From “How do we do ALL this” to “Mission Accomplished” – We do even more!

On Monday you learned that 2014 was a successful year in achieving our mission for our wildlife hospital and environmental education department.  But that is not all we have achieved.  We could not have achieved success in all FOUR of our mission focus areas without you.  As always, we plan to maintain 37 years of conservation success through 2015 - but we need your financial support to help us do it.

Please DONATE TODAY to invest in our mission success in 2015.

Field Studies: Fledging Peregrines and Migrating Owls

World Bird Sanctuary’s Field Studies program experienced success for the fourth year in a row with the fledging of four peregrine falcon chicks hatched in a nest box supported by World Bird Sanctuary, Ameren Missouri and Missouri Department of Conservation.  If you were glued to the FalconCam like we were, you know the riveting and compelling hardships that the parents face to successfully raise their chicks to become self-sufficient wild adults.  It was quite a ride!

Wild Peregrine Falcon tends eggs
in the nest box.

Young chicks are fed by a parent.

Chicks are fully grown and about to
leave the nest box to embark on a
wild life without their parents.

Our all-volunteer Bird-Banding team also took part in the OWLNET Saw-Whet Owl monitoring program for the third successive year – making World Bird Sanctuary the southernmost banding point for Saw-whet Owls in the country.  This program contributes valuable information to a central database that tracks migration, population numbers and breeding habits of these birds.  This information will be used to develop and implement preservation strategies for Saw-whet owls around the country.

A wild Saw-whet owl isevaluated before being banded
and released by the Project OWLNET team.

To continue our work monitoring wild populations and developing successful conservation strategies to preserve species, we need your donation today. 

Barn Owls prowl Missouri in numbers again!

World Bird Sanctuary is proud of the part we played in getting Barn Owls off the endangered species list in Missouri.  Our propagation department has released over 800 barn owls during a 30 year period, and Barn Owls finally came off the state endangered species list in 2008.  We breed Barn Owl adults who raise chicks that we release to the wild to bolster wild populations.  These chicks are released in safe areas and monitored.  The big news in 2014 is that one of our released barn owl chicks from 2013 coupled with a wild barn owl and produced her own wild chicks, one year after release.  We call that a resounding success, and it validates the work we love to do!

Donate today and be part of the solution populating Missouri with threatened and endangered bird species through our propagation program.

We have over 37 years of success in achieving our mission through our four focus areas, and numerous accolades and awards for our achievements in wildlife conservation and education.

Watch this video to find out how your investment in our mission makes a difference every day!

The mission of World Bird Sanctuary is to preserve the earth's biological diversity and to secure the future of threatened bird species in their natural environments. We work to fulfill this mission through education, propagation, field studies and rehabilitation.

We know that our mission is important to you too – we invite you to donate today and be part of the solution to challenges facing our wild birds in the years to come.

The World Bird Sanctuary is a consistently successful and credible conservation organization, which makes investing in us one of the safest philanthropic decisions you can make.  You know that we will use your donation wisely.  World Bird Sanctuary meets all 20 charity standards set by the Better Business Bureau. 

Thank you.

Submitted by Catherine Redfern

Our baby thickbill has fledged!

Look what we have! A new baby Thickbill Parrot! He (or she) was hatched in one of the nestboxes in the Thickbill free flight enclosure on our upper trail--right in full view of the public. We are especially excited about this new addition to our flock because of this species' endangered status.

Thickbill parrots are the only remaining parrot indigenous to the United States and are considered Rare and Endangered. It is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild, mostly found only in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. Status is ENDANGERED. Attempts to reestablish a population in Arizona during the 1980s was unsuccessful due to the birds’ inability to elude a well established population of predator species.

The World Bird Sanctuary is fortunate to have a well established flock of these rare birds, who reside in a free flight enclosure where they are able to live in a flock as they would in the wild. It is hoped that someday our flock, as well as those from other zoos, will be the nucleus of a reestablished wild population.

Our new baby last week, trying to decide if he really wants to venture out into this scary new world.


Our youngster has fledged and is flying with the rest of the flock. Note his white beak as opposed to the black beak of the adults.


Our new baby is flying independently the full length of the enclosure, along with the rest of the flock

The next time you visit WBS, be sure to walk down the upper trail to the Thickbill enclosure and see if you can spot our new addition. Look for his white beak!

