By Pierre Ratte
Meet Vihar, “V” for short. She’s a great horned owl living on Chanate Road. She’s one of several ambassador birds at The Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County (BRC), a local resource that’s been around for 50 years and needs help.
Most birds come to the Center because someone calls and says: “Help, I’ve found a bird.” Maybe that bird injured a wing, fell out of a nest or is sick. Whatever the circumstance, BRC takes it in. Its motto is: Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release.
Every bird admitted to BRC has its own medical record. Veterinary paperwork at BRC is next-level protocol, to say nothing of the care provided. Each bird has a mini-clipboard medical chart. Feeding intervals are 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1, 2 or 4 hours. Which can be challenging with a half-dozen baby quail hiding and scurrying through comfy green plants, or seven ospreys consuming a pound of salmon per day each.
BRC is a hospital and rehabilitation center that operates on and cares for injured birds until they heal. It carefully evaluates the birds for their ability to survive and thrive in a planned release, and monitors them to ensure their success once they return to their native habitats.
V lives at BRC as an ambassador. Unable to hunt, she’s been fed and nurtured for 20 years. She is one of several long-term resident ambassadors.
BRC needs all the ambassadors and help it can get. It admits roughly 3,000 birds annually, spanning 150 species, and is the only facility accepting all native bird species in a five-county area. Volunteers are welcome.
Fun Facts: V can exert 200 pounds per square inch with her talons, yet sits patiently on her handler’s gloved hand. Her head swivels 270 degrees compensating for a lack of eye muscles; owls’ eyes are stationary. Owls fly silently. A grouping of owls is a “parliament” or a “congress.”
BRC’s facility is “for the birds”—pun and not punny. The Center, a World War II Quonset hut and outbuildings—think MASH 4077—works heroics in severely suboptimal quarters. The 501(c)(3) organization is working to upgrade to a modern avian hospital and rehab center. Consider visiting, helping or donating. V would love to meet you. Find out more at www.birdrescuecenter.org.
