The Propagation Department of the World Bird Sanctuary is an extremely busy department. Eggs, hatchlings, fledglings and parents require a significant amount of care and observation. We have successfully bred eagle owls, European barn owls, common barn owls, spectacled owls, mottled owls, tawny owls, golden eagles, bald eagles, Egyptian vultures, Andean condors, black vultures, turkey vultures, king vultures, peregrine falcons, saker falcons, lanner falcons, European kestrels, augur buzzards, savannah hawks, great black hawks, Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks, thick-billed parrots, African pied crows, white-naped raven and Abdim's storks. We also welcomed new pairs of red-legged seriemas and white-tailed sea eagles.

We are proud to have produced both the first wedge-tailed eagles and the first auger buzzards hatched in North America.

Propagation has also taken care of and released orphaned kestrels, sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, red-shouldered hawks, bald eagles, great horned owls, barred owls, barn owls, peregrine falcons, and even turkey vultures! If you find a baby bird, do not remove it from its nesting area unless you are certain it is injured. Young birds will stray from the nest as they are learning to fly; if you know where the nest is, you can safely put the baby directly back in the nest and the parents will continue to care for it. If you can't reach the nest, put the baby on a high branch in the same tree. It's a myth that parent birds will reject a baby because of the scent on our hands - most birds have no sense of smell at all!

In Spring of 2004 a 3-day-old bald eagle chick in Nebraska was orphaned by a storm.  He was rescued by Nebraska Raptor Recovery and transferred to the World Bird Sanctuary.  Killer and Dutch, our breeding bald eagles, had laid two infertile eggs that year, so we introduced the then 15-day-old chick to them and held our breath!  Success!  Dutch & Killer accepted the chick as their own and raised him for release back into the wild.

World Bird Sanctuary is proudly working with the AZA on reintroduction of Andean condors into the wild.  Our breeding condors, Andino & Evita and Laurel & Gryph produce and raise chicks, and their young offspring are transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo where they acclimate to living in groups of four or five.  When they are ready, these groups of young condors are taken to South America for release into the wild.

To schedule a behind-the-scenes tour of our breeding and behavioral studies facilities*, please call 636-861-3225.
*available only during non-breeding season June 1 thru Nov. 30.