Guest Blogger Lilah H. and Why She Loves Birds

Lilah H.

Our guest blogger today did a great job of highlighting how people celebrate and become connected to birds (Saturday is International Migratory Bird Day).  Lilah H., age 11, was a Youth RaptorCorp member this past session, which is TRC’s service learning club.  She shared this story of how she fell in love with birds.  We look forward to what other journeys Lilah will have with birds in the future. 

“When I was younger I loved to play outside. I would explore nature and go on adventures. One day I was outside playing and I noticed a baby bird. It didn’t look like it could reach for the clouds like other birds could. It was too small. My brain got stuck with the thought that the bird couldn’t fly so I walked over to the bird and started flapping my arms. I knew I was a human so I wouldn’t be able to take off into flight to show the bird, but I wanted to teach it. I knew I could shout so I started to shout “fly away bird, fly”. I spent half of my afternoon outside flapping my arms and shouting “fly away bird, fly”. Finally the bird got the message the three year old human was trying to tell it. It started to frantically flap its wings. The bird rose a bit into the air but fell back down, it tried again and it took off into flight with me shouting, “fly away bird, fly!.” This experience made me love birds so much. Thus encouraged me to join Youth RaptorCorps when I was older. Know I have learned something new each meeting about birds that have made me love them more.”

Guest Blogger Donmanic Kostin for World Migratory Bird Day

Donmanic uses biofacts like this owl foot in TRC's lobby
to share his enthusiasm for teaching and learning about raptors.

Today is World Migratory Bird Day, and this Saturday is International Migratory Bird Day.  In honor of those days, we asked several guest bloggers to give their thoughts on the world we share with migratory birds. 

Our first guest is Donmanic Kostin, who has been a lobby assistant at TRC since October 2016.  With his enthusiasm and willingness to help out wherever needed, he pitches in with food preparation for the education birds, and interpreting to the public.  He is from Vladivostok, not far from Russia's border with China, and is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, in the Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology.  This summer, Donmanic will travel to Malaysia to study clouded leopards, and hopefully continue research in his interest in tigers in his region.  

“Prior to volunteering at The Raptor Center, my life had very little to do with the birds I love so much now. The city and country I lived in focused almost exclusively on having more convenience stores of which I found to be quite boring. Taming eagles, bonding with falcons sounds great but were ancient crafts only practiced by the fur-wearing people among the Ural Mountains. Urban people from my city would only dream about living in such a charismatic way with nature.

Such is what portrayed me, upon coming to the United States and starting to volunteer at The Raptor Center.

Starting as a lobby assistant volunteer, I was able to sit at my front desk and just observe normal American citizens working at The Raptor Center. It was really amazing. Prior in my life I have never seen people to actually care about “these birds”. I would even be concerned when a trainer puts his face close to an eagle, since Russians would only imagine aggression to be done from it. That by the modern way of training birds we can live with them peacefully and stimulate both of our interests struck me very deeply. The traditional Mongolian way of taming eagles - mutual starving until one side gives up - suddenly appears very primitive and rightfully belongs to the lore of history.

When there are visitors checking out TRC education birds I, as a lobby assistant, would quite “shamelessly” entertain them with some interesting facts related to the birds. I would see the visitors become genuinely impressed. And I would feel the same with them. The diverse species of raptor we house at TRC possess qualities that are worthy of appreciation in an extremely unique way. Only too often, I would wish that these birds could make an appearance in the cities I used to live.

I think the surroundings of our own lives is something worthwhile to care about and perhaps monitored closely. People who have driven the raptors away may never see them again. Such realization made me start to care about my own environment. What species of bird is it that sings on my window? Why is it not singing today? Such questions are what I ask myself to understand the changes around me and capture the broader environmental community of which I am but a humble member.

After my graduation, I wish to pass the idea of TRC to other places in the world. I believe that even the most ordinary people can immerse in the raptors’ beauty. I believe that we are capable of living with these birds with a sense of harmony and mutual appreciation. Such idea needs time and effort to be established outside the United States, and I am willing to devote my career on such idea.”

Great Horned Owlets and What You Can Do to Help

As you may already know, owls do not build their own nests. They may move into a stick nest used by crows or hawks the previous year, or they may find a suitable tree cavity in which to lay their eggs.

Previously used stick nests are usually sufficient to support the female while she incubates the eggs, but as the youngsters grow, the nest can no longer support the increased activity and youngsters often come out prematurely. Strong spring storms and spring landscaping, such as tree removal, add to the challenges nestling owls may face.

This little great horned owlet in the first photo was found in a Minneapolis metro yard after its nest structure was blown down by high winds. Terry Headley, one of TRC’s volunteers, constructed a new nest that would be sturdy and provide proper drainage during our wet spring season. The owlet was placed in the structure in TRC’s treatment room to ensure its new nest was the correct size.

Terry then transported the owlet back to its Minneapolis home. After securing the new nest to a tree, she took a quick photo (the second photo in this blog) and left so the owl family could be reunited.

What you can do to help

Give a gift today to help baby raptors.  If TRC can raise $20,000 by Friday, June 16, TRC board of advisor member, Teresa Daly and her husband Greg Konat, will contribute $5,000 to help baby raptors.


This is just the beginning of baby season for raptors in Minnesota. There are four major things you can do to help pave the way for this annual event to be a little smoother for our feathered friends:

1. Postpone cutting down trees.
2. Reduce the risk of entanglement.
3. View from a distance.
4. Check if a baby really needs help.

If you suspect a young raptor may need assistance, please call TRC if you are in our area, or call your state natural resource department or local rehabilitator for consultation. Learn more about how to help.

Using Technology to Connect Students and the Environment

Though it might not seem obvious, using technology is a very effective way to connect people with the environment. 

The Raptor Center has partnered with Flipgrid, an educational technology company founded at the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development. Over the two week period beginning May 1st, TRC Interpretive Naturalist Mike Billington and The Raptor Center will engage with students across the world on topics relating to birds, conservation, and the environment. 

You – our friends – can check in and also learn about the birds at TRC while you hear from students around the world as they discuss birds, conservation, and the environment.

This engagement is the second in the Flipgrid Explorer Series, an engagement opportunity that encourages students to think critically about the world around them. The series is open to teachers and students of all ages. Teachers are encouraged to participate and integrate the Explorer Series into their instruction in any manner they see fit.