MAITLAND, Fla. — The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland treats about 700 injured or orphaned birds every year, giving the community the rare opportunity to see the animals up close.


What You Need To Know

  • Maggie  Haynes' been a volunteer at the Maitland facility for almost five years

  • She first became fascinated by watching an eagle nest cam, and knew she wanted to volunteer at the center

  • See more Everyday Heroes right here

A passionate volunteer who helps bring that experience to life is Maggie Haynes.

“She’s able to stand and perch okay, but she doesn’t have strength," Haynes explained barred owl Maple's condition to guests.

Haynes gets to teach the public about these winged creatures with special needs.

“They have 14 vertebrae in their neck which is why they can do that (as Maple the owl spins her head). We only have seven," Haynes explained.

The bird garden is where ambassador birds like Maple, who is glove trained, spend their day.

“We’re all about rehabbing and releasing, but sometimes there’s an injury of some kind that we just can’t fix," Haynes said.

After months of training to work with them, a big part of her week is taking birds like Henry to the rehab center to make sure they are staying healthy.

“Not losing weight, that they’re eating all of their food," Haynes said.

She gets to share with the community Audobon’s mission.

“Injury to his wing that he won’t be able to heal, so he’s going to stay with us forever," Haynes said talking about Henry.

She loves helping the birds engage with the community that would not be able to protect themselves in the wild.

“Most of them say, ‘I’ve never been this close to an eagle’ (or) ‘I’ve never been this close to an owl.’ And that’s just really fulfilling," Haynes said.

Florida has one of the densest concentrations of bald eagles in the U.S. at about 1,500.

Haynes said a good way to prevent eagles and other wild birds from getting injured is doing your part to clean up so they don't get caught in things like fishing line.