Today's post was written and photographed by Gay Schroer.

Just when you thought there were no more...

babies! Here's a video of our newest arrival. Our flock of thick-billed parrots is thriving. This little one is being raised in the nestbox by his parents.



A little information on the thick billed parrot:

Status: once inhabited the mountains of southern Arizona and south through the Sierra Madre mountains in western Mexico; extirpated from the U.S. by about 1920 through hunting activity; logging of large stands of old-growth forests in Mexico has taken a further toll on the remaining Mexican population; it is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild; status is ENDANGERED; attempts to reestablish a population in Arizona during the 1980s was unsuccessful due to the birds’ inability to elude a well established population of predator species

Behavior: social birds that live in large flocks; an adult pair may stay together for life; nesting pairs have been known to share trees with up to three nests in one tree; breeding occurs in mid-summer to mid-fall to coincide with the peak of pine seed production; one clutch of 1-4 eggs is laid in a cavity next in a large conifer (old woodpecker holes are preferred); incubation is 28 days; hatchlings attempt their first flights at approximately 2 months, but remain dependent on parents until about 7 months

The Thick-billed parrot is one of only two parrots formerly native to the U.S. The other (the Carolina Parakeet) is extinct

One more last look at spring babies...

This video shows our very last babies of the season, European barn owls, being socialized for education programs. The education birds you meet at the World Bird Sanctuary (and other education programs) are acclimated to humans from an early age. Here you have a behind the scenes look at socialization in action. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Parenting: it's not for everyone

Not everyone is a great parent (you try sitting on an egg all day!) and even the best parents sometimes need a little help. This is the case with two of our breeding black vultures. In the past they've "given up" on their eggs after a few days, making it necessary for us to remove the eggs from their nest and foster them with our cochin hens, who are ideal egg moms, to say the least.

In this video, you see the two eggs being taken and replaced with dummy wooden eggs and then put in the coop under a very accommodating chicken:

Eagle owlet walkabout

Another visit with our newest, cutest babies. After enjoying a delicious breakfast of rat (see June 25th), they were ready to explore:

Kestrel fledglings

WBS rescued two American kestrel chicks earlier this month and fostered them with our European kestrels (see post and video from June 6). I'm thrilled to say that the foster parents did a beautiful job and both chicks have fledged and will be released in the next week or so. I hope to document their release as well!

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Hungry owlets

As promised, here is a video of our delightful new Eurasian eagle owl chicks having their breakfast. This video was taken on June 20th. They are two weeks old. At this stage, the chicks are taking large pieces of meat and some with fur in order to give them casting material.

Brand new eagle owls

We have two brand-spanking new Eurasian eagle owl chicks to feed and admire. As a preview of what's coming up, here are some pictures I took at a feeding last Thursday. The smiley guy up front is kind of a camera hog as you can see. He's really hamming it up, or just happy to have a full belly. Did you know that owls don't have crops?

I also took some video, so look for those later this week.

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Little rescued vulture is thriving

The turkey vulture chick we rescued in early June (see June 10th post) is growing up. She's been isolated from humans as much as possible and fed using a ghost (a long fabric sheet draped over the body) and a vulture puppet to simulate mom. You will notice in the videos that we are silent, still, and as inconspicuous as we can be.

She (or he, but she's Gladys to me) is wonderfully healthy and has a big bird appetite. We hope to release this chick back into the wild and so far she is right on track.


This video shows the chick being weighed and having her brooder towels changed.


This one shows the actual feeding. Thanks Jen for the puppet show!

Raptor Propagation: Imprinting

Imprinting is defined as “a learning process by which a newborn or very young animal establishes a behavior pattern of recognition and attraction to another animal of its own kind or to a substitute identified as the parent” (American Heritage Dictionary).

Captive breeders generally use the term “imprint” to refer to a bird who has developed an attachment to people. Unless the bird is being hand raised for education or, in the case of pet birds like parakeets or parrots, companionship, imprinting can cause problems for the bird.

At the sanctuary, we sometimes see birds that have been taken (often illegally) from the nest as chicks and hand raised. These birds have never learned to feed themselves or interact with others of their species. As they grow older they identify with humans as mates, leading to a variety of miscommunications. As you can imagine, there is a fine line between “romance” and “attack” when a golden eagle decides to take you as its mate! Sadly, these birds are often relinquished or, worse, abandoned.

