amazing decade long career as he fights many more battles with raptors and incredible injuries, wins a competition, is featured on ESPN, and goes on to star in a major motion picture.