Birds of Prey With The Avian Wildlife Center

Tuesday, April 29th, 7pm
Registration Required: Register Online

Join Giselle Chazotte Smisko of the Avian Wildlife Center as she presents one of the center’s award-winning natural history programs about Birds of Prey.  This program focuses on the hawks and owls brought to the Avian Wildlife Center.  Attendees will get to experience looking eye-to-eye with LIVE birds of prey, such as hawks and owls, and observe how they move and react to their surroundings.  These creatures act as ambassadors for their species and their lives, specialized adaptations and abilities, and the challenges they face in the wild will be discussed through the individual stories of each hawk and owl.  Giselle hopes to provide a memorable encounter for all participants with these magnificent raptors.

Giselle Chazotte Smisko is a naturalist, wildlife rehabilitator, and Master Bird Bander.  Over the
past four decades she has taught a broad spectrum of natural history topics while working as an educator for the Morris County Park Commission, Union County Department of Parks and Recreation, The Raptor Trust, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, and the Avian Wildlife Center.  Her knowledge of birds comes from years of rehabilitating thousands of injured and young birds and conducting research of wild populations in cooperation with New Jersey’s Nongame and Endangered Species Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bird Banding Laboratory.  She now directs the Avian Wildlife Center in Sussex County with the help of her husband John Smisko.

The Avian Wildlife Center was established in 1990 to promote conservation of native birds.  It established a wildlife rehabilitation facility to treat all species of wild birds with the goal of returning them healthy to the wild. Thousands of birds have been cared for at the Avian Wildlife Center.  A help line is maintained by the volunteer staff to provide answers to people’s questions about wildlife.  Field research is also done to better understand the needs of the birds and ways to promote their conservation.