I hadn’t been by the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, Florida in a long time. So when Tom M. mentioned he wanted to go, I was happy to meet him and Keith H. there one morning last week.
Irked Eagle – This is Frederick, one of the permanent residents. A staff member brought him out for us. In this photo, he’s yelling at a different staff member that walked by. Maybe he was expecting a handout?
Birds of Prey is a wonderful place but leaves me with mixed emotions. On the good side, there are many more Raptors now than there used to be. The estimated population of Bald Eagles in Florida has grown from 88 active nests in 1973 to 1,457 nests now. But on the sad side, there are also many more people and automobiles. This leads to increased encounters between people, their cars, and birds – and sadly, means that many more birds are getting injured today.
Swallow-tailed Kite
Wonderful places like Birds of Prey take in injured raptors, treat them, and (if they’re well enough) release them back into the wild. They’re able to release just over 40% of their raptor patients. But it’s sad that some birds are too injured to be released.
This Great Horned Owl looks a bit sleepy. It must be a night owl.
The injured birds are well cared for. Some are placed in zoos or other facilities that are knowledgable and able to provide for them. Others stay at Birds of Prey. They make exceptional ambassadors and help teach people about these awesome creatures. All three raptors pictured in this post are permanent residents at the center. It’s great that they’re such good photo subjects. But it’s sad that they’ll never make it back into the wild.
There’s another place like this in Apopka, Florida – The Avian Reconditioning Center. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m sure they’re just as dedicated to helping injured birds. And I’m sure there are places like this all over. You’ll be sad if you never visit one. In addition to the photo-op, your entrance fees help pay for care for the injured birds.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go visit a bird rehab facility. And make some photos too!
©2014, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.
The Audubon Birds of Prey Center usually bring over some birds for The Space Coast Birding festival in January.
I’ve head about that, Jim. I think they sometimes organize a visit to the center too.
You make a great case for Audubon and the good work it does, and I love the shots. Over here it’s less clear cut, with a lot of raptors captive bred for public viewing, trained to do displays and such, which one doesn’t necessarily want to encourage. Certainly there is the odd rescue centre for injured wild raptors, usually in the north or in Scotland, but not usually open to the public (and not much favoured by sheep farmers, landowners raising game birds, etc) so it’s interesting territory you raise!
Very interesting, Rhona. I hadn’t considered that it might be different in the UK. There’s probably some of that in the US too, although it doesn’t seem to be as visible.
Very interesting comment.
Yes, Debra – very interesting. Thanks for stopping by!