Birds of prey visit Lincoln County

Raptor biologist Jane Veltkamp of Birds of Prey Northwest has been working with injured birds of prey for one quarter of a century. Saturday she brought her feathered friends to Libby Dam for the fourth consecutive year to entertain and educate the public about the splendor and vulnerability of these threatened species.

Traveling with Veltkamp, in addition to her new husband Don, were five different species of birds, three representing some of the most endangered bird populations on the planet.  

The five birds traveling with Veltkamp for this visit were Scout, a great horned owl, Skybird, a Swainson’s  hawk, Binger, an osprey, Pennington, a peregrine falcon, and Liberty, a bald eagle.

The birds were all injured in some way and rehabilitated by Veltkamp, but are unable to survive in the wild. She uses the birds for education and outreach now, hoping to teach young people the importance of respect for the animals. She demonstrated the birds to students at Libby Elementary School the day before the public show at Libby Dam.

“We can’t teach adults not to shoot birds,” she said. “But if we reach kids in fourth or fifth grade, we can teach them about the importance of these birds.”

Veltkamp’s organization has been working with injured birds for 25 years now, achieving non-profit status in 1993. They operate completely on donations, receiving no government support of any kind.

“We spend $40,000 per year on food for the birds,” she said. “And none of that comes from government support.”

In addition to traveling shows, Veltkamp also works to increase the wild populations of threatened and endangered birds. In addition to releasing injured birds back into the wild, when and if they are able to survive on their own, she also works to breed young birds and introduce them into the wild.

It was on such a project that Veltkamp met her now-husband, Don. 

She was introducing birds into the wild in southeast South Dakota, taking them high into a tower, feeding them and teaching them to fly when she met Don. The couple has now been married for about a year and a half, and travel together from their home base in Couer d’Alene rescuing, training and educating.