Building Dreams

By

Scott Robins, Head Trainer

Scott Robins Edutainment, Inc.

Imagine a place where falcons fly free, demonstrating the power of their strike. A place where you can have the rare opportunity to experience having a raptor fly to and from your gauntlet. Imagine a place where birds  from all over the world are the focus of all the visitors. And imagine a place where we can end the cycle of unwanted parrots winding up in a rescue because they can be placed in a permanent home with lots of enrichment. Here in the United States, we have three public aviaries. The Tracy Aviary is located in Salt Lake City, Utah and operates on about 5 acres. St. Louis is home to the World Bird Sanctuary. And Philadelphia is home to the National Aviary. You can go to www.youtube.com and search either of these facilities to get a taste. In Niagara Falls, Canada, Bird Kingdom is a top tourist attraction. In Singapore, you can find the Jurong Bird Park. The UK is home to several Bird Parks.

Several months ago, I had this conversation with one of my colleagues. “Do you think a public bird park would fly in the Chicago Area? I asked.”  We sat, drinking our coffee. At times, my office phone is just swamped with calls from people that want to get rid of their birds. It made me think about my own birds. As educators, we travel all over teaching conservation. I am always striving to improve my own knowledge and skills and I passed my Illinois Department of Natural Resources Exam for Falconry last fall. That permit is totally different from just an Education Permit. It is the beginning of a 7 year journey to become a Master Falconer. Not bad for an old parrot guy! My mistake is that I should have done this years ago. My colleague is one of the most respected birdmen in the world. Many zoos would not have had the successes that they had in their collections without him. And Internationally, he is a well respected master falconer.  In some ways I think we were both looking for a way to leave a legacy of our life’s work, not necessarily for ourselves, rather for our children and yours. After further discussion, he responded, “yes.”

A few months have passed as we reached out to fellow aviculturalists, falconers, and friends. We continued to discuss our idea and out of a conversation and a cup of coffee, The International Heritage Conservancy was born. Papers were filed to form the organization and suddenly an old Farm that sits on a marsh has the potential to be home to a future public aviary. This year’s falcons are being hand reared and training will begin shortly. And this fall, you may have the opportunity to experience the ancient art of falconry, known in Kazakhstan at least 1000BC and in Japan around 720 BC. And before I knew it, we also had two Eurasian Eagle Owls added to the Aviary. Friends in the professional bird world are very interested. And we started to think about how people and cultures around the world have a connection to birds.  I always talk in my programs about how parrots were important in establishing trade routes between the Indians of Central and South America and the Indians of the southwest United States. In fact the Pueblo Indians, specifically, the Zuni Indians had a sect called the Macaw People. The Comanche Indian Nation runs an organization called Sia, The Ethno Ornithological Initiative in Oklahoma. They too are interested in the relationship that people have had with birds. They are very active in Aviculture and are licensed by our government to run a repository for the feathers of birds of prey. Each received feather is cataloged and may be redistributed to Indians that need feathers for their cultural needs legally.

From my years working as a manufacture for the zoo community, you hear a lot about master planning. This is where you lay out your exhibit ideas and get yourselves to a point to commit to building it. I knew that Falconry and Raptors had to play into the facility. Free Flight shows need to be part of the fun. But our group also believes that the closer we can get our guests to the birds, the impact of their visit and our conservation message would have even more meaning. Just a few years back, a few zoos started to do Lorie Flights and nectar feeding opportunities. Now zoos are capitalizing on budgie, cockatiel, rosella, and grass parakeet walk in flights.  Underwater World at the Mall of America tells a story of water passing from the streams, rivers, and lakes of Minnesota , The Mississippi, The Gulf, and the Caribbean. The Aquarium at Mandalay Bay tells a story of the fish and animal life of Indonesia.

Can we tell a story? Perhaps the journey of falconry from the east to the west. The Domes of Milwaukee present a conceptual idea of building walk through habitats including rainforest and desert. And honestly, I am a true believer in not mixing birds, fish, and animals together in an exhibit if they would not live together in the wild. There is an old greenhouse on the property. The frame stands strong. Immediately, I envision covering it with mesh for a flight training building. Hawks and parrots alike could use this space. We laugh a bit as we toss ideas around. “By the way, Australia is represented already. Huh? I said. Did you forget, there is a pair of Emu out at the farm”.  Suddenly, I am no longer playing Zoo Tycoon on my computer. This is not a game. This is real.  

The IHC International Aviary is a dream. Somehow, the puzzle pieces are starting to connect and it is time to build an organization filled with bird lovers of all kinds that want to help create a truly unique facility filled with numerous interactive experiences, educational programs, and beautiful aviaries.  If you need inspiration, fire up YouTube and take a look at  The Tracy Aviary, The National Aviary, and Walter Crawford’s place, The World Bird Sanctuary. They all started with a dream. Bird Lovers Wanted. Help us Build a Dream. Feel free to email me if you would like more information.

Best Regards,

Scott Robins

Scott.robins@sbcglobal.net