For the Birds / Birds of prey swoop in to help celebrate center's anniversary
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No comments [ Add Comment ]By BETH YOUNG
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
LAYTON -- In a shopping center parking lot Saturday morning, under gray, drizzling skies, a golden eagle snacked on a quail it held beneath its inch-long talons.
"They do eat the feathers and bone," said Ben Woodruff, who runs Skymasters Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit education group based in West Jordan.
"It's kind of gross, but efficient."
Mountaintop or blacktop -- seeing Rage, the golden eagle, close-up is an unusual sight. The bird of prey was part of the Wild Bird Center's seventh anniversary celebration.
Woodruff talked about Rage's large claws as the bird sidestepped back and forth along his arm.
"Golden eagles in the wild, they mostly hunt jack rabbits, but also hunt foxes, coyotes, sheep, antelope and deer," he said.
"They have about 1,100 pounds of crushing grip per square inch in their feet. A female will take a deer on her own. It's not their normal food, but certainly within their possibilities."
Born in the wild, Rage was saved from a grim fate after he made a habit of eating ranchers' sheep.
"Department of Agriculture issued a permit to allow the ranchers to shoot them, those who were doing it," Woodruff said. "The USDA said, 'Will you come take this bird out of the situation?' "
In addition to Rage, Woodruff displayed a female golden eagle, a peregrine falcon and Maddie, a Harris hawk whose loud, rhythmic squawking was hard to ignore.
"The Harris hawk is a pack hunter," Woodruff said. "She thinks she is a human, so anytime she is around new people, she is asking if they are part of her pack."
The wet and windy weather did not stop nature enthusiasts of all ages and levels of expertise from attending the event.
"They love birds of prey," Layton resident Amy Dewald said of her sons Ethan, 8, and Grayson, 5. "This one in particular (Grayson), he is a big birds-of-prey fan and knows most of them."
Grayson said his favorite is the kestrel. His older brother was just happy to be at the event.
"I think they are pretty cool," Ethan said. "I have never seen ones this close up before."
It was not only children who were fascinated by the birds of prey. Many adults stood in the rain, holding more cameras than umbrellas to watch the large birds.
"They are wonderful birds," said Heather Dove, a member of the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society.
"You see them flying, but it's so great to see them close-up."
On a day-to-day basis, those who visit the Wild Bird Center -- which sells anything a bird enthusiast could need, from seed to binoculars -- are concerned with more commonly seen feathered species.
"I think we help fill a special niche within the community for people who love nature, who aren't the traditional outdoors folks, like angling or hunting," said Bill Fenimore, founder of the Wild Bird Center.
"This is a wonderful introductory way to enjoy the birds -- attract wild birds to your yard. It's a great way to introduce children to nature.
"You don't have to buy special licenses. You don't have to hike way up in the mountains, so no matter where you go, any time of the year, they are always available."
Fenimore has a large outreach program that has introduced birding to many in the community since the center opened.
This includes free educational nature walks at such places as Antelope Island State Park and Farmington Bay.
"The cost all of our outreach program activities is enthusiasm," Fenimore said.
Also free are the answers given on a daily basis to anyone with a birding question.
"We will see a bird in the backyard, come in and describe it, and they will tell us about it and what type of food to put out," Amy Dewald said.
"We have a lot of bird feeders in our backyard. It's nice to have a little bit of nature here in the city."
Merrilyn and Dee Gledhall, of Roy, have been coming to the center since it opened and credit Fenimore with getting them into birding.
"We have gone on some of the walks with him," Merrilyn Gledhall said. "We now have blue jays coming to our back door to eat peanuts."
At the event were other nature and bird organizations that often work with Fenimore and the center, such as the Wasatch and Great Salt Lake Audubon chapters, the Utah Nature Conservancy, and the Division of Wildlife Resources.
The Ogden Nature Center and Hawk Watch International also brought birds of prey.
Fenimore said the groups' members enjoy the annual event.
"We have been doing it for seven years and are just loving it."
