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Photo by Erin Nelson.
A Eurasian eagle owl finds its balance on the glove of Andrew Arnold, the director of education and outreach, at the Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park. The Alabama Wildlife Center’s Eurasian eagle owl — the largest owl species in the world — is one of the educational birds that was brought to the center after being kept as a pet.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Alabama Wildlife Center Executive Director Doug Adair holds a great horned owl Sept. 23 at the center at Oak Mountain State Park.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Alabama Wildlife Center
Andrew Arnold, director of education and outreach, holds his arm and gloved hand up as a red tailed hawk flies from longtime volunteer Mary Stockard, right, to Arnold as it receives a piece of rabbit during a flight training session Sept. 23 at Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Shelby, a 4-year-old bald eagle, lets out a call as she rests on a perch inside her enclosure at AWC.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
A red tailed hawk rests on a log inside the “Freedom Flight” enclosure, where other raptors are housed as they reach the later rehabilitation phase before being released into the wild.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
An American kestrel, the smallest falcon in Alabama and North America, rests on Arnold’s gloved hand as it eats a piece of a mouse Sept. 23 at AWC. The American kestrel is one of AWC’s resident birds because it is missing talons on one of its feet.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Intern Rae Patterson feeds birds housed in one of the clinic aviaries.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Arnold points to the feathers on the heart-shapedface of a barn owl, one of AWC’s resident birds.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Coosa, a 19-year-old barred owl and the AWC’s first educational bird, lets out a call.
Nestled up a hill in the woods of Oak Mountain State Park sits one of the state’s oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation and conservation education centers.
The Alabama Wildlife Center receives almost 2,000 birds from more than 100 different species that it helps rehab back to health and eventually release back into the wild. If a bird’s injuries prevent it from being released, it will become a permanent resident and possibly an education raptor.
In the past, the center was mainly focused on rehabilitation, but it now has a dual focus on rehab along with environmental education, to create a greater appreciation for wildlife resources. It works to heighten the public’s awareness and appreciation of Alabama’s native wildlife.
Founded in 1977 as a small, home-based, all-volunteer organization, the AWC has spent the past 43 years serving thousands of native birds and wild animals.
Executive Director Doug Adair said it was about 10 years ago when the organization narrowed its focus to only birds.
“The board decided to better focus our resources and concentrate only on avian species where the need was the greatest,” he said. “That keeps us pretty busy year in and year out.”
He said patients include hummingbirds to bald eagles, song birds to water birds and everything in between, and the center is unique with the breadth of species it serves.
Adair has been director of the AWC for the past seven years, and his charge from the board of directors when he took over was to take the center to the next level. That has included adding education ambassador birds and going from about 30 programs for around 5,000 people presenting 600 programs to more than 150,000 people in 2019.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
Although located in Oak Mountain State Park, the AWC operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and does not receive public funding. While it has a wonderful relationship with OMSP, it has to raise its own money to fulfill its mission.
“We are thrilled to be where we are,” Adair said. “It’s a wonderful place to do what we do, and we appreciate being able to utilize the structure we are in. This building was built in 1970, and there are a lot of expenses in maintaining it that we are responsible for.”
All of the organization’s income is from membership dues, individual donations and corporate and foundation grants. For each dollar contributed, the AWC receives approximately two dollars in donated goods and services from individuals, businesses and the state of Alabama.
The center has four full-time permanent employees, along with three interns who care for the animals, provide educational programming and manage the business affairs of the organization.
Adair said there are two full-time positions that would normally be filled and are essential — one in the education department and one in animal care — but both are unfilled right now because of the tightness of resources.
EFFECTS OF COVID-19
This year, because of COVID-19, the nonprofit hasn’t been able to hold any of its programs, and Adair said the hope is to be able to do so again in the near future.
“We’ve experienced a pretty steep period of growth,” he said. “Our footprint and impact on the community has grown substantially. As we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel from COVID-19, we want to continue our trajectory to provide exceptional rehabilitative care with release rates that far exceed the national average and continue to expand and deliver exceptional environmental education programming.”
Adair said he has missed doing the outreach programming. Getting in front of large groups leads to more people supporting the organization, and it is then able to spread its conservation message.
One of the center’s largest fundraising events, Wild About Chocolate, took place in February. But the summer fundraiser, Chirps and Chips, had to be canceled because of the pandemic. The annual Baby Bird Shower in September was virtual, with the public being able to drop off donations. The center had its annual Owl-O-Ween event Oct. 24, and Adair hopes they are able to have a holiday event in December.