At WBS, we hand raise birds we intend to use for education programs. It is sometimes the case that a chick is at risk from a parent or sibling in the nest box and must be pulled and hand raised. Otherwise our birds are parent raised from the egg.

Here are pictures of Willard, a red-tailed hawk who was taken illegally from the nest as a chick. As a result of imprinting, Willard cannot be released in the wild. He’s a mellow guy and loved by the staff, but this is not the life he was hatched to lead.

Raptor Propagation: Getting out of the egg is hard work!

Once the egg’s air sac is in draw down, the chick’s lungs begin to function at an increased capacity. At this point, the chorioallantois membranes begin to reduce their blood flow. Once the membranes have shut down, the chick can safely break the membrane and begin pipping the shell.

It takes 24-72 hours for the chick to go from pip to hatch. During this time, the chick begins breaking up the area around the initial pip, sometimes creating a hole in the shell (see post from March 1, 2008 for a video of this part of the hatch). At this point, if the egg is held gently to your ear, the chick can be heard clicking and chirping inside the egg.

Next, the chick turns in its shell, using the egg tooth to break a line around the circumference of the large end of the egg. This part of the hatch progresses gradually, with the chick turning, then vocalizing, then stopping to rest before it resumes.

When the chick emerges from the egg, its down is damp and matted. Its closed eyes are large and bulging. The chick also has a prominent muscle along the back of its neck known as the “hatching muscle” which disappears 1-2 days after hatch.

During hatching, the egg yolk is retracted into the chick’s abdominal cavity, where it secretes through the “yolk stalk” into the small intestine and from there to the stomach for digesting. Thus, the yolk continues to nourish the chick through the first 24 hours of its life.

For further reading, I recommend James D. Weaver’s Falcon Propagation: A Manual on Captive Breeding which was the primary source for this post.

In the next installment of “Raptor Propagation”, I’ll discuss imprinting and hand raising chicks.

Raptor Propagation: What goes on in those eggs, anyway?

As captive breeders, we carefully monitor the progress of our eggs to insure that the embryo is developing properly and make adjustments in the care of the egg when need be. The eggs are weighed and candled on a regular basis.

By the time they hatch, avian eggs lose approximately 18% of their fresh egg weight, or the weight of the egg upon laying. Weight loss is a good measure of the health of a chick and is charted and graphed along the way.

Ideally, eggs are incubated by the parents. When this is not possible, the eggs must be fostered by another bird or incubated (see picture of incubator below) and carefully managed. To manage weight loss, we weigh the egg every three days and adjust the humidity inside the incubator to help speed or slow the weight loss. If an egg loses weight too quickly or slowly, it may lead to problems for the embryo.

Candling allows us to observe the contents of an egg without breaking the shell. Initially, we candle eggs to determine fertility as well as the extent of incubation. Depending on the egg’s pigmentation, fertility can usually be determined in 5-10 days after laying, with darkly pigmented eggs taking the longest. The eggs must be handled gently and candled for no more than 10 seconds to avoid over-heating the embryo.

An egg candler (above) is a small machine that puts out a narrow beam of light. When candling eggs, the room must be completely dark. An experienced candler makes several observations of the egg:

First, the shape and condition of the air sac is noted. A change in the air sac is one indication of possible fertility.

Next, we look for a shadow, or “half-shading,” at the top half of the egg. Half-shading is caused by a network of capillaries and veins that occur as an embryo develops. The half-shading should be reddish in color.

At 10 days, the air sac should be noticeably larger and half-shading very pronounced. At this point a small embryo or “eye spot” is visible, floating in the egg.

By 15 days, the network of blood vessels is highly visible and the embryo is moble, often responding to bright light with a swimming motion.

Towards the end of the incubation period (approximately 30-31 days) the air sac expands down one side of the egg in a process called “draw down.” Shortly after draw down, the chick breaks through the membrane with its head in the air sac and begins pipping at the shell.

In this picture, you can compare the relative sizes of a Harris Hawk egg (right) and a Bald Eagle egg (left).


For further reading, I recommend James D. Weaver’s Falcon Propagation: A Manual on Captive Breeding, which was a valuable source for this post.

