A Creative, Behavior-Focused Approach to Bird Enrichment

It’s a quiet afternoon on the Audubon Heart for Birds of Prey, however in Mortimer and Godiva’s aviary, it’s play time. The Turkey Vulture and Crested Caracara stare at a wierd crimson field on the ground, inching nearer with warning like a pair of cavemen investigating a crashed alien ship. Godiva approaches the field first, gingerly inspecting the pinecone within the center as Mortimer watches from a excessive perch. Immediately, Mortimer finds her confidence and nudges Godiva out of the way in which to see the field for herself. She pecks on the brown paper shapes poking out of every facet of the field, resembling fish tails. The satisfying crinkle of the paper, the problem of greedy the pinecone, the eye-catching crimson of the field: all of this makes for the right enrichment for this pair of raptors.

The Heart for Birds of Prey has a whole volunteer crew devoted to assembling and distributing enrichment — something from ping pong balls to tissue paper, sticks to paper towel rolls, that can preserve the birds engaged and busy. There are strict USDA pointers for enrichment, guaranteeing it’s all protected for the birds and the setting, however volunteers are inspired to get inventive. No person does creativity higher than Lisa Ferguson.

Rising up in Lancashire, England, Ferguson is aware of about imperiled birds of prey: Raptors just like the Osprey, White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, and Goshawk have been extirpated from the British Isles within the early twentieth century. The unlawful theft of eggs contributed to additional decline in raptor populations within the nation.

Ferguson moved to the U.S. in 1998 and has labored for Disney for the final 27 years, in a discipline that she says conjures up her curiosity about human conduct. When she began watching nest cameras, she realized she was simply as interested in raptor conduct.

“Watching nest cams is not for the faint hearted, however I am not one which views nature from an emotional perspective,” she says. “(Watching nest cams) is to witness the growing challenges all wildlife is confronted with, previous, current, and future, and in some small means, be their voice, not silent.”

In 2019, Ferguson took her curiosity in raptors off the display and into the true world when she got here throughout a name for volunteers from the Heart for Birds of Prey. It had been a traumatic 12 months for her, and volunteering with the birds that fascinated her appeared like an ideal salve. She started cleansing aviaries someday per week, and 6 years later, “it has been extra helpful to my thoughts and spirit than something a doctor may prescribe,” she says. “I discovered the peace and calm that I wanted.”

One fowl was particularly soothing for Ferguson: Paige the Bald Eagle, who handed away in December 2024 on the age of 30. However after a number of years of volunteering, Ferguson is aware of every fowl extremely effectively, together with their likes and dislikes in relation to enrichment. It’s all a part of a fancy thought course of she makes use of when designing the toys.

As soon as per week, Ferguson volunteers on the Heart crafting enrichment and delivering it to the resident birds and people in rehabilitation. She thinks concerning the species, the age, and the person fowl’s persona when making enrichment. For Scarlet the Crimson-tailed Hawk, a paper towel tube with tissue paper flowers will present most shredding alternatives. Younger Bald Eagles in rehabilitation get supplies which can be deliberately troublesome to shred, serving to them construct “sturdy necks and toned thighs moderately than hen legs,” jokes Ferguson. Ruby the Snail Kite’s enrichment usually features a lengthy, skinny stick that she will be able to extract and maintain proudly in her beak.

Ferguson says first-year birds are naturally interested in new issues of their aviaries. “They play like juveniles in nature,” she says. “pounce on a pinecone, leap round on the nest whereas flapping, choosing up sticks — simply being curious to new issues.” In the meantime, older birds are extra suspicious of and even oblivious to the objects. These birds current an actual problem for enrichment volunteers, however Ferguson leans on her expertise with human conduct to provide you with options.

“I feel that by specializing in a pure, inherent conduct and replicating that as greatest you’ll be able to, you’ll in the end tempt even probably the most obstinate of birds to be curious,” she explains. “Be repetitive together with your presence and actually apply what concerning the species. For instance, owls do not construct nests, so possibly a ‘stick-y’ creation will fall flat. And you’ll stack rocks to imitate the popular habitat of Peregrine Falcons.”

The Heart for Birds of Prey crew acknowledged Ferguson’s creativity and keenness by naming her Volunteer of the Yr in 2024, an honor that she says left her “blindsided and speechless,” — just like how Mortimer the Turkey Vulture appears to be like when she receives new enrichment!

At Audubon, we all know that birds are our superpower. Their magnificence, songs, and personalities seize the creativeness of individuals everywhere in the world. Bringing individuals collectively to grasp and recognize birds is step one towards inspiring actions that shield them.