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By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer 

PELHAM – It was a full turnout at the Alabama Wildlife Center on Saturday, May 7 as families flocked to the center to take part in the annual Baby Bird Shower event.

The event is a celebration of the baby birds at the AWC nursery that allows families to get an up close appreciation of the many birds and wildlife the center rehabilitates.

Shower attendees marveled at the live raptor demonstrations with different bird-residents of the center and also enjoyed cake and other refreshments.

“We had an excellent turnout, and lots of valuable items were donated for use in our clinic this season,” AWC’s Director of Education and Outreach Andrew Arnold said. “Baby songbirds make up over 50% of our total patient intake, so this is a busy, yet very rewarding, part of the year.”

Arnold said the shower is a great event for demonstrating the rehabilitation work the center does, as well as celebrating the baby birds who will have a second chance in the wild. He added that he and the rest of the AWC team hope people take the opportunity to visit throughout the summer and learn more about the center’s feathered residents.

Another thing the public can do to help protect baby birds?

“The best thing we as good stewards of nature can do for baby birds is to keep our cats indoors,” Arnold said. “Cats are the primary reason for most of our songbird intake.”

For more information about AWC, visit Alabamawildlifecenter.org.