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( e ) agle newsletter Thursday, August 13 2015 www.baldeagles.org 113 Haines Highway Haines, Alaska 99827 907.766.3094 The American Bald Eagle Foundation is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of our national bird and its habitat throughout North America. In this issue: ° Migratory birds under attack ° ABEF open house ° Interns of the month For more information about new our new monthly e-newsletter or to subscribe or unsubscribe, please contact our education & outreach coordinator at [email protected] www.baldeagles.org P.O. Box 49 Haines, AK 99827 click here to support our work. Since she was a teenager, Katelyn Martin has been working with wildlife and educating the public about the Sonoran Desert. At age 13, she started off as a junior docent at the Arizona So- noran Desert Museum just outside of Tuscon, Ari- zona. Since then she’s been fascinated with every type of wildlife. When she turned 18 she began working in the animal care side of the Sonoran Desert Museum where she learned husbandry for animals such as parrots, macaws, arthropods, pack-rats, kangaroo rats, snakes, porcupines, raptors and even a pelican. Martin said she feels connected to the Sonoran Desert and wildlife because of her exposure to the Sonoran Desert Museum. “I went to the Desert Museum every chance I could, my passion has been centered around it. After being a Junior Docent there, I fell in love with it,” she said. Her love for the desert is apparent not only in talking with her, but also her resume. Just before coming to the ABEF, Martin completed 5,000 volunteer hours for the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. Now 22, Martin recently graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in wildlife conservation and management. Martin spent her first year of college majoring in forensic science, but realized she liked animal care too much to not make it a career. She spent the next three years in college con- tinuing her work at the Sonoran Desert Museum and interning at Reid Park Zoo in Tuscon. In her final year of college she began working in the desert museum’s raptor free flight show where she learned specific raptor husbandry and how to present raptors in a free-flighted show. After working in the raptor free-flight program, Martin knew she wanted her career to include raptors. When she graduated, she began looking for a raptor orientated internship. After some research, she stumbled upon the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s website and applied. During her time this summer, Martin has honed her animal training and presentation skills. She puts difficult concepts into everyday language for our guests and always does so with a smile. She feels presentation skills are good for her to have because if she applies for a job as a zoo keeper, she’s likely to have to give them. Martin also enjoyed learning how to train our great horned owl, Sarah. According to Martin, “It’s been cool to see the relationship and training develop and get her to try and come to glove.” Martin is interning with the ABEF until the cruise ship season ends in mid-September. She’s already been applying for jobs as a zoo keeper between Tuscon and San Diego. She said she would prefer a job that was raptor specific, but is open to working with other forms of wildlife, too. Overall, Martin said she has enjoyed her time up north. “The whole internship has been amaz- ing. One, just being in Alaska because it is so different. Also, seeing the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and working next to large animals was a cool experience too,” she said. Thank you for all your hard work this summer Katelyn, you’ve been a fantastic educator and a sensitive raptor handler. We’re glad to hear you’ve enjoyed your experience. Bills in congress threaten birds Native migratory birds such as the bald eagle pictured above are currently protected under two federal laws. Two proposed bills could take away funding for the enforcement of these two important laws and make migratory birds easier to take. Photo by Leia Minch T he American Bald Eagle Foundation would like all of our members and readers to know about two bills attacking our federally protected, mi- gratory birds. The first, H.R. 493 will allow for incidental and accidental “take, killing or other harm to” any migratory bird. In addition, H.R. 493 would fast track the authorization of taking or killing of any bald or golden eagles. There is also a rider to bill H.R. 2822 which would prohibit the Department of Interior from using funds for enforcing protection of migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Because part of the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s mission is dedicated to the “conservation of our national bird and its habitat throughout North America”, we see both of these bills as extremely regressive as they would not hold large corporations accountable for the millions of deaths of migra- tory birds. If you’d like to find out more about the Migratory Bird Treaty & Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the attacks on them, please click here. If you’d like to send your lawmakers a letter in opposition to these bills, please click here. ABEF holds first open house event in four years On August 6 of this month the Amer- ican Bald Eagle Foundation held its first open house event in four years. The ABEF staff coordinated the event to try to get more community involve- ment in the organization. Our Eurasian eagle owl, Hans and our merlin, Max were visiting and helping their han- dlers educate guests about raptors. During this time, guests had an opportunity to tour the museum and chat with staff and interns about any topics or questions they may have had. Guests also had a chance to tie-dye an ABEF shirt if they chose to do so, or dissect an owl pellet. This event is the first of ABEF community events and workshops that