WINTER PARK, Fla. \u2014 In Winter Park, a local wildlife center is giving injured raptors a second chance at survival.<\/p>\n
The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey rescues and rehabilitates hundreds of birds each year, from bald eagles to owls and hawks.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Audubon Center for Birds of Prey<\/a>\u00a0rescues and rehabilitates hundreds of injured raptors each year in Winter Park Officials at the nonprofit say many of the animals arrive with injuries from cars, power lines or other human-related causes.<\/p>\n The center is not only working to heal birds, but also to educate the public on how to help protect them.<\/p>\n Rescue teams work hands-on with birds of prey daily \u2014 and on this day, it\u2019s an immature baby bald eagle that fell out of its nest too early.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are really crazy when they\u2019re learning to fly,\u201d said\u00a0Beth Lott, a raptor specialist at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey.<\/p>\n This is not unusual for America\u2019s national bird, with about 80 ending up at the center each year. Staff members say they have found ways to help protect the young birds during those early stages.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the little bumpers we put on to protect their risks out there,\u201d Lott said. \u201cBecause they will hit some walls just learning to fly.\u201d<\/p>\n It takes a team to save lives. The young eagle is tagged, given fluids and fed before being moved into a temporary habitat where it can build strength and practice flying.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they will become magnificent fliers before you know it,\u201d Lott said.<\/p>\n What volunteers know is that injured birds \u2014 the center primarily rescues raptors \u2014 continue to arrive, one after another.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some 700 birds come into this center each year, and about 40% of those will be released back into the wild.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 1979, we\u2019ve been able to release over 800 bald eagles,\u201d said Birds of Prey Director Katie Gill-Warner.<\/p>\n With a yearly operating cost of around $1 million, the nonprofit relies heavily on donations.<\/p>\n Many of the injuries they treat are caused by humans, including collisions with buildings, vehicles, gunshots and poisoning. The center is also expanding with the unveiling of a new owl aviary.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it houses great horned owls. Barred owls. There\u2019s three enclosures for the public to view them,\u201d Gill-Warner said.<\/p>\n The facility is open to visitors, giving people a rare chance to see these birds up close.<\/p>\n \u201cOver and over, I hear guests say, \u2018I\u2019ve never been this close to an owl. I\u2019ve never been this close to a falcon,\u2019\u201d said longtime volunteer Maggie Haynes.<\/p>\n Some birds can\u2019t be returned to the wild and become permanent residents, serving as ambassadors for education.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd most of the birds that we get in can get hit by cars and have very bad wing fractures and can\u2019t fly,\u201d said\u00a0Samantha Little the center\u2019s raptor conservation manager.<\/p>\n And helping the injured is what Birds of Prey is all about.<\/p>\n The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey\u00a0is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $10.00 per person, while children under 3 get in for free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINTER PARK, Fla. \u2014 In Winter Park, a local wildlife center is giving injured raptors a second chance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[767,7150,274,7151,115,1335,139,141,140,11881,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-217605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-florida-on-a-tankful","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-florida-on-a-tankful","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orange-county","14":"tag-orlando","15":"tag-orlando-headlines","16":"tag-orlando-news","17":"tag-randy-rauch","18":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMany birds arrive hurt by cars, power lines and other human-related causes
\nStaff and volunteers work daily to treat, train and release birds back into the wild
\nThe nonprofit relies on donations while also educating the public and expanding exhibits like a new owl aviary
\nMAP: View more Florida on a Tankful locations<\/a><\/p>\n