Book of Dreams: Effie Yeaw wants to spread its wings with an aviary for its growing menagerie

Orion, the Swainson’s hawk, has a bum wing. Not that you’d notice.

Perched regally on his caretaker’s hand at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael, the 5-year-old red-brown speckled raptor is a magnificent bird to behold close up.

That he’s one of the most popular attractions here is no surprise. The center draws 100,000 visitors young and old who flock annually to this oak-studded nature preserve on the banks of the American River to see and learn about nature and animals.

Unfortunately, Orion – whose injury prevents him from living in the wild – spends much of his time sequestered indoors, out of visitors’ view, with just a small window.

Officials at the Effie Yeaw center have an ambitious plan to change that, but they need a little starter help from the public.

The group has asked readers of The Sacramento Bee’s Book of Dreams for donations to buy an 8-foot-tall outdoor enclosure, essentially an aviary, to be placed near the visitor center and large enough for birds to exercise in.

Orion and other large birds under the center’s care would take turns spending more hours each day outdoors, allowing more visitors to marvel at them.

The enclosure Effie Yeaw officials have in mind will cost $12,210.

“Orion is very social,” said Renée Covey, animal care lead at Effie Yeaw, which is run by the nonprofit American River Natural History Association. “He is comfortable around people.”

Showcase their animals

But preserve officials have a bigger long-term plan for Orion and other animals at the site than just one or two new outdoor enclosures.

They hope to start a fundraising campaign soon to secure enough money to build a major facility on site with indoor and outdoor spaces that will fully showcase their menagerie.

That menagerie includes a great horned owl, a peregrine falcon and an American Kestrel who is even more at ease around humans than Orion. It also includes land animals, including reptiles.

Kent Anderson, executive director of the American River Natural History Association, said that by getting this initial enclosure up via Book of Dream donations, Effie Yeaw can give its bigger fundraising campaign an early boost by showing potential benefactors the greater possibilities to come.

“We have big plans,” Anderson said. “When the center was built 46 years ago, it didn’t have a plan for containing animals. We really need to improve our animal care facilities and improve the animals’ visibility.

“It’s going to be great for him,” Anderson said, nodding toward Orion.

Effie Yeaw also is in the process of updating the natural and cultural history museum in the visitor center, and would use any extra funds from Book of Dreams donors to advance that effort.

A regional gem

The Effie Yeaw center has long been one of the region’s educational gems. The 100-acre site sits at the eastern end of Sacramento County’s Ancil Hoffman Park. It is home to a currently estimated 65 deer, six coyote families, flocks of turkeys and, by most recent count, 78 species of songbirds.

The preserve is named after Effie Yeaw, a Carmichael teacher in the 1950s and 1960s who was a conservationist and one of the early proponents of creation of the American River Parkway.

The center is in good part a teaching institution. Nearly 30,000 students visit on average annually, take hikes guided by a naturalist and, if lucky, get a chance to visit with Orion or other animals. Of those visitors, about 5,000 are from schools in low-income areas.

In their request to the Book of Dreams, center officials wrote that their facility “is dedicated to providing educational and interpretive programs and information about the natural environment, principally in the American River Parkway, to school children and their families. Access to the center is free to ensure equality.

“The Nature Center takes care of nearly 30 non-releasable animals native to the American River system. These animals cannot be returned to their native habitat. In many cases, they have been injured, orphaned, or grown too accustomed to people.

“(The center) desperately needs to update and expand our animal enclosures. This request is for funds to purchase an enclosure where our captive falcons and hawks can spread their wings, enjoy the sunshine, and live a more natural life. The enclosure will also be used on a rotational basis for other wildlife the center looks after. This would allow our visitors, many of whom do not normally get to visit the regional zoo, to view the animals daily.”

‘It’s really cool’

Last week, Orion was out on Covey’s arm when fourth graders from nearby St. John the Evangelist school were out for a nature hike in the oaks.

Kids gathered around, peppering Covey with questions. Mateo Popjevalo, 10, was especially inquisitive. How old is he? Popjevalo asked, staring up. How big is he? “Look, he can turn his head around like an owl.”

As Covey and the kids spoke, Orion adjusted his feathers, then spread his wings and held them out to warm in the morning sun, giving him the look of a bird about to take flight.

“It’s really cool,” Popjevalo said, when asked about getting the chance to see Orion and pose questions to naturalists. “I’m a lot more interested now in hawks. I see them around a lot.” Schoolmate Delaney Pepper was equally interested. “I like learning about nature and how animals live,” she said.

Book of Dreams

The request: Officials at Effie Yeaw center are asking Book of Dreams readers to contribute $12,210 to buy an outdoor enclosure for large birds now at the nature preserve.

How to help: You can make a donation at sacbee.com/bookofdreams.

This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.