Welcome to
Hawks, Honkers & Hoots!
SAVE THE DATE - October
21st, our Annual Fundraiser
21st, our Annual Fundraiser
Stay tuned for more information regarding our Fundraiser.
Welcome Ruby!
Who knows that saying, "watch what you ask for...you just might get it". At our Fundraiser, one of the questions that came from the crowd was, "if you could have any bird, what would it be". Without hesitation, I said a Turkey Vulture, which surprised everyone. Since we can't have an Eagle, definitely a Turkey Vulture. It just so happens that Fish & Wildlife (both Fed & State) attended the Fundraiser and they both made a mental note of our "wish". Approximately three weeks later we received a call from Fish & Wildlife if we were serious about wanting a Turkey Vulture, we said yes and one was available. That meant that we would need to gather materials and build another mews (cage) for our new Ambassador. The only thing we knew about it was that it was hanging out around one of the Maintenance Yards down in Mariposa. It is not typical for Turkey Vultures to want to be around people but this one did. In addition, we noticed in the photo we were sent that it had permanent anklets on, so our guess was that it was kept illegally. It took a few weeks to get the required State and Federal permitting done, to build the mews (cage) and set up delivery of our new little one. When he/she arrived, we were so happy to get him/her into her/him into mews (cage). He/she came out, immediately went to the grass covered stump and spread his/her wings to soak up the sun. We were amazed at how big he/she was and beautiful in his/her own way. Next was to get him/her to our Veterinarian for a check up and a DNA test. All was good, now it was time for a name and training. We named her Ruby for her beautiful red head. She is so very smart and we need to find ways to challenge her to keep her busy. Jeanette is working very hard with Ruby, building her trust and making great progress. We can't wait for you to meet her.
Goodbyes are too difficult, let's say
that we will meet again!
that we will meet again!
MS. TREK - OUR SWAINSON'S HAWK
Loss is painful and HH&H has endured two losses in 2022. We are so very fortunate to have shared time with our wonderful Bird Ambassadors, losing them is difficult.
First, our wonderful Ms. Trek. We got her in April of 2016. She was our "Steady Eddy", she could handle any situation we threw her way. She loved being in front of the crowd, those who had the opportunity to see her in person know what we mean by this. We believe that she loved the attention of the cameras on her when she would spread her beauful wings on command for the audience. She is the one that we trusted when training a new volunteer how to properly "jess and leash up" a bird to share with people. We miss her dearly, there will be a forever place in our hearts and souls for this special lady!
First, our wonderful Ms. Trek. We got her in April of 2016. She was our "Steady Eddy", she could handle any situation we threw her way. She loved being in front of the crowd, those who had the opportunity to see her in person know what we mean by this. We believe that she loved the attention of the cameras on her when she would spread her beauful wings on command for the audience. She is the one that we trusted when training a new volunteer how to properly "jess and leash up" a bird to share with people. We miss her dearly, there will be a forever place in our hearts and souls for this special lady!
MR WHOO-DINI OUR NORTHERN PYGMY OWL
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Our second loss was Whooo-Dini, our "little, BIG MAN". He joined HH&H in December of 2016 and was an adult when we got him. It was such an honor to have the opportunity to share an owl that not much is known about because they're so difficult to find out in the wild, even for ornithologists. He was always the one bird that people couldn't believe was real. He was small but mighty and super proud. He will truly be missed by everyone.
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Come celebrate Earth Day with Hawks, Honkers & Hoots Saturday, 4/16!
Hawks, Honkers & Hoots receives a Grant
In November 2021, Hawks, Honkers & Hoots was the honored recipient of a generous grant from the Patricia and Paul Bragg foundation of Santa Barbara, California in support of our on-going education mission.
We were fortunate enough to meet Leslie Tippett, the Bragg Foundation President. She was fostering, Lucy, a Canada Goose for the Wildlife Care of Santa Barbara, while they prepared Lucy’s transfer to HH&H. Leslie was impressed by HHH’s mission and the quality of our care of all our birds, and facilitated the awarding of this generous grant.
Our sincere thanks to Leslie, and the Bragg Foundation!
We were fortunate enough to meet Leslie Tippett, the Bragg Foundation President. She was fostering, Lucy, a Canada Goose for the Wildlife Care of Santa Barbara, while they prepared Lucy’s transfer to HH&H. Leslie was impressed by HHH’s mission and the quality of our care of all our birds, and facilitated the awarding of this generous grant.
