Some Familiar Faces Return

It is time once again for us to start receiving eastern screech owls by the dozens as concerned residents of Miami and surrounding areas bring them to us at the Miami Science Museum in Coconut Grove. There are numbers listed to the left of this post to guide anyone in South Florida on who to call in the event you find baby birds, owl or otherwise. Most of these centers are extremely busy this time of year and may have important recorded information that may answer your questions or guide you to other resources that may help. Please do not hang up when you hear the recording, we will return your message. For more information on rescuing baby birds, please visit http://www.redhawksister.com/howtorescuebabies.htm If you are not from South Florida, I will be happy to assist you in finding a rehabilitator in your area. Please leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

Eastern screech owls are the most frequently admitted raptor at our center. Last year we saw 80 screech owls, 50 of them being "orphans." But what constitutes an orphan? Many times people rescue a baby bird thinking that there are no parents around, or they are afraid that the parents will "smell the human" on their young and reject it. This is NOT true! Birds have a very poor sense of smell and do not identify their young by smell. In fact, birds will quite often feed a gaping mouth of their own species regardless of whether it is their own. That's why we are very fortunate at the Miami Science Museum.

The adult screech owl, Lucille is not this baby's parent. Lucille is a former patient who has raised well over a hundred babies in the 5 years since my employ at the center. She is an imprint, raised by humans when she herself was a baby. Because of her lack of exposure to her own kind she was unequipped to survive in the wild. The parenting instinct, however, proved to be overwhelmingly natural for her, so she has served her foster lings well, giving them a chance to be returned to the wild in as natural of a behavioral state as possible. The babies are also socialized in an outdoor secluded area with other adults, prior to their release.

You can read more about our orphaned screech owl program at http://www.redhawksister.com/screechowl_rehab.htm

Back on my Blog!

Well it's been more than a year since I posted anything. I think that what happens to us is that we neglect something for so long that we feel it is an unsurmountable task to reconnect and just jump back in without some symbolic gesture that we are back. At least it feels that way to me. So here I am back again ready to share the unique world of raptor rehabilitation with the world. This time I will not attempt to write a novel each time, but just try to share snippets of my world as I believe that is what these blogs are designed to do. I have other animal interests I will share from time to time and I am lucky that I get to see all kinds in my work.

Here's one of my favorite photos of me 5 years ago with one of the first birds I felt connected with at my current job. His name is Mr. Pepe, a red-shouldered hawk. He was brought to the Museum by a rehabilitator who had unknowingly "imprinted" him. Imprinting is the method by which an animal, at an early age, associates him/herself with another creature/caregiver so that he/she can model and adapt all future social behavior to that individual. In the wild, imprinting is an important process for the baby animal and will ensure that it is cared for properly and can at some point in the future pair up with and breed with another member of its kind. When an animal is allowed to imprint onto a human, it will ruin the animal's chance for survival in the wild as it will be maladapted to all of the behaviors necessary for its social success with other members.

For example, one year I attempted to introduce Mr. Pepe to an orphaned red shouldered hawk with the hopes of giving the orphan a chance to associate with his own kind and socialize with an adult red shouldered hawk. Our great horned owl is also an imprint but will allow young owls to coexist peacefully with him as will our foster mom Lucille, an imprint screech owl. Mr. Pepe however, wouldn't have any of this. As soon as he saw the youngster he flew at it aggressively several times (with me there protecting the youngster) until I deemed the experiment a complete failure.

Mr. Pepe therefore, remains in captivity for the rest of his days because of the ignorance of this individual who allowed him to lose all of his wild instincts. He will continue to be an outstanding ambassador to his wild counterparts. He has since blossomed into a stunning mature red-shouldered hawk. He still has his charms, but has lost his childish ways and at times can be a danger to his handlers due to the surging hormones that can create aggressive behavior in these imprints.

In his current state, Mr. Pepe helps to spread the word of what can go wrong by keeping animals meant to be wild as pets. It may seem fun and really cool, but as always, babies grow up and will always turn into hormonal adults in one way or another and can be dangerous to the unsuspecting human, especially if released into the wild. Please always attempt to contact a wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife officer if you find a baby animal. If you cannot find one in your area, please contact me for assistance.