Soarin’ Hawk Raptor Rehabilitation Center, the non-profit organization that rescues and rehabilitates raptors, broke ground for its new home on Thursday, May 16. Soarin’ Hawk’s new home will be on Lima Road in Huntertown.
The nearly nine-acre site will enable the group to bring together two separate operations, a medical unit for injured raptors and, miles away, pens for both recovering and permanently housed birds. The ICU and the pens have been on loaned properties, and Soarin’ Hawk has been looking for suitable sites for several years.
As the result of a successful capital campaign, Soarin’ Hawk will construct:
• Modern recovery enclosures and habitats that are designed to provide a natural setting for the raptors, while minimizing maintenance.
• An aviary that will allow volunteers to exercise multiple birds in all weather conditions, which will result in injured birds-of-prey being returned to their natural environment much quicker.
• An operations building that will provide climate-controlled space for triage and treatment; a preparation area for raptors’ food, and a base for Soarin’ Hawk’s volunteers.
The site work will also include restoration of a portion of the land for prairie, pollinator and riparian habitats.
The project is expected to be completed in the fall.
ABOUT SOARIN’ HAWK RAPTOR REHABILITATION CENTER:
Soarin’ Hawk is a volunteer-based non-profit founded in 1996 that rescues more than 250 raptors annually throughout Indiana, Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. After rehabilitation, birds are released back into the wild in the area where they were found. The organization also does more than 100 educational presentations annually that reach 10,000 children and adults in schools, libraries and other public venues. For these programs, volunteers use 16 birds that are permanent residents with Soarin’ Hawk because they have suffered injuries that prevent them from being able to hunt. These raptors include hawks, owls, kestrels and an eagle.
For more information, go to the Soarin’ Hawk website: www.soarinhawk.org or call 260-241-0134 if you find an injured raptor.
