Earth Day…

Window to the Wild spent the weekend of Earth Day, April 21st-23rd, down at Fairpark.

Simon and Lindsey, founders of the 501c non-profit, train and fly native birds.

They take their winged ambassadors to local schools, The Trinity Audubon Centre, John Bunker Sands Wetland Centre, and The Perot Museum and do a fine job educating the public about these wild birds that can be spotted in the surrounding cities, neighborhoods, gardens and parks.

They engage their visitors with free flight programs, answer questions and dispel myths.

They encourage photography and have enabled thousands of people to experience unique close up encounters with their owls, hawks and falcons.

Their birds are not pets.  This is an important factor.  Simon and Lindsey stress that if any of their feathered friends could have been released back into the wild they would have been.

Additionally it is illegal to raise or keep any native birds without the federal and state permits and licenses they had to apply for and obtain.  If you find an injured or misplaced bird the best thing to do is take it, or report it to your nearest Wildlife Rehabilitation centre.

Back to the Earth Day Event at FairPark.  Hubs and I went along to help based on last year’s massive attendance of  130,000.

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We were busy and prepared!

This year we had a double booth giving us plenty of room to set up a station where feathers from their birds could be admired and touched,

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and a special place to showcase Pigwidgeon in his signature picture frame.

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Pig is an Eastern Screech Owl and one of the smallest of the species.  He flew into a window when he was young so is unable to fly well or fend for himself.

He makes a great show of jumping over his perch from one side to the other and surprised many a passerby who thought he was stuffed.  He can sit motionless for long periods of time and when he’s been fed he closes one eye, tucks a leg beneath his 4 ounce body and nods off.

Hermes, the great horned owl, was on hand for educational purposes drawing crowds of people who had seen owls larger than this bird in their subdivision gardens.  Probably an optical illusion for this owl is one of the largest in its species.

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Hermes was raised by humans so has no idea he’s an owl of great strength and is unable to hunt for his own food believing himself to be a human of superlative intelligence.  He is a good flier and can be seen at the Free Flight Events Window to the Wild put on.

The Harris Hawk, Fiernan, drew crowds as usual with his calm demeanor…unless he spots a stroller or a dog!

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Fiernan was trained as a falconer’s bird until he was confiscated.  Consequently he is unable to be released back into the wild since he had a job and is used to being cared for.  Lindsey is a master falconer herself so he is in good hands and earns his keep by flying at their events and showing off his grace and beauty in the air.

Smaug is the name of their American kestrel which is the smallest falcon in the species and really very beautiful with his striking featheration and compact size,

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making him a show stopper at Window to the Wild’s educational events.  He was raised by humans and thinks Lindsey is his girlfriend so regards Simon as a possible rival, when the mood takes him, posturing and making loud noises to the amusement of his keepers.

The weekend was a huge success and hundreds of people were introduced to birds that are common to the area but not always visible to the casual observer.

Both Simon and Lindsey work as independent  consultants, trainers, artists and bar tenders in order to support themselves…

In turn they support their birds with donations and t-shirt sales from their followers at the numerous educational events they do each week.

All the money raised through Window to the Wild goes directly to their bird staff  whether it’s for building new enclosures or repairing existing ones, keeping the birds safe and clean, training and interacting with them daily, providing enrichment activities to keep their skills honed and of course, feeding them to keep them happy and healthy.

You can like WTTW on Facebook, support them at one of their live events, or donate directly on their web site.

 

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