Keeper Talks

Did you know that you could shadow one of the World Bird Sanctuary’s Keepers on his or her morning feeding rounds every Saturday or Sunday?  No reservations necessary.

Guests following our Keeper on her morning rounds. (photo: Gay Schroer)

Meet one of our Keepers on the front porch of our Wildlife Hospital at 9 am any Saturday or Sunday or catch up with them as they make their way down the exhibit line path.   You can accompany him/her on the morning rounds as they feed the birds on our exhibit line.

As you accompany our keeper you will be given information and backgrounds on the individual birds and their species and have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about them. 

This is a year-round program and is like having your own informal personalized tour—and it’s FREE!

Submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer/Photographer

World Bird Sanctuary - A Unique St. Louis Attraction

World Bird Sanctuary is located on 305 acres in St. Louis County and features outdoor animal exhibits, static collections indoors, a wildlife hospital, reading room and activity center, and hiking trails and picnic pavilions.

Open to the public year round, the WBS center has:

·      Over 50 outdoor exhibits featuring live hawks, eagles, owls, falcons, pelicans and a condor.  Be sure to stop by and play hide and seek with Dorothy – an Andean Condor with a 12 foot wingspan that manages to hide behind a 1ft high tree stump in her enclosure!

Meet Dorothy, the Andean Condor

·      Feed the chickens and turkeys on display.

Young guests love to feed the chickens and turkeys

·      A visitor's information center with interpretive exhibits and live eagles, owls and hawks on display.

Hear the stories of how some of our birds came to reside at WBS

·      A state of the art wildlife hospital with a patient-viewing window where you can see some of the 400 patients that the wildlife hospital treats within a single year. 

·      A nature center with indoor and outdoor exhibits, including mammals, reptiles, raptors and parrots.

Meet some of the residents of our Nature Center

·      A 300 seat outdoor amphitheater with many free public environmental education programs throughout the year.  Check the online calendar to see what's coming up. 

Enjoy the entertaining presentations in our amphitheater

·      With over 9 miles of hiking trails, rated from easy to difficult, you can go for a short hike and visit our bird feeding stations; meet some of the pelicans, bald eagles, ravens, falcons, vultures, hawks, owls and parrots that call World Bird Sanctuary home.

·      Picnic pavilions situated near bird feeders where you can enjoy watching squirrels, chipmunks and songbirds going about their day.

Take advatage of our "Bird Brain" Reading Room

·      Enjoy the free "Bird Brain" Reading Room and Activity Center situated among the outdoor exhibits.  Open on Sundays from 11am to 3pm, you can pick up free books about birds, nature and conservation, or even a free poster of a bald eagle or great-horned owl.

Join us for our newest weekend event--our free Keeper Talks

·      Learn about the birds at World Bird Sanctuary at free Keeper Talks every Saturday and Sunday at 9am – follow the keepers as they feed the birds and explain how they came to be at World Bird Sanctuary.

Admission:

·      Hours: 8am – 5pm, Monday through Sunday.

·      Closed: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and closed at noon on Christmas Eve.

·      Admission and Parking is FREE!  Donations are gladly accepted – donation boxes are situated throughout the site.

Our newly paved trails make for easy walking

Amenities:

·      Handicapped accessibility trails and paved exhibit trails

·      No pets allowed. 

·      Public restrooms.

·      Water fountains.

·      Soda, water and snack sales.

·      Gift shop.

Submitted by Catherine Redfern, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Fundraiser

Introducing This Year's Newest Event

Event Title: Keeper Talks

Event Date: Saturdays & Sundays, year-round.

Event Times: 9am

Event Description:

Have you ever wondered:

·      What do the birds eat?

·      Where does the food come from?

·      Where did these birds come from?  Why are they at World Bird Sanctuary?

 Learn about the birds that inhabit our exhibit line

Join one of our keepers as they do the morning feeding of our birds in outside exhibits, and learn about what we feed the birds, where they come from, and a little bit about the individual birds that you will meet!

 Learn about the ins and outs of caring for our animals

Saturday and Sunday at 9am - meet opposite the wildlife hospital or catch up with the walk on your own.  It is a slow walk on a paved, level trail and is suitable for all ages.  Stay for the entire feeding, or stay for just a few – it's up to you, and a great way to start your visit to World Bird Sanctuary!

Admission: Admission and parking is FREE.  No reservations required.

For more information go to www.worldbirdsanctuary.org or call 636-225-4390 ext. 0.

Submitted by Catherine Redfern, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Fundraiser