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In this episode, we welcome Sarah Mann from the Belize Raptor Center. Sarah talks about her love for birds of prey and her journey to Belize first as a student volunteer and now as the director of the Belize Raptor Center. Sarah points out the Orange Breasted Falcon as the bird that convinced her that Belize was where she wanted to live. Hear the story of how she got her first lifer in Belize as soon as she landed at the airport. In this episode, Sarah also talks about the importance of having a care and rehabilitation center for birds in Belize and some of the educational outreach that she and her team does. This is part 1 of a 2-part series with the Belize Raptor Center.
In 2013, the idea for the Belize Raptor Center came about after some brainstorming with the folks at the Belize Bird Rescue. Belize Raptor Center’s goal is to increase knowledge of raptors and thereby lower human incident conflicts such as shooting, poaching, poisoning and habitat destruction. The BRC is dedicated to educate and inspire conservation of raptors and their habitat and rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned birds of prey. They have a free raptor show everyday (Monday to Saturday) at their center in Santa Elena Belize. Everyone is invited to come and while donations are appreciated, there is absolutely no entrance fee. Sarah and her team also do a lot of on-site outreach including visits to schools all over the country.
Belize is a major migratory stopover and residence for more than fifty species of raptor and four species of vulture, including some of the rarest and most endangered raptors in the world.
Through new grant funding, the Belize Raptor Center will soon open a new onsite state of the art clinic equipped with an X-ray machine, sonogram, and all equipment needed for onsite surgery and in-house blood work. This is exciting news for the country and a great effort by Sarah and her team.
Visit the Belize Raptor Center website at
https://www.belizeraptorcenter.com/
Birds of Belize provides the first complete guide to the identification of all currently known species. The birds are grouped by families, with an introduction to each family that ... morehighlights its uniquely identifying characteristics and behaviors.