Birds of Prey center needs your help to recover from ‘small waterfalls’ in its building

The latest Treasure Valley site to report damage from the past few weeks’ storms, the World Center for Birds of Prey has been dealing with “small waterfalls and all-out torrents” of water from a leaky roof.

The Peregrine Fund, which operates the center, asked Friday for donations to help it cover at least $25,000 in unexpected repairs. Donations can be made online at peregrinefund.org/repairs.

“Fortunately the situation isn’t dangerous,” Tate Mason, director of The Peregrine Fund’s education program, said in a written statement. “No one has been injured and the birds are safe, but we can’t open to the public while our walls and floor are saturated and the roof is still questionable.”

Since the building is being worked on anyway, center staff is apparently considering some modifications. “Maybe this is a sign that it’s time to re-imagine our space,” Mason said. “What if we could rebuild so that we’re presenting birds of prey against the backdrop of the Owyhee Range? From our back door we can see where one of the densest populations of raptors in North America comes to nest. We’d love to make that more accessible to the public.”

The center is at 5668 W. Flying Hawk Lane, south of Boise along Cole Road.

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Birds of Prey center needs your help to recover from ‘small waterfalls’ in its building."