RCV needs your help to buy food that injured, orphaned and sick raptors in our care need to regain their health and make it back to the wild.



The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia (RCV) is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to rehabilitation and release of native Virginia raptors, and education of the public about raptors. RCV specializes in the rehabilitation of wild injured, ill or orphaned hawks, owls, falcons, ospreys and eagles. RCV admits over 200 wild birds for treatment each year, as well as continuing treatment of any raptors remaining from the previous year.







RCV is supported entirely by donations from the public! The funds raised during this t-shirt campaign will godirectly to buying food for the raptors! What kind of food do raptors eat? Raptors are wild animals and they need to eat the same diet they would eat in the wild in order to get all of the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Most of the raptors we take care of eat rodents in the wild, so we buy frozen whole mice from a reputable breeder. On average RCV feeds 5000 mice a month to the raptors in our care. We also need to buy frozen day-old chicks and large adult quail to feed the raptors that eat birds in the wild, such as Cooper's Hawks and Peregrine Falcons.



As we like to say, all our patients are uninsured, they don't make appointments, and they all try to bite us! One thing they all need every day is good nutritious food to help them regain their health, and as such raptor food is RCV's #1 expense. We are reaching out now to ensure that we can keep RCV well supplied with the mice, chicks and quail needed to feed every bird that comes in needing our help.



This year our t-shirts feature the majestic Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). Peregrine Falcons nest in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC and RCV has been called to help a number of these amazing raptors throughout the years. They are intelligent and demanding birds - they are top predators and they know it! Peregrine Falcons are uncommon at the best of times and it takes a lot to bring such large and speedy birds down. We have one in rehabilitation right now that got caught by a plane at Dulles airport and broke a wing, and another that was hit by a car. We have also helped Peregrine Falcon chicks that fallen from their nests in the past, working closely with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to make sure they were released in the best possible habitat.



Peregrine Falcons are the fastest animals in the world. They can travel 80-90 mph in level flight and have been clocked at over 200 mph in a dive. Peregrines can remain conscious through twists at turns at high speed experiencing over 13Gs of force (humans pass out around 3Gs). These stellar birds almost went extinct in the 1960s due to DDT and are one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act. They have been repopulating their old hunting grounds and also adapting to living in cities.



This is a photo courtesy of Jeff Bernas of our education ambassador Peregrine Falcon, Spirit!



Please buy an awesome 2016 RCV t-shirt featuring a Peregrine Falcon! Your shirt will be delivered around December 21, just in time for the holidays, so they would be a great gift for the raptor lover in your life AND help to support RCV!

ALL of the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to buying food for our raptors, so every penny we get will help a hawk, owl, falcon, eagle or osprey in need!