Rehabilitating Raptors DAt the Orange County Bird of Prey Center, raptor health and safety is always at the forefront. The nonprofit’s main goal of rescuing and rehabilitating has been a success, with thousands of birds saved since the late 1980s—including 148 last year alone. The birds are evaluated at a veterinary office down the road before arriving at the rural center for further evaluation. “People need to know that they’re important to our ecosystem,” notes Harmonie Wooley, the center’s director of husbandry. There are multiple routes the nonprofit can take: rehabilitating the raptors before releasing them into the wild, finding placement for them at a zoo, or, if they have the right temperament, keeping them as education ambassadors. Others may have to be euthanized. Although the center itself is closed to the public for the animals’ protection, there are a number of ways to see their education birds out and about, at schools, parks and community events, such as Earth Day at the Bay at Muth Interpretive Center in Newport
Beach on April 20, the SMWD Annual Water Festival in Rancho Santa Margarita on May 4 and Bugs & Butterflies at Riley Wilderness Park in Coto de Caza on May 19. You can also visit The Ranch at Laguna Beach every Saturday morning to learn about owls and hawks that live locally, how they survive in the wild and what goes into rehabbing these creatures. For those that would like to get more involved with the birds of prey, the center operates with a large number of volunteer workers. “We’re very much dependent on our volunteers for almost everything we do,” says Director of Administration Joanne McDermott. This spring, if you see a baby raptor that has fallen from a nest, leave it be or call Animal Control to give it the best chance of survival. Reach out through the center’s website to get more information on how to become a volunteer or keep an eye on social media channels to look for upcoming community events. ocbpc.org | IG: @ocbpc —A.R.
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