Raptor Propagation: The Egg

The egg is a complex and marvelously efficient self-contained universe. In this post, I’d like to share with you the basic components of eggs and how they function in protecting and nurturing the embryo.

The avian egg contains three membranes that support the life and development of the embryo:

The amnion is an inner layer of cells that surrounds the embryo and secretes the amniotic fluid in which the embryo floats. The amnion both protects the embryo and prevents it from drying out.

The chorion surrounds the embryonic structures and serves as a protective membrane.

The allantois (or allantoic sac) grows larger as the embryo develops, eventually fusing with the chorion. The chorioallantois works to permit respiration and excretion. It is important in storing the chick’s nitrogenous waste, or uric acid.

The four primary components of an avian egg (from the inside out) are:

The yolk, which feeds the chick during and after incubation. The avian yolk is between 21% - 36% lipids and 16% - 22% proteins (the rest is water), and is suspended in the center of the egg by the chalaze, which are strands of protein fibers. The yolk also contains antibodies from the mother to protect the chick from infection.

The albumen is the chick’s water supply as well as a buffer that helps protect the embryo from jostling or sudden changes in temperature.

Shell membranes (inner and outer) are attached to the shell and help protect the egg from bacterial invasion as well as preventing rapid evaporation of moisture from the egg.

Finally, the shell is the embryo’s outermost protection. Eggshells contain thousands of pores to permit gas exchange. The color of an egg shell is determined by pigments in the mother’s uterine wall.

When the egg is laid, it begins to cool and the inside contracts, forming an air sac. Observation of this air sac allows us to monitor the progress of incubation and indicates when the egg is near hatch. More on that in my next propagation post when I’ll answer the question: She laid an egg, now what?

And here is another video of a barn owl chick. He’s awfully cute at three weeks old!


Two sources were used as a reference in preparing this post:
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/avianemb.htm
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/avianreproduction.html

Raptor Propagation: It takes two to make the egg!

Many of the breeding pairs at WBS have come to us because of injury or confiscation, others have been captive bred themselves. When a pair successfully lays a clutch in the nest box we’ve provided, the propagation department becomes an extremely busy place to be! To give you an idea of who lays and when, here’s a short list of a typical season. Surprises can happen, but generally the birds follow a rough schedule from January to July:

January: This is when our season begins. The nests and platforms as well as our incubators are cleaned, prepared, and ready to go during the first week of January. We begin checking barn owl and eagle owl nests every Monday. When an egg is found, the date is recorded and the nest is checked on Wednesday and Friday to be better aware of the incubation dates. This process is repeated with every breeding pair throughout the season. Barn owls may begin laying in January.

February: Barn owls, Eurasian eagle owls, and augur buzzards lay.

March: Lanner falcons, tawny owls, and ferruginous hawks.

April: By April, we are in full swing! In addition to the eggs and hatchlings we already have, we begin looking for bald eagles to lay, usually around Easter.

May: May can be a busy month, with overlaps from April and June.

June: Harris hawks, abdim storks, pied crows, black vultures

July: In July, things are tapering off. We keep a close eye on our birds to protect them from excessive heat.

And as this video shows, the augur buzzards were right on schedule this year!



Stay tuned for the next installment of “Raptor Propagation” when I’ll answer the question: What exactly is an egg?

Raptor Propagation: Why do we captive breed?

This is a common question from visitors and volunteers and I think it’s a good one.

Captive breeding is done for a number of reasons. One of our missions at the World Bird Sanctuary is to help preserve the biodiversity of bird species. When a species is threatened by encroaching development, their fragmented habitat prevents many birds from breeding and severely limits genetic diversity in a population. As habitats worldwide are destroyed, many species are becoming behaviorally trapped. Living in a small area usually leads to extinction.

By banking, or preserving, the genetic diversity of different species for future generations, we increase the possibility that they will avoid extinction and, ideally, be restored to their original habitats.

In addition, some of our birds are bred for education. Captive birds are a teaching tool for interns, staff, and scientists, as well as our visiting public. They help build an interest and investment in the continued support of species survival programs.

Some birds, like our barn owls, are raised for release. Here is a new video of our barn owl Athena and her chicks. The oldest is now 5 weeks and they are growing up too fast!



In the next few weeks, I'll be posting on the propagation process from egg to fledge. If you'd like to see them all together, click on "propagation" in the subject links on the right side of your screen.