One-tank Trip: Birds of a feather flock to Georgia Southern's Wildlife Education Center

About 60 miles west of Savannah nestled on the campus of Georgia Southern University rests the Center for Wildlife Education , a more than five-acre nature reserve featuring forest and wetlands and outdoor learning experiences for children and adults.

Since 1997, the center has served as one of the state’s premiere environmental education facilities. Animal ambassadors such as snakes, lizards and raptor,s including owls, hawks and a bald eagle educate program participants on Georgia species, their habitats, and the impacts of humans on the environment. Nearly 18,000 people visit each year, while schools, neighborhood groups and nonprofits benefit annually from the center’s more than 100 off-site programs.

Open year-round Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays, September through April, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., admission to the education center is $4 per day, or $20 for an annual pass. With free parking nearby, it makes for an affordable, easy afternoon getaway from the Hostess City.

Fine, feathered teachers

On a sunny Saturday — one of the last open ones before closing for summer — I ventured to the wildlife center. I was keen on seeing some of the ambassador birds that help people understand raptors. Since the center isn’t a rehabilitation facility, the animals in their care have recovered from previous injuries but are unable to survive in the wild. They’ve been nursed to health elsewhere and arrived at the facility to live out the rest of their days as ecological diplomats, in part teaching how human actions have directly impacted their lives.

Since the raptor presentation begins each Saturday at 3:30 p.m., I had an hour-and-a-half to explore the grounds. Near the center’s main building, a series of outdoor enclosures are homes for a pair of American kestrels, screech owls, a peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, and great horned owl. The birds are squint-eyed, lazy in the lull of midday, and I linger at placards describing distinctive facts about each species, like how screech owls are adept dive-bombers and use the tactic to forcefully drive away unsuspecting predators.

On a trail heading toward the waterfowl pond, I note a bench, made of concrete and some type of composite planking, purposefully facing away from the path and toward two trees, one a loblolly pine. Native to Georgia and revered by the timber industry, loblollies are commercially cultivated across the Southeast for its rapid, straight growth. I sat, took in the trees, and marveled at the placement.

Someone had a strategic plan when this nook was composed. Benches, typically placed near sweeping vistas, within manicured gardens, or at the very least facing toward a path, are implemented to readily attract people. But not this one. Mindfully lacking the tiniest splinter of wood in its design, this bench demands that whoever sits must focus on the two trees ahead or adjacent clusters of dense underbrush.

It isn’t the Grand Canyon, Cumberland Gap, or Yosemite’s Half Dome, and that’s the point. Such sweeping panoramas, though ecologically important, aren’t what most are likely to encounter in their Wilmington Island backyards or driving Burkhalter Road during the morning commute. Yet, spots like this comprise important habitat that most everyone sees daily but probably don't grasp how greatly fundamental it is to local ecological health and sustainability.

It assists with flood mitigation by absorbing heavy rains; it provides food and shelter for a range of insects, reptiles, small mammals, and resident and migratory birds. In the soil, root-connecting fungi thrive after a good rain. And the shade this habitat casts contributes to surface temperature regulation that helps keep the forest understory cooler during the blue blazes of summer.

Georgia forest habitat is crucial, yet it is disappearing more swiftly than we want to acknowledge. Of the 37 million total acres that make up the state of Georgia, 24 million are forested, which doesn’t seem so bad until you consider that 89% of those forests are privately owned, making them much easier to sell and clearcut for development. According to Global Forest Watch, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, in 2022, Georgia lost nearly 309,000 acres of forest land to urbanization. And the trend continues downward, that forest acreage is decreasing, not increasing.

With every new swath cleared, native insects, birds, plants, and tree species are gone with it.  Perhaps, the person or team who designed this bench placement knew some of these numbers and had every intention for sitters to think deeply about only the things immediately in front of them.

This less-than-charismatic ecosystem running throughout Georgia and across the Southeast is essential. And the challenge is getting more people invested in protecting common species and not-so-sexy ecosystems. This boring backyard scrubby shrubbery is important even if it doesn’t rise like Mt. Rainier on a bright August morning.

I pulled my phone from my skirt pocket to find I’d spent 40 minutes thinking about trees and shrubs. And no one passed by, or none that I noticed, on the trail.

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Bird ambassadors

After making my way around the rest of the preserve, I headed back to the center where a team of GSU undergraduates were readying the indoor classroom for the afternoon raptor presentation. A series of five boxes lined the table in front of the room. Each contained a bird of prey ready for their community ambassador assignment.

If birds are your thing, you will love this. Though you can’t touch them, the presenter brings the raptors close enough that you can feel the wind from their strong wings when they sometimes fuss and protest. You can also see the fierce intensity in their eyes.

Sophomore Tabitha Tederstrom brought out each bird and shared facts specific to their species. For example, the Harris’s hawk common in the arid Southwest, is one of the few raptors that hunts in packs like wolves. They are strategic and communicate among each other to effectively take down prey. And the disc shape of a barn owl’s face helps funnel sound towards its ears, aiding in the bird’s extraordinary hearing capabilities.

I enjoyed listening to audience members’ questions to the presenter. One man asked about the best places to see a screech owl in the wild (anywhere there’re trees!). A young girl asked if the birds thought they were pets (no, they are definitely wild animals). Another young girl giggled and smiled when the wind from the wing beats of a fussy barn owl swooshed her long hair into her face.

Afterwards, it was time to grab a bite to eat.

I asked the students what they liked that wasn’t too pricey. They chimed in unanimously, a locally owned Tex-Mex spot less than a mile up the road, Del Sur. With a refreshing, total college town vibe, the restaurant hit the spot. I ordered chips and a couple of Ahi tuna tacos, which came out fresh and still steaming. And if you don’t make it to the Del Sur in Statesboro, there’s another one in Pooler, though not as college-town-vibey, but also popular among locals.

To learn more about summer programs and opportunities at The Center for Wildlife Education: academics.georgiasouthern.edu/wildlife/

For more information about changes in forest cover, check out Global Forest Watch T globalforestwatch.org .

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: One-tank Trip: Birds of a feather flock to Georgia Southern's Wildlife Education Center