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Birds From Wildlife Park Attend Messalonskee Association Meeting
Among the guests at the Snow Pond/Messalonskee Lake/Snow Pond Association's 2006 annual meeting were an eagle, an owl, a red-tailed hawk, a raven, and Adam Farrington, Assistant Superintendent of the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. The Wildlife Park takes in injured, orphaned, and non-releasable wildlife; among the birds at the meeting, Adam had representatives of each category. Lawrence, a yearling eagle, was the first to be presented. When a baby, his mother had disappeared; his father had died of lead poisoning from a sinker; and his siblings had perished. Lawrence had fallen out of the nest and permanently injured a wing. Eagles are of special interest on Messalonskee because the lake has its own nesting pair, on Eagle Island. An eagle's nest, Adam pointed out, should be carefully respected by human residents of the area, especially during incubation and early hatching before the babies have feathers, since in both cases over an hour without warmth means death. A safe distance is a half-mile away. Other interesting eagle notes outlined by Adam include: the males are smaller than the females, it takes eagles four to five years to reach maturity, and the adult eagle wingspan in six to eight feet. They are communal birds. And, they can see every color better than any mammal. The primary food for eagles is fish, which they are equipped to catch with their talons — three in the front and one, the longest, in the back. Sometimes they dive bomb osprey to steal fish. And they make an unattractive, bark-like sound — so unattractive that in movies the call of the red-tail hawk is dubbed over that of the eagle. Perhaps that is why the next bird Adam showed to the group was Merle. Merle is a permanently injured (hunting accident) red-tailed hawk whose beautiful tail pattern contains an usual white feather, a replacement which grew when he lost a "red" one. As with the eagles, male hawks are smaller than females. Merle was followed by Virgil, a young barn owl who cannot be rehabilitated because he had been "rescued" and imprinted by humans. An owl is designed for quiet flight and has two talons facing forward, two back to catch its prey. Its eyes are fixed, which is why it has to turn its whole head to see, and they reflect light — which is why the owl sees better in the dark. But it doesn't hunt at night with its eyes; an owl has extremely large ears and excellent hearing. And it is through its ear tufts that it expresses emotion and curiosity. 
Merle was followed by Hagrid, a raven born at the Wildlife Park — one of only three places in the world where ravens have bred in captivity. Because Hagrid was one of four chicks, too many for the parents to raise, two were hand-raised to become "educational" birds. "Very curious, very playful, and truly intelligent," is how Adam describes Hagrid. How do you recognize a raven versus a crow? A raven has a V-shaped tail and is much larger. How can you visit Lawrence, Merle, Virgil, and Hagrid? Go to the Gray Wildlife Park, Exit 63, off the Maine Turnpike. | ||
