Perched on a branch, eyes searching the foliage and ears at the ready, a young great horned owl calls for its parents. The sound is answered, not by the owlet’s biological parents but by another pair of owls with two chicks of their own.
During the summer of 2022, a kind person came across a white and fluffy young bird on the floor of their barn in Ohio. As the bird was obviously too young to care for itself, the woman took the youngster inside her home and began caring for it with the best intentions.
Volunteers at The Raptor Center (TRC) play an integral part in nearly every step of the raptor rehabilitation process, and baby season is no exception. While all TRC volunteers receive thorough training on best practices for working with raptors, “baby volunteers” receive even more extensive coaching to learn how to assess different situations and safely interact with youngsters.
In the midst of this severe disease outbreak, TRC staff came up with creative solutions to continue to provide care for juvenile raptors while preventing transmission of HPAI between patients or to nests.
When the Partners for Wildlife (P4W) team engages with its network of wildlife rehabilitators and centers, it’s striking how significant the role of raptors— particularly young raptors—is in the sector.
Sporting the gorgeous slate blue wings and solid deep cinnamon tail of male American kestrels, Cricket is a popular raptor ambassador at The Raptor Center. He joined the education team in 2021 after he was presumed to be “orphaned” and was raised by people with good intentions.
Wildlife rehabilitators across the world are fortunate to work with many incredible species. As advocates for these animals, their utmost goal is to keep patients wild and return them back to nature.
The spirit and resilience patients often show is inspiring and fuels the clinic as it works endlessly on behalf of these incredible birds. Check out 2022 admissions top 5 species.
Following these guidelines will help you be a young raptor advocate, providing that ball of raptor fluff with the best chance of developing into the amazing predator it was destined to be.
