Bald Eagle
Rivers · Coasts · Taiga
White head, white tail, huge yellow beak. It lives by lakes and rivers, catches fish – and is quite happy to steal one from an osprey.
Install
Install on iPad, phone, console or Windows (Bedrock)
- Download BirdsOfPrey.mcaddon on your Windows PC, Android phone or tablet, or iPhone or iPad.
- Open the file. Minecraft starts and imports both packs.
- Create or edit a world. Under Behavior Packs, turn on Birds of Prey. The resource pack is added automatically.
- Look up! Birds of prey live in mountains, forests, plains, swamps, along rivers and coasts, and in the snow. Or use spawn eggs from the creative inventory.
Running a server? Use the separate behavior pack and resource pack. Xbox, PlayStation and Switch can’t import add-ons from files, but you can join a world or Realm that has the add-on.
Install on Mac or PC (Java Edition)
- Install Fabric Loader for Minecraft 26.3.
- Download BirdsOfPrey-fabric.jar, plus Fabric API and GeckoLib.
- Put all three files in your mods folder and start Minecraft with the Fabric profile.
- Explore or find the birds and gear in the Birds of Prey creative tab.
Upgrading to a new version
- Download the new version and open the file. A newer version replaces the one you have, and your worlds use it the next time you load them.
- Still running the old version? (or Minecraft says it is already installed): go to Settings → Storage, delete Birds of Prey under both Resource Packs and Behavior Packs, then open the new file again.
- Check the world: in the world’s Edit screen, under Behavior Packs and Resource Packs, make sure Birds of Prey is active. A world you imported or downloaded can carry its own old copy: deactivate it there, save, and activate the new one.
On a server, replace the add-on’s folders in behavior_packs and resource_packs with the new ones and restart it.
Java Edition: delete the old Birds of Prey jar from your mods folder and put the new one in its place. Keep only one version in the folder. If the new version needs a newer Fabric API or GeckoLib, update those too.
The birds
Every bird has its own model, plumage, flight and calls. Falcons stoop, kestrels hover, eagles and vultures soar, owls come out at night.
Golden Eagle
Mountains · Taiga · Meadows
A big, dark brown eagle with a golden nape. It hunts hares and foxes over mountains and moorland, and falconers in Central Asia still fly it at wolves.
Osprey
Rivers · Coasts
The fish hawk. It hovers over the water, plunges in feet first and flies away with a fish held head-forward in its talons.
Steller's Sea Eagle
Snowy lands
The heaviest eagle in the world, black and white with a massive orange beak. It spends the winter on frozen coasts, fishing through the ice.
White-tailed Eagle
Coasts · Rivers · Swamp
Europe’s biggest eagle, with wings like a barn door and a short white tail. It snatches fish from the surface of lakes and coastal waters.
Gyrfalcon
Snowy lands · Mountains
The biggest falcon, almost white in the far north. A gyrfalcon was once a gift fit for a king, and falconers still prize it above all others.
Kestrel
Plains · Meadows · Savanna
A small falcon that hangs in the air on fluttering wings, perfectly still, staring at the grass below. Then it drops onto a mouse.
Peregrine Falcon
Mountains · Coasts · Plains
The fastest animal on Earth. It circles high above, folds its wings and drops onto other birds in a stoop of over 300 km/h.
Common Buzzard
Plains · Forest
The most common bird of prey in Europe. Its mewing cry carries over fields and woods while it soars in wide circles.
Harris's Hawk
Desert · Badlands
The only hawk that hunts in family groups: they take turns chasing and flush rabbits out for each other. A favourite with falconers.
Marsh Harrier
Swamp · Rivers
Glides low over reed beds with its wings held in a shallow V, then twists down onto a frog or a duckling.
Northern Goshawk
Taiga · Forest · Dark forest
A powerful forest hawk with fierce orange eyes. It weaves between the trees at full speed and takes rabbits, pigeons and even crows.
Red Kite
Plains · Forest · Meadows
A graceful red-brown bird of prey with a deeply forked tail that twists as it steers. It scavenges more than it hunts.
Sparrowhawk
Forest · Plains
A small, dashing hawk that bursts round hedges and over garden fences to surprise little birds. Males have a rusty orange chest.
Barn Owl
Plains · Meadows
A pale ghost of an owl with a heart-shaped face. It hunts by sound alone in total darkness and screeches instead of hooting.
Eurasian Eagle-Owl
Mountains · Taiga · Dark forest
One of the largest owls in the world, with orange eyes and long ear tufts. It hunts at night and will take anything up to a fox.
Great Grey Owl
Taiga
Looks huge, but most of it is feathers. Its enormous facial disc lets it hear a vole moving under the snow – and dive straight through.
Snowy Owl
Snowy lands
A big white owl of the Arctic tundra. Unlike most owls it hunts in daylight, as the summer sun never sets up there.
Tawny Owl
Forest · Dark forest
The owl that goes “too-whit, too-whoo”. By day it sits pressed against a tree trunk, so well camouflaged you walk right past it.
Andean Condor
Mountains · Badlands
The giant of the Andes, with a three-metre wingspan. It can soar for hours without flapping, looking for something that has died.
Lammergeier
Mountains
The bearded vulture eats almost nothing but bones. It carries them high into the air and drops them on rocks to crack them open.
Secretary Bird
Savanna
A bird of prey on long legs that hunts on foot across the savanna. It stamps snakes to death with lightning-fast kicks, and the thick scales on its legs keep their bites out.
Falconry
Falcons, hawks, the golden eagle and some owls can be trained. Here is how a falconer works:
- Win its trust. Wild birds keep their distance, so sneak up and offer raw meat – rabbit, chicken, beef or mutton – until hearts appear.
- Take it on your fist. With a falconer’s glove in your hand, use your bird. It steps onto the glove and goes with you everywhere.
- Fly it. Look at a rabbit, a chicken or a mob and use the glove. Your bird is off like an arrow, and comes back with the catch. With nothing in sight it circles above you.
- Call it back. Swing the falconry lure and every bird of yours flies home. Slip a hood on to keep it calm and still.
Birdwatching gear
Binoculars
Hold them to your eyes and zoom in. Every bird you look at goes in your Bird Guide, with how far away it was.
Bird Guide
Every player gets one. It fills in as you spot birds, with habitats, traits and your farthest sighting.
Bird rings
Fit a numbered ring on a bird’s leg, like real ringers do. Find it again later and you’ll see who ringed it, when, and how far it has moved.
Bird hide
A camouflaged wall with a viewing slit. Stand behind it and wild birds don’t notice you – or simply sneak.
Nest boxes
Hang one up and kestrels or owls move in, raise chicks and keep the mice down.
Contests
Blow the contest horn to start a five-minute falconry contest for everyone nearby: your birds’ catches score points. Sneak and blow it for a bird race instead – spot as many species as you can through your binoculars. The winner takes home the Golden Raptor.
Bird call and pellets
Blow the bird call and the raptors around come to look. Owls cough up pellets: pull one apart to find the bones of their prey.
New items and blocks
Bird Guide
Binoculars
Falconer's Glove
Falconer's Glove with Bird
Falconry Hood
Falconry Lure
Bird Call
Bird Ring
Owl Pellet
Contest Horn
Bird Hide
Nest Box
Golden Raptor Trophy