Liz Orwig (left) and Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center hold the cage door open and wait as they release a young female peregrine falcon at Kanawha State Forest Saturday.
Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center holds Gimli, an American Kestrel, during a presentation of their "Wings of Wonder: WV birds of Prey" at Kanawha State Forest Saturday.
Liz Orwig (left) and Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center hold the cage door open and wait as they release a young female peregrine falcon at Kanawha State Forest Saturday.
Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center holds Gimli, an American Kestrel, during a presentation of their "Wings of Wonder: WV birds of Prey" at Kanawha State Forest Saturday.
A young female peregrine falcon was set free at Kanawha State Forest after being featured in Three Rivers Avian Centers' "Wings of Wonder: WV Birds of Prey" presentation Saturday.
The bird was found June 8 in traffic near Huntington. When Dr. Missy Bentley, of Guyan Animal Hospital and an intake veterinarian for Three Rivers Avian Centers, noticed the wounded falcon, she stopped traffic to rescue the bird.Â
Bentley took the bird to Guyan Animal Hospital and stabilized it until Three Rivers Avian Center transport volunteer Liz Orwig could get there a few hours later to transport it to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. The falcon had a broken radius and ulna.
Dr. Sarah Stephenson of Good Shepherd Veterinary Hospital surgically placed a temporary pin to stabilize the bird's wing despite the fracture being in a difficult location, and the peregrine was moved to the Three Rivers Avian Center facility in Brooks. Once the surgical pin was removed several weeks later, the rehabilitation work began.
It took several weeks before the peregrine could get much lift for flight. Before her release, she was doing laps in the center's Flight Barn Continual Flyway at full speed, said Wendy Perrone, executive director at Three Rivers Avian Center.
The peregrine was released Saturday afternoon at Kanawha State Forest by Orwig.
The falcon's release is in time for fall migration, according to center officials, who decided to release the bird at the forest because of its proximity to the Kanawha River, where other peregrines have been seen.
"It's always fun to see a bird fly free and it's a great way to end the time with our audience," said Perrone.
The educational "Wings of Wonder: WV Birds of Prey" program is designed for all ages, Perrone said. It teaches children and adults about birds in their local area and tips on how to help wild birds, which people can do in their daily lives. The program will also teach guests what to look out for in migration.
Three Rivers Avian Center is a nonprofit that cares for injured wild birds and tries to return them to the wild. It does a lot of environmental and education programming and participates in research and restoration projects. The nonprofit takes in anywhere between 250 to 350 patients a year, Perrone said, including everything from hummingbirds to eagles, as long as the bird is not an endangered species.
TRAC's educational outreach programs usually reach somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 people every year, Perrone said.
To learn more about TRAC and the "Wings of Wonder: WV Birds of Prey" program, visit .
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