Our sincere thanks to Leslie, and the Bragg Foundation!
We have added another
Ambassador - meet Diega!
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The day of our "Owl-O-Ween" Fundraiser we made USFWS and CAFWS know that we were looking for another Burrowing Owl. We had a wonderful experience with our little lady Digger for a few years that when she passed away, we wanted to look for another that needed a home. Of course it took a number of years for us to be ready but the timing was just right, we received a call in early December letting us know a Burrowing Owl was in need of placement, we were so excited. This little lady was found injured down in the San Diego area, hence her name...Diega. She was brought into the San Diego Humane Society with loss of vision in her left eye due to possibly being hit by a car. It took some planning and on January 12th we flew to Irvine to meet Erin who is a volunteer for the San Diego Humane Society graciously drove Diega up to Irvine to meet us. The airlines would not allow us to bring Diega into the cabin of the airplane so we rented a car and drove from Irvine back to Sacramento with her. She has been in training with Jeanette ever since. She is taking to her training very well, we cannot wait for you to meet her!
Introducing one of our our newest
Ambassadors - Lucy!
Ambassadors - Lucy!
We got a call back in September of 2021, asking us if we would consider adding a new Ambassador to HH&H. The funny thing is that not two weeks prior our team talked about how we would love to add a "Honker" back to our lineup of birds. It was nothing short of amazing how things just worked out.
So without further ado, we would like to share our newest Ambassador, Lucy the Canada Goose. HH&H hasn't had a goose as a part of our line of since 2013 and it is quite exciting for us. She is a gosling, hatched this past spring and she's full of personality! She is very smart and has taken well to her clicker training. She loves to eat dandelion greens, dried mealworms and corn as a part of her training. We can't wait to share her with you, we are certain that you will love her as much as we do.
So without further ado, we would like to share our newest Ambassador, Lucy the Canada Goose. HH&H hasn't had a goose as a part of our line of since 2013 and it is quite exciting for us. She is a gosling, hatched this past spring and she's full of personality! She is very smart and has taken well to her clicker training. She loves to eat dandelion greens, dried mealworms and corn as a part of her training. We can't wait to share her with you, we are certain that you will love her as much as we do.
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Thank you so much for a
wonderful Fundraiser!
wonderful Fundraiser!
We moved forward with hosting our Fundraiser this year. We have so much to be thankful for and we were anxious to be back in front of an audience. All of our Bird Ambassadors were present for everyone to meet, photograph, of course we had our Silent Auction and we announced a few surprises. Namely addition of a new Bird Ambassador, Lucy the Canada Goose. Yes, we have once again have a "Honker"! She wasn't quite ready to meet everyone but she has bonded very well with Jeanette and we hope that she can get out to meet everyone.
It was so good for all of us to get out and celebrate with you! We can't tell you how much we appreciate those who came out to share some time with us and those who generously donated to the event.
It was so good for all of us to get out and celebrate with you! We can't tell you how much we appreciate those who came out to share some time with us and those who generously donated to the event.
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WOW! It's been a WILD Year and a Half!
We've been hunkered down as with most of you have over the last eighteen months or so. We have been so very fortunate that everyone at HH&H are safe and sound. We hope that you and yours have been able to stay healthy as well.
We would like to share a few things with you. We have not done a program since February of 2020 but we have been keeping ourselves busy caring for the birds; taking them on walks and safely sharing them as often as we could in very small outdoor groups. About every month and a half we have "Spa Day" for all the birds when we trim, file and shape their beaks and talons. We are pretty certain they have a very different view on a "Spa Day" than we do.
In June of 2020 we added a handsome fledgling male Swainson's Hawk who is waiting for his official debut. COVID has all but shut down the approval processes for this handsome fellow but rest assured, when we are able to get back out he will definitely be a part of our program. Keep checking back on "Our Birds" section for his official introduction once he's approved on our permit.
We recently loaded all the birds up and headed to our Veterinarian so everyone could get their physicals as well as their West Nile vaccines. We were introduced to a new Veterinarian who was very impressed with our birds and everyone got a clean bill of health.
