RARE raptor presentation Feb. 13

By Molly Moser

As cabin fever starts to set in during late winter months, residents and visitors to Guttenberg can look forward to a day of cold-weather fun planned for Saturday, Feb. 13. Guttenberg Chamber of Commerce has planned a chili cook-off, ice carving, and more for its annual Eagle Watch and Cabin Fever Day. Whether spotted fishing on the icy Mississippi or puffing their feathers inside, winged guests are sure to be the highlight of the day.

Area raptor expert Luke Hart, formerly of the MacBride Raptor Project and now with the RARE Group, will give a presentation featuring rehabilitated raptors in partnership with Joan Schnabel of Raptology. “The raptor presentation is always very popular with children and adults alike,” said chamber director Emily Moser. The presentation will occur at 2:30 p.m. in the Marina Visitor’s Center, where audience members will be warm and cozy with a spectacular view of flying river wildlife. 

Many birds of prey make Iowa their home throughout the year, and the birds are often spotted hunting during the winter. “Raptors are everywhere you look right now. Take a drive down the river roads for eagle viewing; find a healthy looking red-tail or American kestrel every quarter-mile along the highway, perched atop power lines, fence posts, and trees,” Hart told The Press.

Hart split from the MacBride Raptor Center last year, when the organization suspended its rehabilitation program in order to focus on education and research. He became the executive director of RARE, which stands for raptor advocacy, rehabilitation, and education, and leads a team of volunteer veterinarians and experienced raptor rehab specialists. “RARE is new, but we still believe that the three areas (rehab, research and education) marry well and we at RARE have already begun re-creating this unique combination through various connections in the greater community, including our relationship with Raptology,” Hart explained. 

RARE partners with local animal shelters, wildlife rehabilitation groups and individuals in neighboring areas, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and local veterinarians to assure the highest quality of service. “While RARE’s primary activity is rehabilitation, we also strive to raise awareness through education and research projects,” Hart said. 

The RARE Group is a 501(c)3 that can accept many types of funding but is mostly buoyed by public donations and volunteer support. The team consists of transport volunteers who act as a first response team that provides triage and rescue; licensed rehabbers that work closely with veterinarians to provide long-term medical treatment for injured, sick, or distressed raptors. A seven-member board helps ensure the program has the means to carry out its mission. “For me, it is a chance to see how individuals from so many walks of life… can come together to achieve so much good. It is the diversity of volunteer backgrounds, interests, skills and knowledge that make RARE so meaningful and...well, rare!” Hart said.

Since mid-November, RARE has taken in 21 birds for treatment. “Humans and wildlife are always finding ways to interact in ways usually detrimental to the wildlife, and habitat loss is a serious barrier to wildlife that would otherwise thrive,” Hart told The Press. Because of their size, broad territorial domains, strength, skill, and fierceness as hunters, raptors may seem invincible. But like all wildlife, raptors continually challenged for survival – and with dwindling food supplies due to human development, poisons such as lead, DDT, pesticides, rodenticides, and herbicides; poaching; navigating a perilous world of cars, trucks, power lines and electrical currents; windows on residential and taller buildings; glaring city lights that interfere with migration, and other hazards created by humans, raptors do need our help.

“We are always learning something new about food supplies and population trends,” said Hart. “With all the raptor sightings I've personally seen, along with the influx of injured raptors, I would conclude that they are out there to be found – but we have much to do to protect them for future generations.”

For more information about raptors and the RARE group, visit www.theraregroup.org.