The Raptor Center

Each July, TRC and P4W (Partners for Wildlife) welcome new interns who will work and learn with us in the coming year. Our three interns for 2026-27 bring a rich set of experiences, interests, and goals.

Dr. Mary Doerr, a graduate of North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, completed a rotating internship at IronHorse VetCare Emergency and Specialty Care Center in Dublin, CA from 2024-25. For the past year, she has been doing relief veterinary work and has served as a board member at WildCare in San Rafael, CA. Dr. Mary has a special interest in conservation medicine and human-wildlife interactions. After her internship at TRC, she intends to pursue another internship or residency with the goal of becoming board-certified in wildlife medicine.

Dr. Meghan Tapia, a graduate of Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine, spent the past year completing a rotating internship at Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota. One of the most impactful experiences in her veterinary journey, she says, was a study abroad program in Guatemala. There she worked with a variety of native wildlife species in a rehabilitation setting, solidifying her passion for a career that will contribute to conservation efforts through wildlife and zoo medicine.

Dr. Cam Stewart, our P4W intern, graduated from The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine, then completed a rotating internship at Tufts University. For the past year, Dr. Cam was the head veterinarian at RAREC (Rainforest Awareness Rescue Education Center) in Iquitos, Peru, where he got to work with South American primates, anteaters, and tapirs. Dr. Cam has a special interest in raccoons and raptors. He’s hoping to get board-certified in wildlife medicine and travel the world helping people who live at the intersection of human-animal interaction with their issues surrounding shared spaces.

We look forward to working with our three new interns, hearing more about their past experiences, and being part of their journey as they continue to launch veterinary careers that will make a positive impact on wildlife and the world we share.

We are excited to share that registration is now open for our Raptor Ambassador Care and Training virtual course and hands-on workshop! If you work with a collection or ambassador raptors and want to improve or brush up on your management and training skills, we would be delighted for you to join us. The virtual course meets once per week for 6 weeks starting Sept 29 and is mandatory to be eligible to attend the 2.5-day workshop at TRC Nov 9th-11th. For more details, visit https://raptor.umn.edu/raptor-care-and-management.

Raptor Ambassador Care and Training Workshop The Raptor Center, Raptor Ambassador Care and Training Workshop

Want to be a World Cup champion for owls? It’s easy, with one small act – taking down soccer nets at the end of your game whenever possible. It’s the time of year when TRC’s raptor hospital sees entanglement injuries in birds, often great horned owls that get caught in soccer nets. Last week we had two such cases.

As juvenile owls hone their new flight and hunting skills, their goal, perhaps a vole or a mouse, may lie just beyond a net. These less-experienced young birds are so focused on hunting that they don’t always see a soccer net in the dark and get caught while zeroing in on their target. Adult owls also suffer injuries from netting entanglement.

In rescuing such a bird, it’s more complicated than simply cutting the bird free. Entangled birds, as well as other wildlife, risk a serious condition called capture myopathy, caused by extreme levels of physical exertion and stress as they struggle to break free, resulting in profound muscle breakdown.

Delayed constriction injuries are also a risk. Often, the netting gets wrapped tightly around a bird’s wings and legs as it struggles to free itself, cutting off circulation to those areas. Although there may not be obvious injuries when the bird is initially freed, a lack of adequate blood supply can result in tissues (skin, tendons, muscles) dying off over subsequent days. It can take time for the severity to reveal itself, so we want to not only thoroughly examine these birds immediately upon admission, but also monitor them closely for several days.

While some sports netting is stationary, if you ARE able to lower or lay it flat when not in use, you can greatly reduce these types of injuries for raptors and possibly save an owl’s life. We also recommend not snacking around these nets, as crumbs can attract rodents, which in turn attract hawks and owls. And if you do see a bird trapped in a net, please call our raptor hotline at 612-625-4745.

Hurry, the window is closing! If you are a raptor rehabilitator or veterinarian, don’t miss your opportunity to join the current session of Raptor Academy on Demand which runs through December 31, 2026. Benefits include 24/7 access to a site that contains instructional videos, photos, and downloadable resources; a private Facebook group to discuss cases and anything raptor-related; and the opportunity to expand your network and meet with other members monthly, including TRC staff. The deadline to register is Friday, July 31, so hurry!

Raptor Academy on Demand: Rehabilitation The Raptor Center, Raptor Academy on Demand: Rehabilitation

During this busy baby season, we have young patients of all ages in TRC’s raptor hospital, from “floofy” nestlings covered in downy baby feathers to fledglings. As young birds grow, the transition is seen in their feathers. It sometimes makes for an “awkward teenage stage,” as you can see in this young merlin with vestiges of down resembling pantaloons on its lower legs.