Our Bird Ambassadors are housed in Cameron Park which is currently not in danger from the Caldor fire but the smoke can get bad. We have an emergency plan set in place in the event the fire moves west. Our hearts go out to the people who have been directly affected by this horrible fire. We thank the Firefighters, Police, and all the wonderful people who are volunteering to assist others. We are proud of our community and how we've come together to help others in need, so many things to be thankful for.
We would like to share a few things with you. We have not done a program since February of 2020 but we have been keeping ourselves busy caring for the birds; taking them on walks and safely sharing them as often as we could in very small outdoor groups. About every month and a half we have "Spa Day" for all the birds when we trim, file and shape their beaks and talons. We are pretty certain they have a very different view on a "Spa Day" than we do.
In June of 2020 we added a handsome fledgling male Swainson's Hawk who is waiting for his official debut. COVID has all but shut down the approval processes for this handsome fellow but rest assured, when we are able to get back out he will definitely be a part of our program. Keep checking back on "Our Birds" section for his official introduction once he's approved on our permit.
We recently loaded all the birds up and headed to our Veterinarian so everyone could get their physicals as well as their West Nile vaccines. We were introduced to a new Veterinarian who was very impressed with our birds and everyone got a clean bill of health.
Our Bird Ambassadors are housed in Cameron Park which is currently not in danger from the Caldor fire but the smoke can get bad. We have an emergency plan set in place in the event the fire moves west. Our hearts go out to the people who have been directly affected by this horrible fire. We thank the Firefighters, Police, and all the wonderful people who are volunteering to assist others. We are proud of our community and how we've come together to help others in need, so many things to be thankful for.
Happy Mother's Day!
Both Trek our Swainson's Hawk and Bobbie our Western Screech Owl have laid eggs recently. They are not fertilized, so no babies expected but spring has sprung for us.
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HH&H is proud to introduce our two new Bird Ambassadors! Meet Chip and Benni.
Chip, our American Kestrel joined us at the end of 2019. We are so excited to be able to share this handsome fellow with you! We do not know how old he is but we do know that he is an adult.
Benni too joined us at the end of 2019. She is a White-tailed Kite and we are so very fortunate to have him, Kites don't typically tame down easily. Benni is a first year bird, you can tell by her feathering; the darker Benni is juvenile feathering, her white feathering is her maturing as an adult. Eventually, her eyes will turn to a reddish brown.
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It's never easy to say goodbye...
We are saddened to share with you that Digger, our Burrowing Owl flew over the Rainbow Bridge. We have been so blessed with her as one of our Bird Ambassadors for the last five years. Digger came from Folsom where it is believed she was hit by a car. When we first got her, we thought that she was a he and named him Walter because we thought he/she looked like an old man. We took him in for his first exam and decided to do a DNA test to confirm Walter was truly a male. To our surprise, he was actually a she...a name change was in order. We all decided Digger would be great for our new girl. Digger quickly became a crowd favorite and we were very fond of her as well. She will be missed dearly. Much love to you little lady, thank you for all the time you spent with us and being such a great Bird Ambassador.
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A BIG Surprise
We've had Trek since the spring of 2014. When we adopted Trek we were told that Trek was a male, well, this spring Trek laid an egg and we were all shocked. As Swainson's Hawks go she's small for a female so it made sense that Trek was a male. We've had all our other birds sexed via a blood test but never felt we needed to when we got Trek, we figured the Falconer knew. So we've always called Trek a "handsome boy" now we're having to change all that when we address him...oops, I mean her. :) We're happy to have learned that Trek is a female, now we call her our "beautiful girl".
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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
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We've been at our current location since 2011 and only one other time has it snowed here. The snow brings a new beauty where the Bird Ambassadors live. It was cold but they are well cared for and it didn't seem to even affect them.
We want to thank all of you for your support throughout the year, we couldn't do it without you. We really appreciate all that you have done for Hawks, Honkers & Hoots. We have a very busy 2019 ahead of us, we look forward to seeing you all out at one of our many presentations. Be sure to come say hello, we love to see you!
Help Support Hawks, Honkers & Hoots
Our mission is to inspire respect for local and migratory birds through customized and entertaining educational programs.
We are a 100% volunteer 501c3 organization that wisely uses donations for the care of our birds and development of educational items. There are many ways that you can donate to us; you can use PayPal, write a check or give us cash. Also, if you'd like, you can buy food for our wonderful Bird Ambassadors through our account at Layne Labs. We truly appreciate your consideration when making a donation.
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