Wild Skies Raptor Center

By Kate Stone

Many of us have encountered an injured bird or even helped rescue or transport an injured bird to care. Here in the Bitterroot Valley, injured raptors make their way north to Wild Skies Raptor Center, located in Potomac, MT. I first met Executive Director Brooke Tanner on a rescue mission for a Vaux’s Swift nest in a chimney in Missoula. Over time and with many more shared rescue experiences under my belt, I was impressed enough with her work that I joined the Wild Skies Raptor Center board.

Wild Skies has been rehabilitating raptors in western Montana for the last thirteen years. They admit over 100 birds annually, with about 40% coming from the Bitterroot Valley. Most intakes involve a human conflict of some sort, including vehicle, fence, and window collisions, cat attacks, poisoning, or shooting. Now we are navigating the occurrence of avian flu, which is often fatal to raptors. In the last several years, Wild Skies has expanded their volunteer network in the Bitterroot Valley, and several Bitterroot Audubon members lend their hands to help with captures and transport and even help on work projects at the facility in Potomac. 

Bitterroot Audubon has made numerous donations to support the work of Wild Skies, and we encourage our members to do the same. We’ve offered financial assistance to cover mileage, food and other supplies for rehab and education birds, education programs for people of all ages in the valley, lead testing for eagles, and most recently, to help Wild Skies build a much-needed security fence. 

If you have the following items and would be willing to donate them to Wild Skies, please bring them to our May program. 

• Used towels and sheets in usable condition
• Rubber gloves and face masks
• Cleaning brushes and sponges
• Gas cards
• Pet carriers (all sizes – need to be clean and in good condition)

If you’d like to learn more about raptors in the Bitterroot Valley, please join Brooke Tanner and Jesse Varnado from Wild Skies Raptor Center to meet some of their ambassador birds and hear their rehab stories. They will also talk about current issues in raptor rehabilitation. 

This Bitterroot Audubon program will take place on Monday, May 15^th at 7pm in person on the lawn of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center, at 4567 Wild Fowl Lane in Stevensville, MT. Feel free to bring a blanket or portable chair to sit on. If we by chance have inclement weather, we will move the program inside. And if you’d like to be social, consider arriving at 6 pm to bird the ponds and wetlands near the Visitor’s Center.