When baby raptors hatch, they’re covered with fluffy down, which, depending on the species, can be white, cream, buff/tan. or gray. This protective coat traps heat and keeps them warm. As they grow, the down is gradually replaced by “blood feathers,” actively growing feathers that have a blood supply; these photos show the flight feathers in the wings and tail. As they develop, the keratin (protein) sheath surrounding the soft growing feather shafts dissolves into dust and the shafts harden. By the time flight feathers replace the down, the youngsters are considered fledglings, ready to try out their wings!

TRC’s reputation as an international leader in raptor medicine has long drawn veterinary professionals from around the world who come here to hone their skills and bring their knowledge back to their home countries. In June, veterinarian and falconer Dr. Agustín Anzoategui traveled from Dubai, where he works with high-performance racing falcons, to complete a 3-week externship, working and learning alongside TRC’s veterinary staff.

During his childhood in his native Argentina, it was his father’s love of falcons that inspired Dr. Augustín to become a raptor veterinarian. In the pioneering text "Biomedicine in Raptors," co-edited by TRC cofounder Dr. Pat Redig, he saw the chapter “A Research Hospital for Falcons” by Dr. Kenton Riddle, about a state-of-the-art falcon hospital in Abu Dhabi, which led to his eventual work there.

Falconry holds tremendous importance in the Middle East and is deeply rooted in Bedouin culture. For centuries, the Bedouin fed themselves through the winter by capturing falcons during their seasonal migration south. After hunting with the birds, they released the falcons back into the population as they migrated north.

Of his time at TRC, Dr. Agustín said, “Working in their state-of-the-art hospital with incredible species like bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, American peregrines, and Cooper's hawks was spectacular. The veterinary staff are so knowledgeable, and the rehabilitators and volunteers do such amazing work! I leveled up my surgical skills, dove deep into avian influenza monitoring, and gathered invaluable knowledge to bring back to Dubai.” He observed a variety of surgeries and the fitting of juvenile bald eagles with GPS transmitters, then joined in the return of one of those fledglings back to its nest area.

“Lastly, having the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with TRC founder and pioneer on raptor medicine, Dr. Pat Redig, who recounted the time he was flown to Bahrain to perform surgery on the king’s important hunting falcon, was a dream come true!”

Are you a procrastinator? Well, if you are a raptor rehabilitator or veterinarian, don’t wait too long to join Raptor Academy on Demand! This six-month learning opportunity runs from July 1-December 31, 2026, and provides anytime access to information on general raptor rehabilitation topics, instructional videos, photos, and downloadable resources that answer many of the most common rehabilitation questions. You also get the opportunity monthly to meet with TRC staff and other members virtually – it is a great group of people! To learn more, check out TRC’s website:

Raptor Academy on Demand: Rehabilitation The Raptor Center, Raptor Academy on Demand: Rehabilitation

This August, join us FREE for a discussion on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (aka H5 Bird Flu) through the perspectives of wildlife carers/rehabilitators around the world.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has recently been detected in southern Australia, which means that this illness has been detected on every continent worldwide. While rehabbers in many areas of the world have had to adapt to manage the threat of HPAI for years now, others are just beginning to consider their best next steps.

This Information Sharing Session will feature an international panel including rehabilitators from regions already impacted by the illness and HPAI researchers. The panel will explore how rehabilitators have changed their protocols, facilities, and approach in response to HPAI - what worked, what didn't, and the most important lessons learned from the experience. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from one another and explore a variety of approaches to a complex problem.

Register here: https://bit.ly/HPAI0826

Captions and translated captions are available! Individuals who attend for at least 75% of the event run time under their own name will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Please feel free to share this invitation to your networks!

In Minnesota, air quality as a result of ongoing wildfires has been poor, and currently, it has reached dangerous levels . People have weather reports alerting us to take precautions from coming threats, like staying indoors. Our wildlife, however, doesn't have that luxury. And so, you may be wondering about the effect of poor air quality on birds.

Notably, The Raptor Center has not seen an increase in patients as a direct result of air quality. The impact of air pollution in combination with other health conditions would most likely arise in the days ahead, if at all. For now, we can monitor for any widespread changes to the sensitive respiratory systems of the birds we admit. Their respiratory systems are highly specialized to move air more quickly and efficiently than in mammals to supply their tissues with oxygen. They contain relatively small lungs and an amazing collection of air sacs that act as bellows to move air through the system. As a result, we could see the long-term effects of poor air quality in birds before we see them in mammals, including ourselves.

We are closely monitoring our raptor ambassadors and taking precautions by moving some birds indoors as a result of both the air quality and the high heat. We hope folks are taking precautions too!