by Inger Giuffrida, executive director, and Elise Gundlach, operations director, WildCare Oklahoma
Photos courtesy of WildCare Oklahoma
Spring means baby season for wildlife in Oklahoma. It is one of the most ecologically diverse states, so that means many varied species are laying and hatching eggs or birthing young. Every year, WildCare Oklahoma admits thousands of animals orphaned because their nests are destroyed by ill-timed yardwork and tree removal, their habitats are razed for roads and buildings, or their parents are cruelly trapped and relocated or killed. In 2024, WildCare admitted more than 8,400 animals for care.
Why Renest Baby Raptors?
Although the veterinary and rehabilitation teams at WildCare provide the best care available for injured, ill, and orphaned wildlife in the state, nothing can ever match the care parents provide their offspring in their natural environments. For raptors in particular — eagles, hawks, owls, and falcons — that care extends to teaching the youngsters to fly and hunt for survival. Therefore, WildCare has increased its focus in the past few years on the reunification and renesting of baby raptors whenever possible. Quickly getting them back to their parents improves their chances of success over the long term.
Renesting and Reunification Take Volunteers
As babies grow from nestlings to hatchlings, some nests can become crowded. Some raptors such as great horned owls are notoriously poor nest builders. They often opt for an existing nest built by red-tailed hawks. If the owls must build their own nests, the nests are often insufficiently strong as babies grow. That can result in babies falling from nests.
When WildCare receives calls about such accidents, the goal is to get the baby eagle, hawk, owl, or falcon to the WildCare Oklahoma Golden Family Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Noble to be evaluated by the veterinary team. If the baby is not injured and its body condition is good — meaning it has been well fed and is developing normally — staff members collaborate with volunteers to get the young raptor back to its parents.
It takes an entire cast to make this work. Here are the roles volunteers fill in WildCare’s raptor renesting and reunification team:
Transporters. Transport volunteers collect baby raptors that have fallen from their nests (if the people that find the baby are unable to transport) and drive them to WildCare for health checks and medical or supportive care if needed.
Scouters. Scouters investigate the nesting area to help locate the parents, siblings, and exact nest location. They take photos and look for clues to ensure that the parents are still in the area. This is essential for renesting. Sometimes the people that find the baby raptor volunteer to fill this role.
Watchers. Watcher volunteers provide the WildCare staff with updates on the nest before and after reuniting the baby with its family. The volunteers ensure that the renesting was successful and that mom and dad have resumed the care of their baby.
Climbers. To help reach nesting locations, WildCare relies heavily on climbing volunteers. People with climbing experience and equipment renest dozens of raptors each year. Some of the nests are so hard to reach, cherry pickers or boom lifts are required. Tree-removal companies make ideal partners for this work.
Spotters. Safety is the job for spotters. They assist climbers in keeping an eye on raptor parents during the renesting and help to secure equipment from the ground.
Raptors in Oklahoma and at WildCare
Oklahoma has more than two dozen distinct species of raptors. From 2015 to 2024, WildCare admitted 5,260 raptors for care. Representing 25 species and ranging in age from nestlings to adults, WildCare’s most common patients are Mississippi kites (long-distance migrants from South America that nest and rear their young in Oklahoma), great horned owls (one of the two largest owl species in North America), barred owls, red-shouldered hawks, and red-tailed hawks. Although not as common, WildCare also has admitted bald and golden eagles, ferruginous hawks, peregrine falcons, American kestrels, osprey, and burrowing owls, among others.
Last year, WildCare successfully renested 43 baby raptors out of 66 attempts. WildCare attempts reunification only if conditions warrant — the raptor parents are confirmed in the area and still caring for the nest or searching for their missing baby; people can monitor the nest after the renesting attempt; and if climbing is required, people can make the climb safely.
Although only a few raptors are listed as endangered, all raptors are in danger, and their populations are declining. The reasons are all caused by humans — habitat loss and fragmentation, poisoning from rodenticide and lead ammunition, illegal shooting or trophy hunting, collisions with power infrastructure and buildings, light pollution, climate change, and politics.
It is federally illegal to maim, kill, or interfere with the nest of any raptors or migratory birds. Sadly, however, WildCare receives dozens of raptors every year that have been callously shot or poisoned.
More Than Nestlings Can Be Reunited
A kind person from eastern Oklahoma brought a nestling barn owl to WildCare after having found it at the base of an abandoned schoolhouse. Reuniting the owl with his family took two attempts. First, the renesting team investigated the site but determined that the original nest was inaccessible because of a collapsing roof. Therefore, the owlet was raised at WildCare until he reached the age when he would have naturally started to leave the nest. Birds at that stage of development are called fledglings.
Staff members then took the owlet back to release him near the original nest site. At dusk, they played recordings of barn-owlet begging calls, and one of the adult barn owls popped out of a hole in the roof to investigate. It was a success! The original rescuers of the owlet lived within sight of the building and took over monitoring to ensure that everything continued to go well.
What You Can Do
If you find a baby raptor on the ground, first clear the area of people and pets. Then call WildCare for assistance at (405) 872-9338. WildCare is open 365 days a year, and the phones are staffed from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day.
Consider volunteering for the raptor renesting and reunification team.
Most important, be a voice for the protection and conservation of raptors and other wildlife. Encourage your neighbors, friends, and family members to avoid using rodenticides, never shoot raptors, report people who shoot raptors to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, and forgo tree work during spring and summer.
You can play a critical role in getting raptors back to their parents and helping to protect these magnificent birds that give humans so much. They keep rodent populations in control without poisoning the environment, clean up carrion, inspire wonder, and represent freedom as they gracefully soar in the skies above beautiful Oklahoma.
