BOZEMAN – The Montana Raptor Conservation Center is hosting its 2018 Summer Education Series to teach the community about raptors.
The Montana Raptor Conservation Center is a non-profit organization that takes in injured birds, puts them through rehab, and works at releasing them back into the wild.
If the birds do not heal correctly or are unfit to be immersed back into their natural habitat, the Center continues to take care of them and use them to inform the public through events like its current summer series.
The series will last all the way until the first week of September, on Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10-11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
"It is really hard to connect with a bird that is flying so high up in the air that you don’t get to see up close. So when you get to see how beautiful they are, how impressive their eyesight is, and even just getting to see them. Even if we just stood here and didn’t talk. I think people would still be really affected by these birds,” said Montana Raptor Conservation Center Education Specialist Teresa Aldrich.
Aldrich said by allowing people to see these birds, they hope to encourage them to change little habits in their lives to help save the birds. She says about 40% of the injured birds they see are hurt because of collisions. These accidents can be prevented by not throwing garbage out onto the street or putting a film on your windows at home so birds can recognize it.
Each week there will be a new type of raptor displayed. This week it was falcons; next week it will be vultures.
