What is Rehabitat?

Rehabitat is an all volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned birds of prey. We educate the public regarding the important role birds of prey have in our environment so that we may continue to enjoy these wonderful, wild birds for many decades

Just like anything else, we have good and bad days. Not too long ago, we released six birds and had seven come into the facility. That's not considered a good day!

But we do have a lot of good days. We have had the opportunity to help numerous orphaned birds that were brought to us for various reasons. You may have seen the Great Horned Owl orphans that were features on Channel 27 as a Mother's Day feature.

If you wonder what "orphaned" birds have to do with Mother's Day, there's a very good explanation. We have an adult Great Horned Owl whose injuries will not allow it to be released.This owl has "adopted" these orphans and has given them the care their natural mother would have provided in the wild. It is important that these birds bond with their own species and that human intervention is held to a minimum. This particular Great Horned Owl is almost blind. We have approached a doctor who may be able to perform laser surgery to restore it's sight. This would be very exciting as this owl could live another 30 years in captivity and certainly it's eyesight would add considerably to it's quality of life. Keep your fingers crossed!

This foster mother is not an isolated case. We have a number of "resident" birds that will never be released, but continue to serve a valuable purpose either as educational birds or foster parents.

We receive new birds almost daily basis, and release birds frequently. We are pleased that most of our orphaned birds are soon ready for release. There is no reason they can not live healthy and productive lives.

Just to highlight a typical capture and release, we recently brought in a screech owl that was hit by a car. His head was so severely traumatized, we felt sure he would lose his sight and be unable to survive on his own. He surprised all of us by making a quick and complete recovery and is now back in the wild. We enjoy those types of surprises!

Our goal is to restore as many birds as possible to their former healthy state and give them back their freedom. It is truly rewarding to return them to the wild where they can be of service and reproduce for future generations. When we are unable to give them a second chance at life, we can at least give them a peaceful, less painful and dignified death.

We, as caretakers of this planet, need to strive to keep these birds healthy and free!

Raptors are birds of prey. These capable hunters of the sky have very sharp talons and curved beaks. Raptors include owls, hawks,eagles, condors, kites, osprey and vultures. They are all federally protected.

Our goal in rehabilitation is to promptly return healthy raptors back to their natural environment whenever possible. Treatment may include X-rays, surgery, fracture repair, wound management or basic nursing care.

Always uppermost in our minds is to not make the treatment worse then the problem. We disturb the recuperating birds as little as possible to keep stress to a minimum. It is for that reason that we can not allow visitation to our treatment facility.

Patients typically begin their rest and recuperation in an indoor enclosure. As they progress, they will move outdoors to an appropriately sized flight cage to exercise and regain hunting skills.

Birds are returned to the wild in "hack" boxes in a suitable habitat. In some cases this may be the area where it was found. The hack boxes are solid on all sides except the front is slatted for viewing and ventilation. The bird is fed in the box for several days. Finally, the front door is dropped to become a landing platform and the bird is free to go at choice. After release, food is placed in the box for several more days until the bird once again becomes an independent hunter. Unreleasable, permanently injured birds are kept at REHABITAT to serve as outreach education birds and act as foster parents for raising orphaned birds.