By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As celebrations of World Migratory Bird Day occurred globally, aviation enthusiasts in the Castle Country had the opportunity to celebrate our feathered friends through an environmental education event hosted by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
“I think having diversity of wildlife is important,” said Jeff Jewkes, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, of the importance of the event. “Birds are very important, especially raptors, primary predators; they keep the ecosystem healthy. And so it’s just important to keep a variety and a good healthy population of birds.”
The affair featured several educational resources for attendees, with feathers from different bird species, replica skulls of different birds, primarily birds of prey, and a talon display. Additionally, participants could create their own bird feeder and obtain a variety of informational materials.
“It’s absolutely important because it’s hard to value what you don’t understand, and I think most people look out, and they like the nature around them, but they just don’t know a lot about it. And so, by learning and teaching, they can learn to appreciate it more and see the value,” shared Bureau of Land Management Wildlife Biologist Sarah Baldwin about the outreach efforts of the event.
She continued,” I love these kinds of outreach events because I love teaching people about the things that I’m passionate about. It’s a chance for me to nerd out, and it’s a chance to hopefully get some more people involved in things like birding or other conservation efforts.”
Baldwin also encouraged residents to get out and explore the beautiful landscapes and engage with the wildlife present in the Castle Country,” I would encourage people to learn about the birds that are out there as a motivator to get out and try and see some cool species and check out some of the trails that we have around and learn about the public lands that we have, because there are some really cool opportunities out there.”