DARKE COUNTY – Darke County Parks expanded its raptor education program on July 25 with the addition of two juvenile red-tailed hawks.
Hatched in early May, these hawks were delivered to a rehabilitation facility when the tree they were nesting in was cut down. While the birds did not have physical injuries, they became accustomed to human interaction and therefore could not be released back to the wild.
This male and female duo have settled into the recently constructed raptor mew at Shawnee Prairie Preserve and are being trained daily so that they can be presented at programs for the community.
Darke County Parks now needs to get the hawks named. The park district has a poll on Facebook to choose one of five names. They are as follows: Sky and Spirit, Bindi and Bobbie, Annie and Oakley, Apollo and Athena, and Linus and Lucy. These names were selected from staff, volunteer and public suggestions.
During the Prairie Days festival on Saturday and Sunday, Darke County Parks will take additional votes to make its final decision.
Guests can stop by the new raptor mew to cast their vote and get a peek at these beautiful new additions to the Darke County Parks family.
