Most of my posts about Boise have been for attractions right downtown, or near enough. The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey is about 20 minutes outside of town, but well worth the visit!
The World Center for Birds of Prey is not a big place. I’d say you can see it all in about an hour, not including one of the daily shows. But you MUST stay for a daily show! It’s pretty much the highlight of the experience and not to be missed. Plus, if you can see any free flight events during the year, those are a special treat.
The Peregrine Fund
The World Center for Birds of Prey is the headquarters for the Peregrine Fund. The Peregrine Fund was started back in the ’70s and was successful in breeding and boosting the peregrine falcon population enough to remove it from the endangered species list. It has since expanded to help boost raptor populations all around the world.
Their current projects in the United States focus on the California condor and the Aplomado falcon in Texas. Globally, the Fund has projects centered around harpy eagles in Belize, Ridgeway’s hawks in the Dominican Republic, the Cuban kite, the Cape vulture and crowned eagle in Africa, and various species of vulture in India, just to name a few.
World Center for Birds of Prey
The World Center for Birds of Prey contains not only a visitor center but also administrative offices and raptor breeding facilities. It’s a larger place than just what you have access to while walking around.
For visitors, there’s a nice large parking lot with room for buses. Then you enter & exit through a really lovely gift shop where you can also buy your tickets. Online, all I can find is that the visitor center opened in 1992, but the current facility looks much newer than that.
After getting your ticket and passing through the gift shop, you face an enclosure for their namesake peregrine falcon. A statue of Tom Cade, one of the founders of the program, stands proudly in front. Along the left side of a small lawn are some outdoor bird enclosures. I remember an owl and some bald eagles – maybe those weren’t the endangered guys. On the other side is an open amphitheater where they do their daily presentations. It’s a stone enclosure with stone benches – it also looks very new.
Behind that is an indoor space with art, examples of eggs and feathers, and a tunnel that kids can climb through. Near the entrance is a video feed into the nests of birds they are currently breeding, and information about the Fund’s efforts is around the walls. In a back hallway are some of the most endangered birds of prey, representing the Fund’s efforts around the world. There’s a huge harpy eagle, an Aplomado falcon, a beautiful gyrfalcon, and more.
Outside that building is an outdoor enclosure for one of the large California condors. But at the back of the Center is the impressive Condor Cliffs, a larger enclosure with a fabricated cliffside and denuded tree trunk. There were at least three condors here, and it was impressive to see them fly between the cliffs and the tree. Or even just watch them spread their wings to cool off, often at the top of the tree in a real king-of-the-hill move.
Visiting
While the raptors are the star of the show, the volunteers at the World Center for Birds of Prey really make your visit come alive. Make sure to talk to all the volunteers and ask questions! Even with seeing all the birds and asking all the questions, it only takes about an hour to see everything. BUT that doesn’t include the daily presentations, which you absolutely must see! In fact, if you don’t see anything else here, come for one of the daily talks. That’s when the vision for the Peregrine Fund comes alive, literally with one of the endangered birds in front of you with a handler.
I recommend arriving an hour or so before a scheduled presentation, have a look around, then get a seat for the bird show. Follow up your visit with a good look through the gift shop for shirts, hats, ornaments, snacks, and more that directly benefit the Peregrine Fund. (It’s interesting to note that there’s an endowment that funds the administrative aspects of the Peregrine Fund. So all ticket and gift shop sales go directly toward the Peregrine Fund’s projects for endangered birds.)
Trails
If you want to extend your time at the Center, there are two short trails across from the parking lot. One takes you straight out to a pavilion overlooking the valley. Another goes from the bottom of a large hillside amphitheater and parallel to the road to another pavilion farther out, but it’s not much of a view. Or much of a trail, for that matter. There are landing platforms for birds along the way, so I wonder if this trail is mainly used for training or special events. I assume the amphitheater is as well, or educational programs. Note that this is the high desert of Idaho, and the trails can be dusty. (Especially for those of us who wore sandals on our visit. *ahem*)
There are also some nice picnic tables around, both inside the Center and outside adjacent to the parking lot. They might be more for employee use, but they’re nicely situated if you want to sit and eat a snack from the gift shop or lunch from the car.
Hours & Tickets
The World Center for Birds of Prey is open Tuesday – Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, they’re open on Mondays too. Last entry on these days is at 4:15. From December – February, it’s Tuesday – Sunday, 10-4, with last entry at 3:15. They’re closed Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and January 16.
Bird presentations happen at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm.
Tickets cost $12 for adults, $10 for seniors over 62, and $7 for kids age 4-16. I found a $1 off coupon in a brochure for the Center, so look for that if you need the discount.
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