News for January 18th 2010

Alabama’s most fierce birds….Raptors

From Barred Owls to a Kestrel, a Great Horned Owl, and the Red-Tail Hawk, some of Alabama’s most fierce birds of prey were on hand to educate the public on what makes them both beautiful, and deadly, hunters.

The Audubon Society’s Audubon Teaches Nature series brought “Birds on Parade – Close Encounters with Alabama’s Birds of Prey” to the Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park.

The Wildlife Center presented three of its education birds: Ireland, a red-tail hawk; Coosa, a barred owl; and Natchez, the Mississippi Kite. Becky Collier with the Coosa River Science Center brought two eastern screech owls, Uno and Peanut. Camp Cosby’s Ashley Rozelle-Gault brought Legacy, an American Kestrel. Curt Cearley, a Huntsville falconer brought Rachel the great-horned owl.

“She kind of thinks she’s a person, or she thinks people are owls. I’m not quite sure how she views us. So, she can never be released because of that.” Cearley is referring to the problem of “imprinting” that can occur when the birds engage with improper human interaction when they’re young.

Most of these birds live their life to educate, unreleasable usually due to injuries that prevent them from competing effectively in the wild. Wildlife Center staff and volunteers work year-round rehabilitating and returning injured wildlife. With spring approaching, their work load gets even tougher.

“Baby season is just around the corner. We desperately need volunteers to help us with all these little hungry mouths that are needing fed and all the little guys that are going to be needing cared for in just a couple weeks,” says Wildlife Center Rehabilitation Director Sandra Allinson.

To see more about these majestic birds of prey, just view the video above and to the right or take a look at the attached slide show. You can also find out more about the Alabama Wildlife Center at http://www.awrc.org.

Don’t forget. The Wildlife Center’s annual fundraiser Wild About Chocolate is coming February 13th at the Harbert Center in downtown Birmingham. The event features live and silent auctions, live music, and lots of chocolate treats from some of Birmingham’s best restaurants and chefs. Tickets are $75 in advance, and $100 at the door.

Edited: January 18th, 2010