A wonderful story from our friends at Golden Gate Audubon: 8 year old student from San Francisco was inspired to build owl boxes after visiting the California Raptor Center in Davis! Thanks to everyone who helped make his project possible ❤️ goldengateaudubon.org/blog-posts/meaningful-help-for-owls/

Forrest came to the California Raptor Center on April 14, 2015 as an orphan, brought in by a rescuer who had found him on the ground and kept him--illegally--for a couple of weeks. We determined that Forrest was about 20 days old when he arrived, and in the time he was in captivity before being brought to us, he had imprinted on humans. Being imprinted on humans means that Forrest is unable to be released. From his first days with us, Forrest was very calm, indicating that he would make a good education ambassador for the Center. Visitors love meeting Forrest during outreach events, especially when he hoots at them!

Happy California Wildlife Day from the California Raptor Center! California Wildlife Day was formally established through legislation sponsored by Senator Bill Monning and passed in the California Senate in March 2017. It will be celebrated every year on the Spring Equinox (so Happy Spring too!).

Earlier this week we had the privilege of observing Dr. Bill Ferrier (former director of the California Raptor Center) perform the unusual "imping" procedure on an injured red-tailed hawk that had been brought to us. It was also a wonderful teaching opportunity for 2 of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine's Companion Avian & Exotic Animal Service residents, who had the chance to imp a few feathers under Dr. Ferrier's supervision. 6 imped feathers later, this red-tailed hawk was released that very same day (after Operations Manager Bret Stedman checked its flying ability on a creance line). Learn more about imping in this video documenting the procedure! [Music is "Window Shopping" by Podington Bear--Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0)]

Former California Raptor Center director Dr. William Ferrier returned to imp* feathers onto a red-tailed hawk that had been brought in due to serious flight feather damage. 3 UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine residents were also trained by Dr. Ferrier to perform this unique procedure. The process involved new (replacement) feathers, whittled wooden sticks (in this case, chopsticks!), and epoxy adhesive. *Imping: to insert (new feathers) into the stumps of broken feathers in order to repair the wing of a hawk or falcon.

Here's the full interview w/ UC Davis graduate student & longtime California Raptor Center volunteer Jess Schlarbaum on the topic of American kestrel boxes! Hosted by One Health Institute COO Matt Blake

GUESS 'HOO' IT IS: this #ThrowbackThursday, guess which California Raptor Center resident is pictured in this photo from 2016?

HUGE thanks to everyone who bought limited edition FLOAT apparel this past week: you helped raise $1,081 for the California Raptor Center. Your support helps us continue to provide life-saving care for raptors in our area. Here's a grateful slow-mo FLUFF from our resident kestrel Kalli (who was also the star of the FLOAT design):

Last chance to get this limited edition shirt design featuring the Warhol-ized face of our beloved American kestrel resident Kalli! $8 from every item sold will be donated to California Raptor Center--shirts, sweatshirts, and even totes can be purchased at float.org/collections/crc until 1:30PM PST today. They will not be available after this deadline so get yours while you still can!

Our resident golden eagle Sullivan looks like he's showing off at Yolo Basin Foundation's Duck Days event this past weekend! Thanks so much for inviting us out to participate in this great festival celebrating Northern California's wetlands & wildlife 🌎🦆🦉🦅

Thank you to everyone who has already ordered one of our limited edition shirts! We finally passed the $1,000 mark! Youth sizes & tote bag options are also available for purchase until 1:30PM PST tomorrow! $8 from every item purchased will be donated to the California Raptor Center by the good people at FLOAT - For Love Of All Things. Shop at www.float.org/collections/crc

Here's a visual comparison of our two resident American kestrels: left is our unnamed male, right is our female named Kalli! You can help support the care of these amazing birds as well as any injured or orphaned raptor brought to the California Raptor Center by purchasing one of our limited edition kestrel shirts at float.org/collections/crc ~ they're available until next Tuesday!