ABEF staff hopes to put together in the near future. Above: Interns Maggie Hughes (left) and Katelyn Martin (right) prepare the tie-dye station for guests to use at the August 6 open house. Left: Guests mingle, eat and interact with staff and interns about museum specimens and our avian ambassadors. Photos by Chloe Goodson Missouri intern looks to merge writing and wildlife into career The American Bald Eagle Foundation welcomes 20-year-old Natalie Helms who studies science and agricultural journalism at the University of Missouri. Helms became involved with raptors her fresh- man year in college when she was looking for a way to get involved in extracurricular activities working with wildlife. She found the Raptor Rehabilitation Project through the University of Missouri, “went to a meeting and now here I am two and a half years later,” she said. “I fell in love with it immediately.” Currently, Helms is the public relations coor- dinator for the Raptor Rehabilitation Project, a volunteer position where she runs the organiza- tion’s Facebook page, manages bird “adoptions” and sells club T-shirts. At the Raptor Rehabilitation Project, Helms has relationships with two great horned owls, an American kestrel and a red-tailed hawk. In addition, she is a junior caretaker for one of the great horned owls. This means Helms is responsible for making sure the owl gets proper day-to-day care and socialization, as well as keep- ing in touch with the bird’s senior caretaker (A university veterinary student). Since Helms began working for the Raptor Rehabilitation Project in 2013, she has put in over 600 volunteer hours. According to Helms, she enjoys working with raptors in education for a couple different rea- sons. “I love that each bird has its own personality, which can be either species related or individu- ally speaking. It’s special to form such a strong relationship with the birds… I always jokingly say that owl breath is not a thing many people get to experience in their life” she said with a grin. Helms also said she enjoys sharing the information she’s learned about raptors with others. “Seeing a person’s face light up when you show them a red-tailed hawk and start sharing facts makes everything worth it.” While interning at the ABEF, Helms has learned different training techniques for raptors as well as how to work with fully-flighted birds such as our Eurasian eagle owl, Hans. “Having a four and a half pound owl fly across the room to your glove is an experience not many people get to have,” she said. She also feels her communication skills have greatly improved since interning at the ABEF. According to Helms, talking about different birds and museum specimens with individual guests as well as giving raptor and natural history presentations has enhanced her public speaking skills. “[Public speaking] is definitely something I knew I needed to work on and I definitely honed my ability to answer questions and give presen- tations,” she said. Helms, who has one year of college left, is unsure of where her path will lead her after col- lege. She said her future is open to go anywhere she pleases, but thinks graduate school is in her horizon. “I think I missed my calling in working with animals directly”, she said. That’s why instead of going back to school for journalism, she’s going to try and focus her graduate school career on zoology, wildlife conservation or biology and then use her journalism degree to communicate about wildlife in the future. Though she has the most experience with rap- tors, Helms said she would jump at any opportu- nity to work with other animals. “With my experience, it’s more plausible to work with raptors but I like muskox… I loved working at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve with the larger animals,” she said. With a diversity of experience, Helms seemed to be pleased with her summer. She said, “This was a life changing experience and I am very grateful I was able to work here for the summer.” While at the ABEF, Helms excelled in raptor husbandry and gave many engag- ing presentations to our guests. Staff was very grateful to have her around this summer. Thanks for all of your work, Natalie and good luck with your career. Intern Natalie Helms and our avian ambassador , Max the merlin educate guests together about raptors and different types of falcons. Photo by Cheryl McRoberts University of Arizona intern hopes to make a career with wildlife ABEF intern Katelyn Martin spending time outside with our great horned owl, Sarah. Interns must spent ten hours relationship build- ing with their assigned birds before they are allowed to handle them. Photo by Chloe Goodson In our last month’s newsletter, we printed a “What to do in a Wildlife Emergen- cy” column. After publication, staff wanted to make a few clarifications to the column. First, before doing anything with any wild animal, make sure you know United States Fish and Wildlife Service laws as well as your state laws applying to wildlife. Some states do not permit mammal rehabilitation and it is illegal under some state regulations to even touch an animal. If you’re in Canada, please check appropriate laws by territory or province. Second, if it is a baby animal that is not visibly injured, do not attempt to take the animal thinking it is “orphaned”. Often the parents will leave the baby in a specific spot then come back when they’ve found food. Many “orphaned” animals get brought into wildlife rehabilitators because of this misconception. It’s always best for the parents to raise the animal rather than a human. If you have questions or need clarifications, contact your state wildlife agency or United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Clarification: What to do in a wildlife emergency Photo of a rock sand-piper chick courtesy of United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska region. Baby animals may seem orphaned, but often the parents are close by.
