Feathered friends fascinate at NFWC

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Birds are the only animals in the world that have feathers. Perhaps that accounts in part for why humans find birds so fascinating. Not only are feathers strikingly beautiful, but they are at once soft and strong, both lightweight and highly warming. Most of all, the way feathers grow on a bird allows it to fly – masterfully, using its own energy, natural anatomy and instinctive navigation. Amazing!
Scientists estimate that there are between 9,000 and 11,000 species of birds in the world today, which is about twice the number of mammal species in the world. Our part of the planet, Florida, is home to around 500 native species of birds, giving local residents countless opportunities to marvel at the variety of feathered friends with whom we share this life. Here in Jefferson County, we also have a unique place that shelters and shares with us some really interesting birds from afar: the North Florida Wildlife Center (NFWC).
Just four years ago, the NFWC carved out a space in the woods down a narrow, paved road in Lamont, Fla., and started its mission of “wildlife conservation through public educational outreach, propagation of rare and endangered species, and habitat restoration efforts.” It has been steadily expanding ever since and is currently home to 34 species of wildlife that can no longer survive in their natural habitat. Along with the lemurs, giant anteater, red kangaroo, two-toed sloth, hedgehog, Egyptian fruit bat, blue-tongued skink and other rescued residents, visitors can make new feathered friends with 21 species of birds they're not likely to encounter anywhere else in the region.
The most recent avian arrival is a juvenile white-tailed sea eagle named Apollo.
“They are almost identical to our bald eagles that we see down here,” says NFWC Executive Director Ryan Reines. “These guys are found from Alaska all the way into Europe and down into Southeast Asia and down into the Mediterranean.”
Reines goes on to explain that juvenile bald eagles and white-tailed eagles are indistinguishable from each other. As adults, however, bald eagles have both a white tail and a white head while mature white-tailed sea eagles have just have the white tail.
“Apollo is non-releasable because he was born with mildly deformed feet and bill,” adds Reines. “He has issues grasping, so he wouldn't survive in the wild because they have to catch fish out of the water. He came to us from Sia, which is the indigenous North American organization we work with. This is our third bird from them. We got an auger buzzard and a short-toed snake eagle, and now Apollo.”
(For more information about Sia, the Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative in Oklahoma that preserves the eagle and other imperiled birds of prey through culture, history, science and spirit. See their Facebook page.)
When NFWC's nearly completed educational pavilion is operational, Apollo will join the group of trained “ambassador” animals brought out to teach visitors about their species and habitat.
“It's very exciting,” says Reines, who then adds, “I'd love for him to be the eagle we fly at [Doak Campbell Stadium] one day. There's a university in Georgia that is getting one of his siblings to fly in their stadium [during the National Anthem].”
Apollo's current enclosure looks out on the large pavilion space, where Reines next brings an even younger new arrival to take an exploratory stroll. It's a baby king vulture named Aztec. Right now, he's covered in the somewhat generic gossamer white down that lots of baby birds start with, but the plain black head peeking out of all that fluff clearly shows he's a vulture. In a few years, Aztec's head and neck will sport the fire-bright mature coloring of his species and his wings will have strong feathers that support flight.
“He was born at the Gulf Breeze Zoo [in Santa Rosa County], where they have a pair of king vultures that breed prolifically but never raise the young,” explains Reines. “The bird-care staff has to pull and raise [the babies], and this is good, because their chance of survival is higher if a human raises them.”
Directly across the pavilion from Apollo is Sasha, a sarus crane – the tallest flying bird on the planet. Sarus cranes are native to southeast Asia and Australia, where they are endangered in the wild. Males can grow to almost six feet tall, and Sasha is about five feet tall. Because she is imprinted on humans, she unfortunately cannot breed. She arrived at NFWC recently from a small park in Georgia, also to be an ambassador through the educational programs to be conducted in the pavilion.
Another new arrival is Ozi, a black palm cockatoo. Ozi is 35 years old and could live to the age of 90 in the protected environment of a facility like NFWC. This very rare bird species, native to Australia, is the largest of the cockatoos. Ozi is now retired from the species survival program for palm cockatoos at Zoo New England and will spend his retirement in Florida, where NFWC has welcomed him to be a part of their ambassador program.
Reines expects the education pavilion to be ready very soon, after seating and some additional partitions are installed. This is not the only construction project underway, however, not by a long shot.
Space has been cleared for the imminent arrival of a new house for Sid the sloth. Sid is doing really well in his cozy enclosure in the gift shop but is ready to enjoy an indoor-outdoor setup, now that temperatures are consistently warm enough for him to be outside most of the time until winter.
In addition, Seze and Toruk Makto – a bar-pouched wreathed hornbill couple – will soon be moving into a much larger aviary where breeding activity can be supported. The Maribou storks have just moved into a new habitat, and Stella and Fernando (the European white storks) will be moving in next door any day now.
Reines and his staff are also very excited to have a new commissary building at NFWC dedicated entirely to food preparation for meeting the specific dietary needs of the center's amazingly diverse population. Windows along one side will allow visitors to observe what it takes to keep all the animals healthy and growing.
Nearly everywhere you turn at NFWC these days, you see growth and new arrivals. The crested guinea fowl have hatched a brood of chicks, and another baby lemur has been born. Some emus will be arriving soon, and did someone say giraffes?
Everything NFWC does grows from the staff's commitment to giving visitors meaningful encounters with these amazing animals.
“By allowing visitors to see and learn about these incredible species in the flesh, they gain a new perspective on issues that may seem far away and untouchable to them,” their website says. “The proceeds generated from visitations keeps our animal residents enriched, well-fed, and keeps our international conservation efforts going strong. In short, visitors are a crucial part of our mission now, and for the future.”
To find out more about visiting NFWC, see www.northfloridawildlife.org/visit.