Mission
AWBRC History
Alaska WildBird Center was founded in 2006 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in Houston, Alaska.
It was originally based at a private residence with education ambassador birds housed with permitted caretakers. In need of a permanent site of our own, in 2013 we leased 25 acres from the City of Houston. A portable school building was moved in to house the medical, bird care and food prep areas. Several outdoor mews (large outdoor cages) soon followed. All of our education birds now live on site, and we have suitable large flight cages for final strengthening of birds prior to release.
Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center will care for any wild bird in need, whether injured, sick or orphaned. Caring members of the public who spot an injured bird will call to get advice on whether or not to intervene in the situation. If rescue is need we will instruct the rescuer on the appropriate method to capture the bird and transport it to us. When a bird arrives at the Center, we evaluate its needs and draw on our experience to care for the bird in the best way possible. Some species of birds will need to be transferred to other facilities based on their specific needs. We work with other rehabilitation centers in Alaska and may transfer certain species to their facilities to rehabilitate and release. Currently those centers are Bird Treatment & Learning Center in Anchorage and Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.
AWBRC has a medical clinic, a veterinarian on call, housing for various sizes of birds, quiet locations for the birds to heal, appropriate food for all potential bird species rescued, and outdoor flight cages for final conditioning prior to release. The tiniest baby birds need hand feeding throughout the day, so our trained baby bird caretakers will take them under their wings for up to several weeks.
The happiest part of any rehabilitation is the release. We find a suitable habitat for the species and set the bird free in the company of others of its species whenever possible.