CALL OF THE WILD

The Center for Birds of Prey provides a haven for raptors in need.

A Refuge for Raptors

Through medicine, education, research and conservation, The Center for Birds of Prey provides feathered friends with a safe place to nest.

"We suspect he was hit by a car," says Clinic Director Grace Gasper as she looks over the patient. The diagnosis: leg and hip fractures, not to mention trauma. Within hours, the center's surgery team has placed pins in the broken leg. Today, the patient-an owl weighing less than a pound-is doing well.

It's all in a day's work at The Center for Birds of Prey (www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org), part of the Avian Conservation Center nestled in the pine forests north of Charleston.

In addition to the dedicated medical department that cares for nearly 400 injured or orphaned birds a year, the educational team works with birds that cannot be released.

For educational director Stephen Schabel, these birds are ambassadors for the threatened avian world. "They're are not able to survive in the wild, but in a flight demonstration, we can show people, say, how a kite catches its prey and eats while flying," he says.

Although entertaining, the primary goal of outdoor flight demonstrations is to educate visitors about more than 30 species of birds of prey, including vultures, owls, falcons, hawks and eagles.

"The education offers our children an ethical environment to help them appreciate wild birds," says executive director Jim Elliott.

"Like any moral value, we must teach it, or we will lose it. Collectively, we must decide if we want to preserve our environment or not. We don't want to lose it and then ask, 'Why weren't we paying attention?'"

The Center for Birds of Prey is, without a doubt, paying attention through field research, education, tending to injured birds and more.

DID YOU KNOW?
Hoot Hoot
The ural owl is one of the larger members of the wood owl family. They have dome-shaped heads that support the large facial discs used for enhanced hearing ability.

If you go: The Center for Birds of Prey is open Thursday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm
Guided walking tours: 10:30am and 2pm
Flight demonstrations: 11:30am and 3pm