Marcus Public Library on Thursday (April 28 was having a program on birds taken in and rehabilitated. It happened that that was the same date that the MMCRU High School Chorus and Band were giving their Spring Concert as well as fine arts awards following the music programs. I went to part of the Library program and finished the evening by going to the school concerts.
Kay, from S.O.A.R. was at the Library with three containers holding birds. She told her audience what the S.O.A.R. Program was about. It cares for well over 350 birds each year that have been injured or orphaned with most of them coming from the western part of Iowa. What are the reasons these raptors (birds) are brought to the S.O.A. R. program? Most of them are from human activities: that could include the aftermath of a collusion of cars, flying into windows or power lines, getting caught in fences, some from mowers, pesticides used in fields, or poisons containing lead. When an animal or bird is shot, a bullet remains in it. Then it could become “road kill” where a raptor comes to feed on it and gets lead poisoning. Storms could be a reason for a nest being blown out of a tree or birds can be blown into immovable objects.
They have a 60 x 100 feet building that was donated to them by the city of Manning, Iowa. It at one time was a building for a veterinary business. Two firms were hired from Dedham, Iowa to tear down, move, and rebuild this building. Recycling saved 25 tons of materials that didn’t go to the landfill, that included insulation, windows and doors, sinks and toilets, steel, lumber and siding. These recycled materials cost half of new materials.
The building now includes an intensive care area with two intensive care rooms that are heated, have washable walls, a water hydrant, and pea rock floor to aid in cleaning. There are two bald Eagles (Spirit and Liberty) that have their own 40’ x 30’ living quarters. These quarters provide the space as well as natural weather conditions if they were still in the “wild”. There are eight 10’ x 20’ pens that are insulated and air conditioned. There is also a flight pen (100’ x 20’) that allows birds to continue their rehabilitation with more room to fly and gain strength before being released. This flight pen is located near Carroll, Iowa. From outside the flight pen, birds are observed for effortless flight as well for several laps around the pen without heavy breathing. The bird is ready for release after there is a good return of good muscle-tone, effortless flight, and a healthy appetite.
She explained that injured birds come to them with the help of volunteer rescuers and transporters, DNR Conservation Officers, county conservation board staff and wildlife rehabilitation groups.
When a live bird arrives it is checked for major injures like fractures and wounds that need veterinary attention. Their eyesight is evaluated and their feathers are checked for damage and parasites. All birds admitted receive medication to rid them of external parasites. They are checked for dehydration and offered just the right amount of food to overcome their level of dehydration. They are taken to the ICU room to do more monitoring. Only when the birds are off medication and are considered healed, do they get to the large flight areas for physical therapy.
What about a bird that comes in DOA (Dead on Arrival)? An x-ray is given to determine if it was shot or has lead fragments in its digestive tract and a liver sample is taken and sent to a diagnostic lab to determine the lead level. If an eagle was DOA, they are sent to the federal eagle repository in Denver, Colorado. All other birds DOA, if requested by a conservation officer, S.O.A.R. workers will attempt to determine the cause of death. Birds that are known to ingest lead ammunition fragments or even fishing tackle, are x-rayed as part of what caused its death.
Live birds recover at their own pace. They are looked at from outside the flight pen to determine if it is ready to be released. Weather can determine release that is not before a “hot” spell or an oncoming blizzard. Birds that migrate (like barn owls) are released in the spring. Owls are released late in the day. If a bird was migrating south for the winter and comes to their facility, it is not released (until springtime) until it would have been coming back from the south. The same is true for winter visitors that are not ready for release when others of their species are heading back north to breeding territory in the spring.
S.O.A.R. has one public release event each year that is usually held the latter part of August otherwise most releases are low-key and not advertised.
Now that we have learned about S.O.A.R. and what their program is all about, it is time to see what she brought in those three containers.
She put on a glove and brought out a Kestrel bird for us to look at. Kestrels are an European bird with relationship to the falcon birds. There are one to two million pairs where about 20% of them are found in Europe.
The common kestrel migrates south in winter but otherwise it doesn’t do much moving around. Juvenile kestrels may wander around in search of a good place to settle down as they become mature. The kestrel is found in lowlands and prefers open habitat like fields, marshland, etc. It thrives where there aren’t many trees as long as there are plants and shrubs to support a population of prey animals. Kestrels adapt to human settlement, as long as vegetation is available.
When hunting, the kestrel hovers about 10 to 20 feet above the ground in search for prey by either flying into the wind or by soaring. Because they have keen eyesight, they can spot small prey from a distance. It has found prey and now makes a short, steep dive toward the target. It can be found hunting along the sides of roads and can detect the urine trails around rodent burrows because of ultraviolet light on these trails. They might also perch just above the ground cover and survey the area. When the bird spots prey animals moving, it will pounce on them. There might also be a ground-hugging flight to ambush the prey.
Kestrels eat almost exclusively mouse-sized mammals like mice or shrews. Bats and lizards are eaten only on rare occasions. Invertebrates like camel spiders, earthworms, beetles and winged termites are also eaten.
She put the kestrel back in its container and still wearing the glove, took out a screech owl. The females screech owl is larger than the males. They are small and agile, about 7 to 10 inches tall but have a wingspan of 18 to 24 inches. They have wide-set feather tufts and have bright yellow/green eyes. Their underside has different brownish colors. These patterned colors help them get camouflaged against the tree bark.
Screech owls are named for their piercing calls. It is not a “hoot” like most other owls have, but a trill consisting of more than four individual calls per second given in rapid succession, although the sound really doesn’t resemble screeching!
Courtship brings on a different kind of song that is a duet between members of a pair. The calls differ between species in type and pitch. In the field, their “call” is often the first indication of it’s presence.
Screech owls hunt from perches in semi-open landscapes. Areas preferred are those having old trees with hollows because the hollows are home to their prey that includes insects, reptiles, bats and mice and other small birds. They have a very good sense of hearing along with well developed claws and a curved bill, both of which are used for tearing their prey into pieces just small enough to swallow easily. They usually carry their prey back to their nests, mostly to guard against the chance of losing their meal to a larger raptor.
Screech owls are a solitary bird. During the late winter breeding season, the male makes nests in places where other animals have abandoned nests. All this is done to attract females. Females are particular about the male they choose and base the quality of the abandoned nest and the food located inside by the male. The male feeds the female during the incubation period. Screech owls have only one mate and both help with the care of the young.
The last bird she showed was a red-tailed hawk. I did not get to see this bird as I left to go to school. This program on rehabilitating birds that S.O.A.R. gave was very informative and interesting.