The AWC is primarily a volunteer organization and relies heavily on those volunteers to assist with rescue, rehabilitation, transport and public education services. However, it has lost many of its volunteers who are in high-risk categories and have not been able to help during the pandemic. But even with less people to help, the work must still go on.
“Baby bird season is our busiest time of year, and babies continue to come into the Wildlife Center fast and furiously. We have been challenged to provide excellent rehabilitative care and environmental education with a very limited number of people,” Adair said.
COVID-19 has impacted the AWC even more at a financial level, particularly stretching things during its busiest time of the year. However, many of its supporters have stepped up to help.
“It’s been a very challenging season, and we are grateful for those people who have been able to help and contribute. Some of our community partners have accelerated their financial contributions, and we were also able to get PPP funds as a result of the CARES Act. That has been essential in getting us through.”
CARING FOR THE BIRDS
When someone finds a bird, they can call the Wildlife Help Line —205-663-7930, ext. 2 — to get free advice and information on how to deal with a variety of problems and emergencies.
Adair said they encourage people to first be sure the bird needs help. Some baby birds escape the nest before they are ready to fly, but are unharmed. No one can take better care of the bird than its parents. He said the thought that once a person touches a baby bird that its parents reject it is a complete myth.
The best thing to do in almost any situation is to get the bird into a box or animal carrier and bring it to the Wildlife Center. If unable to transport it, someone from the center’s network of volunteers can assist.
One of the most common injuries seen each year occur from vehicle strikes. The AWC educates people on steps to take to prevent this from happening. While a bird may not go for an apple core, banana peel or other food that has been thrown from a car window, rodents do. Then, the bird goes for the rodent and is prone to being struck.
Other injuries come from entanglement in fishing line. Adair encourages people to properly dispose of their line when they fish to prevent a bird from getting entangled in it.
Also, many birds are injured by outdoor cats, and the AWC encourages cat owners to keep an eye on their pets. Other injuries include window strikes, gunshots, poisoning from pest control substances and orphaned birds whose parents have been killed.
HELP, HEALING AND FOOD
The AWC’s permitting allows the center to rehabilitate all native wild birds. The people at the center also work with several local vets on a regular basis.
All of the birds that come to the AWC require individualized treatment plans, housing, medical care, specialized diet and release plans. All have to be tailored to each individual animal.
“My number one budget line item is food,” Adair said. “We can easily spend $2,500 a week on food costs,” Adair said. “Plus the cost of medication, housing, upkeep, cleaning and maintaining areas of animal care. It becomes obvious that it is a very significant amount required to fulfill the mission of AWC.”
During the busiest time of year, one week’s worth of food can include 100,000 mealworms, 5,000 wax worms, 400 rats and mice and 100 fish.
The AWC has recently begun a partnership with UAB to take the university’s unused research mice and other animals to have as food for the birds. Instead of them being euthanized, they can be donated to the center as food.
EDUCATION
The educational aspect of the AWC is critically important, and the unique thing it is able to offer is being able to introduce the education raptors to the public. These are the birds that have been rehabilitated, but would not be able to survive in the wild because of their injuries.
“Allowing for an in-person, up-close encounter with these beautiful animals, most people don’t have the opportunity to see them in that setting,” Adair said.
There are seven different species of education raptors: hawks, falcons, owls, a Mississippi kite, vultures, eagles and osprey.
One of the center’s newest education ambassadors is Shelby, a bald eagle. She is the only bald eagle in all of northern and central Alabama that is on educational display. After being hit by a car, she lost vision in her left eye, leaving her unable to hunt well enough to survive in the wild. Adair said she has been a wonderful addition to the education program.
She has a wingspan of 8 feet and weighs about 14 pounds. She is 4 years old and could live to be 50.
Other birds that can be seen at the AWC include the red-tailed hawk, red shouldered hawk, falcons, American kestrel, merlin, all of the primary native Alabama owls and the largest owl species in the world, the Eurasian-eagle owl.
VOLUNTEERING AND DONATING
Adair said the center hopes to restart its volunteer orientation sessions soon. They are normally on the first Sunday of every month as a way to recruit and encourage volunteer participation. The age for volunteers is 18 and older, but those 16 and older can volunteer with a parent. Ways to help include animal care, the wildlife helpline, transport, tour guides, special events and more.
For more information about volunteering or donating, visit alabamawildlifecenter.org or call 205-663-7930. To stay up to date on events, visit facebook.com/alwildlifecenter.
