Volunteers make raptor rehab program fly
story, photos and audio by Sara DeBold, posted May 2, 2008
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Tucked away down the hill on Rollins Road east of College Ave., is the Raptor Rehab Project. Its mission:
- rehabilitate and release birds of prey back into the wild
- educate the public about raptors and their importance in the environment
- advance knowledge of raptors
Injured raptors, such as this Harlan's Hawk named JD, are cared for by volunteers of the Raptor Rehab Center. JD is one of the 10 permanent residents of the center.
The Raptor Rehab Center currently houses 22 birds; 10 are permanent residents. The center sees more than 100 patients a year and has a 33 percent release rate — higher than the national average.
An injured bird begins its journey to recovery at the College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital. It receives a physical and is assessed. If the bird needs surgery or treatment, that gets taken care of there.
The hospital is almost full right now with close to a dozen birds, mostly a mixture of hawks and owls.
“There is an eagle up there that is doing pretty well,” said Jennifer Hamel the Raptor Rehab public relations co-chair. “The eagle is a lead poisoning case — our most common cause of injury with the bald eagle with fractures being the second. In lead poisoning cases, there isn’t a high success rate with rehabilitating them, this guy kind of lucked out. We hope to release him later this spring.”
Once an injured bird is stable and in full recovery mode, it is moved down the hill. Here the bird can start building up muscle condition to be released again. This facility is complete with a permanent building that houses an office and treatment room, two eagle flight cages, four smaller flight cages, a creance line, outdoor perches and a new indoor-outdoor structure. There are separate enclosures for the permanent residents.
Not all birds that are rehabilitated are releasable. The Raptor Rehab Project has 10 of these birds on education permits. Volunteers must take each bird out at least a dozen times a year to education programs. That's why you'll often see the raptors at Columbia events such as Twilight Festival and Art in the Park. The volunteers and birds also visit venues such as Columbia public schools, summer camps and area universities.
Two falconers, Greg Ivans, a medical student, and Gary Weddle, a veterinary medicine student, started the program in 1972. Since then, the program has functioned as an all-volunteer project. It receives financial and technical support from MU, the College of Veterinary Medicine, community donations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
“We take donations from the public and we exist largely by their generosity,” Hamel said. “We always need volunteers.”
The program is staffed mostly by student volunteers, which results in a large turnover rate.
“Volunteering comes in all shapes and sizes,” said Andrea Miller, the Raptor Rehab Project vice president.
Volunteers can assist in educational programs, feedings and grounds maintenance. Volunteers can work with birds on their first visit.
The project meets every other Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the MU Veterinary Medicine Building in room W-235. If you are interested in volunteering, Miller encourages you to come. The center provides training for volunteers and welcomes service at all levels.
The group also encourages “adoption” of permanent-residence raptors by sponsoring a bird with a monetary donation. Sponsors receive a certificate of adoption, a picture of the raptor, history of the adopted bird and general information about the species. Information on these options is available at the Raptor Rehab Project Web site.
