Inside the Repository

Most repository feathers come from rehab, foster and education birds, that live at the wildlife sanctuary, when they naturally molt once a year in the summer. There are containers in the front of each cage where volunteers can place feathers for the repository. Other sources are ICU birds that come to Liberty deceased or die despite treatment. Liberty Wildlife's participation in the feather repository program is ultimately to save birds lives. If Native Americans have the necessary feathers, they have no need to hunt healthy birds.

Why are you in our enclosure taking our feathers?

The feathers are then organized and their exact location is documented.

Whole birds are kept frozen until their feathers can be taken or if someone requests a whole bird.

The repository workbench

Labeled feathers

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This Week in the ICU part 2

We also had a Canadian goose egg hatch (this picture is of the baby weeks after he hatched)

A ladderback woodpecker came in with conjuntivitis 

A tiny says phoebe hatched

We have three types of baby squirrels in our care right now

Rock squirrel

Round tailed ground squirrel

Antelope squirrel

Here’s a flicker getting his daily medication

And a baby love bird about to be tube fed

Finally this is a baby jack rabbit (yes, jack rabbit eyes should look bug eyed J)

   

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This Week in the ICU part 1

This week in the ICU on my shift, we had plenty of interesting furry and feathery friends come in.

We had a baby great horned owl (top) and three baby barn owls (bottom).

A baby sparrow with a mite problem (probably why he looks so grumpy)

And two juvenile finches that just need to grow some bigger flight muscles

A black crowned night heron that broke his leg

A harris hawk that had his leg surgically pinned back together

And a baby anna’s hummingbird

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Highlights of Liberty Wildlife’s Annual Report

One source I have used throughout this project has been Liberty Wildlife’s Annual Report. Here are some highlights!

Liberty Wildlife’s Annual Budget

2011 Operating Income

2011 Operating Expense

In 2011, Liberty Wildlife assisted 3,709 native animals. That’s 131 different species! 1,378 of those animals were babies. Who did this? Well the 237 volunteers that are part of Liberty that work 3,122 volunteer hours every month!

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The Non-Eagle Repository Perspective

I was lucky enough to interview those involved in the Liberty feather repository operation and gain more insight on what problems these young pilot repositories face.

The first topic discussed was waiting periods and lists at Liberty. Online research can give estimates for Bald and Golden eagles but not any migratory birds. At Liberty, the longest waiting list is for the red tailed hawk which averages eleven months. The second most requested bird is the anhinga. Rarely any one put on this waiting list gets off simply due to the fact that anhingas do not live in Arizona and Liberty has none in its care. Therefore, the only way to get those particular feathers is through networking and asking other sanctuaries to donate and send them. Liberty has cormorant feathers which are very similar, but participants rarely accept substitutes.

When asked about relations with the Native American community, the head of the repository quickly directed me to a wall of thank you notes, letters and other gifts, handmade or bought, from happy participants. Many are grateful for this free service. However, with the good there is always the bad. The Scottsdale repository gets 20 to 30 new requests each day. Some of these requests can be filled, but pickiness can prevent it. Some participants refuse to take feathers with any blood or debris on them or refuse to take feathers unless they are part of a full tail set. Additionally, Liberty has a surplus of owl feathers, yet very few request them because to Navajo tribe members an owl is an omen of death. Liberty never brings any owls to educational presentations on reservations because it can offend and anger tribes.

I also learned that the government requires Liberty to document the exact location the feather was found before it can enter the repository.

Liberty has a good relationship with SRP in Arizona, so they call whenever they find nests or birds with exact locations for the repository and when alive for the med services.

Interestingly, the repository is often contacting and coordinating with prison wardens on whether or not Native American prisoners are entitled to any more feathers when they request them. Many requests come from prisoners reconnecting with their religion and culture.

Finally, when asked what could make this system better, I heard again and again the same thing. More repositories in different geographical regions so requests like the anhinga can be met and more grants and money to help pay for the shipping and handling of the feathers themselves.

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Working with Tribes

On the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website, there is an intriguing program working to involve tribes in conservation efforts. Grants are now available for federally recognized tribes in the United States of up to $200,000 if a tribe wishes to start a program that works for the benefit of the native wildlife and their habitats. This may include but is not limited to “planning for wildlife and habitat conservation, fish and wildlife conservation and management actions, fish and wildlife related laboratory and field research, natural history studies, habitat mapping, public education” and much more!

While proposals to receive grant money run up against stiff competition, this looks like a wonderful step forward by the U.S. F.W.S in actively seeking programs to educate, protect and conserve from within reservations themselves. Only through dual cooperation can both the Native people of Arizona and the Native wildlife of Arizona be protected. This program also addresses a question I posed towards the beginning of this project regarding money being sent towards conservation education programs on reservations.

One further step I would encourage would be grant systems for those who are not members of a federally registered tribe, yet still wish to impact the relationship between people and wildlife.

If you wish to apply for this grant, here is a link to the 2013 proposal tool:

http://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/graphics/TWG_APPLICATION_KIT.pdf

Source: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/NAL/grants.html

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Populations on the Rise

The bald eagle population in Arizona is on an all-time high. Last reports in 2010 show that 104 adult breeding pairs live in Arizona. This profound success is at large as a result from the governmental ban of DDT on December 31, 1972. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from the list of threatened and endangered species after 40 years of protection in 2007. The lowest amount of nesting pairs in the whole of the United States was 417 in 1963. By 2007, there were an estimated 9,789 breeding pairs.

Now that bald eagles are no longer considered endangered or threatened, new hunting permits are being cautiously being given out despite much criticism amongst conservationist groups. In Arizona specifically, conservationist groups sued to allow bald eagles more protection with no avail.

In March 2012, the North Arapaho Tribe received a permit to hunt for two bald eagles for religious purposes after filing a federal lawsuit for denied permits. This is a pivotal step for conservationist and repositories. New permits for religious purposes could decrease the demand and pressure off of the National Eagle Repository, yet conversely new permits could hurt the blossoming populations of bald eagles. It is all a give and take situation.

Sources: 

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/recovery/qandas.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/14/wyoming-native-american-tribe-gets-rare-permit-to-kill-bald-eagles/

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/09/28/20100928arizona-bald-eagle-population-gain.html

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