Bird rehab center marks open house

What do a Bald Eagle with a broken wing, a clutch of baby Mallards and a Hawk Owl poisoned by lawn chemicals have in common? All were successfully treated and released back into the wild by the Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center.

The mission of the Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center is to care for injured, orphaned and sick wild birds with the goal of releasing them back into the wild, and to educate the public about Alaska’s birds and their habitats.

This summer has been a busy one for the volunteers at the AWBRC. We have been moving our rehabilitation facility to a new location on land leased from the city of Houston. Thanks to the generosity of many local businesses and individuals donating time and materials, we have made a quick move. A portable building has been installed to serve as our rehab center, security fence installed, several bird enclosures built and the interior of the building set up to continue to care for our avian patients.

We’d like to welcome local bird lovers and AWBRC supporters to visit the new site at our open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sept. 7. We will have our live wild avian ambassadors there to greet you and food available by donation. Join us for a tour of the rehab facility, the only time the public will be allowed in, as once open it is treated as any other medical office for the safety of the birds under our care. We will also have a giant book sale, with titles ranging from mystery to romance, history to plants.

When our permit to conduct the bird rehab center is in place, hopefully by the end of September, we will once again be ready to assist our avian friends in need. Through the summer injured birds were cared for at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage. We thank them for their assistance during our transition. Dedicated volunteers have been running an avian ambulance when the finder could not transport an injured bird to Anchorage.

As fall approaches, watch for the migrants to begin heading south to their wintering areas. This is the time of year we see young birds on their own for the first time. In autumn of 2012, we had an outbreak of parasites among the young swans, and many were admitted to both rehabilitation centers. Young birds are still learning to fly and hunt and are more likely to have run-ins with cats, windows and cars. Sudden frosts or early snows can cause needed food supplies to be difficult to find. In some species, the adults leave before their young are even able to fly well, and we can witness the miracle of genetically implanted migration routes that allow the young to find their way without guidance.

Please join us on Sept. 7 at the new Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center, 12235 W. Birch Rd, off Kenlar between Big Lake Road and Hawk Lane in Houston. Follow the signs to help us thank our supporters and learn more about the AWBRC.

Nancy Wade is member of the Mat-Su Birders and Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center. Send questions for her column on birding to alaskaflamingo@yahoo.com.