Orange County Environmental Protection Division

Eastern Screech Owl Babies

Thank you to the following participating groups: Orange Audubon Society, Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society, Pine Lily Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society, Orlando Science Center, Art & History Museums- Maitland, Orange County Environmental Protection Division

10am - 2pm

Each Spring the Center holds its annual Baby Owl Shower to raise funds to offset the increased costs during baby season. Join us to celebrate Mother’s Day and spring. Non-releasable baby raptors will be available to view (pending). Other organizations will be joining us this day for educational activities and programs. Admission is “free” that day with that is used in caring for these young raptors. Contact the Center at 407-644-0190 for more details or if you have questions.

Spring is coming and with it brings baby bird season. During “baby season, ” as the Center calls it, the clinic receives approximately 20% of our annual patient load. Most of these young birds have been temporarily displaced from their nests. The Center’s ultimate goal is to get all these babies back into the wild where they belong, and we need your help! Many of these babies will be reunited with their families or placed in foster nests. Others that are orphaned or that cannot be returned with their families are being raised and prepared for life in the wild. Center staff spends many hours educating the public on what to do if they find a baby bird and if the bird is in need of help. The best procedure is to get the baby back up into the nest with its parents if at all possible.

All Funds raised will help offset the cost during baby bird season. Funds will be used to buy food, medications, medical care and other essential supplies. To give you an idea of what it takes to care for these youngsters, a typical season looks like this:

• FOOD…287 pounds of fish, 148 quail, 595 chicks, 679 mice, 93 rats, 5000 crickets and 4000 mealworms. We went through 2 knives and three pairs of scissors cutting it all up into baby-size portions!
• HYDRATION…12, 000ml of fluids were administered.
• CLEAN-UP…we washed 956 baby blankets and used 150 pounds of newspaper.
• LABOR…500+ volunteer hours were donated to rescue, feed, clean cages and care for the babies.

We need your help! Donate to help these birds get back to their natural habitat.

Nestlings Fund: Make a donation to the Center (in the notes section, please enter: ACBOP nestlings fund). Nestlings require an extremely specialized type of bird care. Many baby birds fall from the nest and are quickly returned. Nestlings are birds that typically still have their downy (fuzzy type) feathers and are very easily imprinted. Staff use puppets and sounds to imitate parents and take extreme care not to “imprint” the baby bird. These guys require feeding three to four times daily, some require five times daily. Funds will be used to purchase baby food—LOTS OF IT.

Flight school Fund: Make a donation to the Center (in the notes section, please enter: ACBOP flight school fund). Pre-Fledglings range in age depending on the species (baby eaglets are approx 10-12 weeks old) and are about ready to leave their nest. They spend time exercising their wings by flapping and sometimes “jumping” the nest too early. We have a network of folks who climb trees to help put these guys back with their families. Climbers cost approximately $150 to place a bird back into the nest and are used between 5-12 times a year.

In Kind gifts: The Center needs many other materials to help our clinical and rehabilitation programs, education programs and general operations. We need your donations of equipment and/or supplies. View our detailed to see what gift you would like to give to one of Florida's raptors. All gifts are tax deductible.