National Centre for Birds of Prey

13/04/2026

Wonderful video by Jonah, one of our visitors today

The lovely sunny weather is great for many of our birds - and Zonda (Grey Buzzard Eagle) is certainly a fan.

Turn your volume up and listen to the sound of her tearing through the air!

Smoking!

06/04/2026

This seems appropriate for Easter!

We have a state-of-the-art artificial incubation facility here, so if for any reason the parents don't incubate their own eggs we can help out.

One way that we can monitor the progress of an egg during incubation is by using this "egg buddy". This machine detects the chicks movements and even its heartbeat.

This is a Red Backed Hawk egg

The weather is wonderful here today - I hope the sun is shining on you too.

We are open 7 days a week, flying demos every day, onsite cafe and free parking!

31/03/2026

Raptors have long legs to enable them to increase the force of their impact with their quarry, a crucial factor in hunting success.

Long legs mean the bird can generate high impact forces and will therefore be able to tackle larger quarry.

Look at Persephone's legs - they are huge! Incredibly where the legs enter the body feather is where her knee is and hidden amongst the feathers is her thigh and hip.

She is an African Hawk Eagle and can be seen on our flying demos.

We are open every day, flying demos every day, onsite cafe, free parking and kids activity trails

30/03/2026

Our free flying birds wear radio telemetry just in case they wander off.

Some of our wider ranging birds wear GPS telemetry. a tiny 10g transmitter gives out a data packet that is blue toothed to an iPhone.

This was the fight of Ocarina at 2pm today. She’s a 5 year old Steller’s Sea Eagle and is an utter megastar!

We are open 7 days a week. On site cafe. Flying demos every day and free parking

19/03/2026

Bit of a peek behind the scenes

16/03/2026

Ocarina (Steller's Sea Eagle) is being retrained after her winter break - she's been enjoying the wind for the last few days.

I have no idea what she is saying here - but I suspect it has something to do with wondering where her lunchtime mackerel is!

She's nearly in full adult plumage down and she's looking wonderful

🦅

13/03/2026

Behind the scenes, we've been working tirelessly to drive positive change in the world of UK zoos.

Our recent 4-night online course on the new Zoo Standards marks a significant milestone in our mission to elevate raptor welfare.

NCBP played a role in writing the new standards, and we're committed to empowering zoos and centres to thrive under the new regulations, which start to come into effect in May 2027.

Our January in-person course and these online sessions brought together 46 dedicated professionals from across the UK, all united by a shared vision of a brighter future for raptors.

Dr. Vicki Lamb shares her expertise on how to prepare for inspections and ensure a seamless experience. Together, we're shaping a better tomorrow for these incredible creatures! 🌟

17/02/2026

As we get more into the season, more of our flying team are coming out of their overwintering aviaries in order to rejoin the flying team.

This is the legendary "Ocarina" She is a female Steller's Sea Eagle - the biggest eagle species on the planet. She is now in her adult plumage and is looking really smart.

She is not quite ready for demo duty yet - but she will be soon

Our pair of Steller's Sea Eagles are incubating eggs at the moment - eggciting times!

Ocarina was bred by Mark Robb. Mark is a local aviculturalist and friend of the centre - he's a cool guy and a bit of a legend too!

03/02/2026

It's an odd time of year here at NCBP. Today was freezing cold and felt like the middle of winter! However the Lanner Falcons are sitting on a clutch of eggs, there is a Griffon Vulture egg in the incubator and the Steller's Sea Eagles look likely to lay soon, so maybe spring is here already!

Meanwhile we must all crack on with getting ready for opening on 14 February.

The flying team of birds are well on with their spring exercise regimes. This is the legend who is "Zonda" a home-bred Grey Buzzard Eagle. Not only was Zonda bred here but she has flown in 1000s of demos from 2014.

I don't know how many birds of Zonda's ability and quality I am likely to work with in my life. She is so special.

Charlie x

28/01/2026

JOB VACANCY

We are looking for someone to come and join our admission/retail team.

Working 4 days a week you'll be responsible for smiling at our lovely visitors, admissions and retail sales.

Some weekend and Bank Holiday work is required.

So if you fancy working at an award winning zoo in the fantastic Duncombe Park on the edge of the equally fantastic Helmsley - drop an email to [email protected]

28/01/2026

We have not been sat about during our winter break!

It is over the winter that we deep-clean every aviary, we also do bits of building work and maintenance. You'll see some changes in the Hawk Walk!

We also hold a number of training days.

Last Sunday we held our annual Veterinary Care for Raptors course. 30 falconers, bird of prey keepers and wildlife rehabbers came to NCBP. Mark, Gemma and Hannah from Battleflatts Vets did a wonderful job of covering basic vet care and first aid for birds of prey. All the course fees were donated to Jean Thorpe MBE (our local wildlife rehabber and conservation legend) and Vulpro (a S African vulture conservation charity run by Kerri Wolter, another legend)

On Monday we held our inaugural Zoo Standards Course. All UK zoos operate under these standards and Charlie (our director) played a part in writing them. We had 30 people from other bird of prey centres from all over the UK come to NCBP to learn how to meet the new standards. £3000 was raised and it was all donated to the Hawk Board - the organisation that represents bird of prey keepers in the UK at government level.

We reopen on 14 February- please come and visit!

18/01/2026

Good news - we've added extra dates for our Winter Owl Evenings. Bookings are now open for 31st January and 7th February 2026 so if you want to join us for a magical evening of guided tours, flying demonstrations and a warming two course dinner click on the link below and book yourselves in!

These will be the last evenings of the season. The dates for winter 2026/27 will go on the website in February.

https://www.ncbp.co.uk/visit-us/winter-owl-evenings/

📸 - Io, Great Horned Owl taken by an Owl Evening visitor last night (17/01/26)

Wrap up warm and join us for magical “must-do” evening event with the world’s most famous nocturnal birds! Buy and book online here.