Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center Snow Update and Cold Weather Care for our Captive Birds of Prey

Behind the scenes many folks may wonder how/what we do to care for our captive birds of prey at the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center at Radnor Lake? What happens to those great winged ambassadors when we get snow storms-temperatures plummet overnight. While they do well on their own in the wild, sometimes they need additional care based on their special needs which includes bringing them inside the education center when temperatures are below 18 degrees for any substantial amount of time.

Just like everyday of the year, our captive birds of prey under our care get only the best care-attention from our park staff during cold weather-snow events like we experienced in the Middle Tennessee Area this past week. This takes hour after hour of care by our entire park staff, putting birds out for exercise periodically throught the day, hauling buckets of water from inside to out to provide fresh water in enclosures due to winterizing of water lines to the enclosures to prevent damage-additional unnessary cost for repairs from our operations while also ensuring that our winged abassadors get the best care when temperatures drop into the single digits like we experienced this past Friday-Saturday.

Some pictures of the 7″ of snow at the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center this past week and also insight into the park staff’s efforts to bring our captive birds of prey inside overnight, exercise during daylight hours.

Special thanks to our entire park staff for working above/beyond on caring for our captive birds of prey and to partners such as Friends of Radnor Lake, Barbara J. Mapp Foundation, donors and others to provide us with the tools we need to provide additional things we need to care for these birds under our care!

Photo Credit: Brandon Jarratt
Photo Credit: Steve Ward

Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward

Photo Credit: Steve Ward
Photo Credit: Steve Ward