Raptor Cuisine

Presentation is everything! These two GIGANTIC gophers came from local high schools where the maintenance staff has committed to using zero rodenticides and now only uses traps. They are kindly donating the trapped gophers to Native Bird Connections to use as food. Since gophers have a relatively small foraging range they are a safe and natural food item to offer our raptors.

We are very grateful for this arrangement and applaude the Acalanes School District! They should be a great example for other areas with gopher issues, especially places like golf courses. Although we cannot predict the number of gophers we will receive, it will help offset the cost of purchasing food for the birds

Note the quarter as a size reference; these gophers are in the 10 ounce range, literally double the size of normal gophers. Obviously they were getting a bountiful diet. Now they will benefit captive raptors and become part of a win-win situation

Feathered Enrichment

Every once in a while wild turkeys wander through...in this case, they were directly in front of a few of the aviaries in which the raptors reside. Probably a very entertaining sight! The turkeys had no idea of the proximity to predators and continued scratching away and preening, completely at ease.

Kokanee

 

 

BEFORE

Oh YUM!! I made arrangements with the Ca Dept of Fish and Wildlife to have them save some Kokanee (land locked salmon) when they went to spawn them at Taylor Creek near Tahoe. They kindly brought back 5 buckets full of perfect sized fish that I now can feed out to the Bald Eagle.

This is a huge deal to us, as acquiring food is a full time pursuit, and anytime we can find food sources for free, it is a bonus. For many years we were able to get free rodents in a program started as a partnership with a huge rodent-grower in the central valley. 45 different non profits reaped the benefit, using the rodents for rehab, zoo collections and non releasable animals such as our birds. The program was suddenly terminated however, since the company decided to sell the "culls" that they had previously donated. Along with all the other non profits, we have been scurrying to find low cost or free sources of appropriate and clean food. We have had to buy rats, mice and quail...and shockingly the price tag is close to $1,000.00 per month.

Now that we can use the kokanee (and salmon we can get from the Nimbus Hatchery when they spawn there) it translates to one less rat daily that we would have to buy. We nevertheless still require quite a few rodents daily and continue to look for funding in order to purchase food.

 AFTER

 

We would welcome your financial help in order to meet the daily needs of our amazing birds.

Go to www.nativebirds.org to donate

 

 

Cal Academy Night

We were at the California Academy of Sciences for their SuperNatural Halloween event, and the white Red tailed hawk was a super hit! She fit right in, as folks all came in costume..and she seemed like a ghost-bird. Amide the gasps of admiration, the bird was stellar, giving the audience an unprecedented view of a true rarity

 

 

Festival Fun

Here we are at the Optics Festival. We saw about 1000 folks and had a great time!! As usual the eagle owl was a huge hit. She, however was entertained by the display of large snakes next door!
The rough legged hawk also came along and transfixed the birders of the crowd with a close up glimpse of a winter visitor. Our taxidermied Great Horned owl also engaged people with the "Is it real?" dilemma

Optics Fair

PLease join us at Cornerstone Sonoma this Sunday October 20 from 9-4:30. We will be at the Wine Country Optics Fair along with a couple of live raptors. We would love to see you there! It's free!
23570 Arnold Dr. Sonoma.

Full Circle

This is Susan Ahalt from Ironside Bird Rescue in Cody, Wyoming. The white Red tailed hawk is a former patient of hers, found hit by a car with a fractured wing. The attempt at repair failed, so this unusual and magnificient bird is now a permanent member of the NBC collection.Susan spent 10 days in California visiting us and seeing the sights. This was a wonderful moment to reunite the two under less anxious circumstances.
Susan has placed 5 birds with us , 4 of which continue to be active ambassadors in our educational programming. Ironside Bird Rescue is one of only TWO rehabilitation centers in all of Wyoming, and Susan is a real pro. We are very lucky to know her.

The Bald Eagle's Day

We were at Wild Birds Unlimited today with our Bald Eagle. She had a great time in the pleasant weather, and we visited with a lot of wonderful folks

Introduction

Welcome to Native Bird Connections' new blog.