Audubon Center for Birds of Prey

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is located in Maitland, Florida and was founded in 1979. The center has treated more than 12,000 orphaned and injured birds, nearly half of which have been released back into the wild. The center specializes in owls, eagles, hawks, falcons and kites. It is one of the most well-known and successful bird rehabilitation centers in North America. The center also makes it its mission to educate the public and has welcomed more than 20,000 visitors, many of whom were students and teachers, throughout its life. The center is nationally renowned research institute and has become a voice in the fight to save threatened and endangered birds of prey. The center was opened thanks in part to a donation from the Baldwin Family. Four months before the opening of the center, staff member Doris Mager staged a sit-in in an inactive Bald Eagle next in the central part of the state. She spend six days in the tree in an effort to raise awareness for Bald Eagles. During the first year the center was open, it tended to 66 sick, injured and baby birds of prey. The mission of Audubon of Florida and National Audubon is " to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity."