All creatures in nature, from the lowly flea to huge black bears, have a purpose. One category of animals in-between this spectrum with an incredibly important purpose is birds of prey, also known as raptors. Dale Kernahan Stokes is president of the environmental non-profit organization Save Our American Raptors, or SOAR, and she says that without predators like these raptors, humans would be overrun with rodents and all sorts of different critters.
Another important reason to care for these birds of prey is the sheer beauty of them, she says. Stokes and her husband, John, vice-president for SOAR, maintain the Trenton, Ga., based non-profit that cares for non-releasable birds of prey and provide birds of prey programs for schools, state parks and other organizations. SOAR conducts the Rock City Raptors Bird of Prey shows Memorial Day through Labor Day. They are also involved with several other interesting projects from the Peregrine Falcon Release Project that attempts to repopulate the area with these birds to the Raptor Experience program.
John says that there is a void in Peregrine Falcons in the area now that the bird known as “Roy,” who had nested by the railroad bridge at the Chickamauga dam for 13 years, has died. Since it is the males that anchor the territories for this species of bird, and it happens that where these birds learn to fly is where they return to nest as adults, SOAR has released seven Peregrines at Rock City, six of them male. One male was released even closer to downtown from the top of the First Tennessee Bank Building.
One of the birds they have released, “Lookout,” is carrying satellite telemetry. Dale says this is exciting because it means everyone who can access the Internet can track this bird no matter where he goes throughout the world. From this research, they hope to formulate a study on Peregrine falcon movements in this region. This news is also exciting because this is the first time a Peregrine Falcon has been equipped with a satellite device and released in the South. “It’s amazing to see the basic instinct with Lookout,” Dale says. “He took to the traditional migratory pattern of Peregrine falcons without knowing how to do that. This four-month-old bird crossed the Gulf of Mexico in two days. He’s doing incredible things that are worthy of being looked at.” Dale says they hope to release three more birds in Downtown Chattanooga in the upcoming year.
The Raptor Experience program that SOAR provides brings people to their facility where they get to not only hold and touch birds of prey, but they actually have raptors fly to them on a gloved hand. She says the main goal of SOAR is to build a bridge between wildlife and people. “We want people to realize it’s not just a virtual world. There is a real world out there with wonderful things. When people come in close contact with birds of prey, there is a movement that goes on within them, something is ignited, and people feel almost an inner connection with wildlife once again,” Dale says. As John puts it, they are educating people that “…there’s more birds out there than the Angry Birds.”
SOAR hasn’t done as many school programs in Chattanooga as they would like, John says, and would welcome the opportunity to do more in local schools. SOAR presentations are available in multiple states year-round and feature up to nine live, non-releasable raptor species, including a bald eagle and a free-flying hawk. Dale was raised in a family that always went camping, and her father promoted curiosity in his children. When she met someone who was a falconer and saw a red-tailed hawk up close, she says she was hooked.
John says his love of birds is something he thinks he was born with. He has infant memories of a bird mobile above his crib that he was always reaching for, and also memories of jumping out of trees in an attempt to fly. This was before he found hang gliding, where he truly does experience human flight. John got his start at the Memphis Zoo as a bird keeper and started a rehabilitation program for birds of prey the next year. He became a falconer and began doing impromptu bird programs at schools that have continued to today.
SOAR was founded in 1983 by “Eagle Lady” Doris Mager. Her work for nearly 18 years included aerial eagle nest surveys in conjunction with the Florida game and freshwater fish commission, thousands of educational programs across the U.S. including school tasks, eagle walks, lectures, and a bicycle trip across the country. She is semi-retired and Dale and John carry on the bulk of the work in the East and South.
John and Dale say that the best way to get involved is to invite them to do a program. More information about SOAR can be found at www.soarsouth.org.