One in a series of essays about the author’s volunteer work at the Raptor Woodland Refuge in Bellevue, Nebraska.
You find the quail’s breast bone and press with your thumbs to separate the skin and feathers, revealing its breast and guts. It’s like pushing pants down when you reach the legs. You discard the guts and tug off remaining feathers.
The meal’s ready to be served.
I’m now officially a feeder in blood- and gut-smeared t-shirt and surgical gloves at the Raptor Woodland Refuge south of Omaha.
Quail breasts are for bird-eaters like Freyja the gyrfalcon and Aero the peregrine falcon. Most other raptors eat lab mice, although two bald eagles get large rats while Ozzie the osprey gnaws gutted fish. Helios and Sundance, the turkey vultures, get mixed remnants. They’ll gulp anything.
Every serving is weighed to the gram, including leftovers from the previous day. Unlike the brunch-munching majority, the owls are fed late afternoons.
Feeding is a daily chore, although many raptors fast once a week. It’s not a job for the fastidious or tenderhearted. Bits and pieces of gore fill the waste basket.
But the reward is the raptors’ enthused greetings when you deliver their meals.
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