Foster Parents

Bedtime Poem

     I was listening in on a conversation (how else is a Kestrel going to keep up with current events) between two volunteers the other day all about the bedtime poem her granddaughter's stepfather says with her every night.  It reminded me that you don't have to have a blood tie to make a family.
     In fact, right here at Wild At Heart we have many families that share no blood tie.  I'm talking about our raptor Foster Parents and all of their fabulous foster children.  The raptor foster parent program was started way, way back in 1990 (that's over 20 years ago)!

Harris Hawk DeGoo with his first foster child Cochise - Spring 2014

     The first foster parent raptor at Wild At Heart was a Barn Owl named Chia.  Chia was brought in as a nestling to the Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center where Sam and Bob were both volunteers.  Chia was severely ill with permanent wing and leg injuries that would render him unreleasable.  Sam had just been reading a wonderful book "A Place for Owls" by Kay McKeever (I don't know why she wasn't writing about Kestrels...).  This book was all about rehabilitating owls, and her experiment using a spotted owl as a foster parent.  Sam took this information to the higher ups at Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center and was given permission to try Chia as a foster parent - if he survived his injuries.  Sam and Bob showered him with care and survive he did.  Chia went on to raise hundreds of orphaned Barn Owls with his mate Tyta.

Barn Owl Foster Parents - Aspen, Nicole and foster children - spring 2014

     What started as an experiment has been very successful, and today Wild At Heart is home to a number of foster parent owls, hawks and falcons.  Each of our foster parent raptors raise a new family, sometimes two or more families every year. Our foster raptors always have at least two and sometimes ten or more foster children at a time (I don't know how they do it; I can barely keep myself looking good!) 

Great Horned Owls Foster Parents - Chitter and Moogley with their foster children - spring 2014

     Why do we have foster parents?  The foster parent raptors play a vital role in our rehabilitation program (Not more important than me of course).  They are responsible for teaching our young orphaned nestlings and fledglings how to be owls, hawks or falcons.  They teach them the mechanics of flying and how to hunt.  The foster parent program allows us to release the orphans back into the wild as fully functioning adults.

Super Screech Owl mom - Mama Webster with a few of her ten foster children

Our foster parents need all the help and support they can get.  To be a part of our foster family - click on the link below to donate (please and thank you).

Wild At Heart