From Display to Free Flight: A Journey in Trust and Stewardship

Over the past several months, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside two wildlife educators at Bear Creek Nature Center in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. They were interested in learning training techniques that could provide a richer, more engaging experience for the birds in their care.

We started our work with their Great Horned Owl to help her become more comfortable on the glove for static programs, and she’s doing phenomenally well.

Most of our focus, however, has been on their Turkey Vulture and the process of developing a confident, responsive free-flighted bird. But this work is about so much more than the mechanics of getting a bird to fly.

It’s about stewardship.

This vulture spent the first couple years of his life largely on display, with interactions primarily limited to basic husbandry. He was wary of people and had simply never had much opportunity to build the kind of trust and partnership that comes through intentional training. To watch him begin to find his confidence, develop trust, and discover capabilities he didn’t previously have the opportunity to explore has been incredible.

We utilize a holistic, science-based approach to bird training that incorporates positive reinforcement, desensitization, careful observation, and an understanding of the bird as an individual. We use the principles of learning theory to reinforce behaviors we want to see repeated, while breaking more complex behaviors into manageable steps that allow the bird to succeed.

But the science is only part of it.

It’s also about learning to read the bird—to understand his body language, recognize changes in comfort, respect his thresholds, and give him opportunities for choice. The goal isn’t to make a bird comply. It’s to encourage a bird that is confident, engaged, and willing to participate. It’s to show him respect in such a way that, in turn, he’s willing to share a part of his own wildness with us.

And as the bird learns, so do his caretakers.

Both of the educators I’ve been working with have been absolute sponges—soaking up everything from natural history and ethology to conservation issues and the subtle art of interpreting what the bird is communicating before asking it for more.

Watching them grow alongside their bird has been every bit as rewarding as watching the bird develop.

But this is only the beginning.

When you steward a collection of wild animals, training is never truly “finished.” Behavior changes. Circumstances change. Birds grow, mature, and develop new preferences and abilities. And the people caring for them continue learning right alongside them—including myself, even after 20+ years in!

That’s why I’m excited to build partnerships with places like Bear Creek. We grow as our programs grow. By sharing knowledge, experience, and resources, we can help create the best possible environment for the birds in our collections—and nurture the confident, skilled stewards these animals deserve.

Because this work creates a ripple effect:

• a more enriching life for the birds in our care

• more confident and knowledgeable educators

• a more meaningful experience for guests who come to learn about the incredible animals we share this world with

And when all of those pieces come together, we create something bigger than a moment with an animal—we create a connection to the natural world that stays with someone long after the program ends.

Because conservation is the ultimate goal.

And for me, the birds are always the reason.

••••

Enjoy the video diary below. A few of our favorite moments from our training journey so far. Trust, confidence, communication, and lots of little victories along the way.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/098eba_07fe150c6b984837bed07502d4d226fb/file