Recent News

​We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2021! To get the celebration started, we are offering shirts through Bonfire featuring an image of “Mac,” a non-releasable bald eagle in our care. These shirts will help us raise funds. Check them out — and buy a few — here.

Early in the spring of 2021, we admitted an adult barred owl that had been hit by a vehicle and suffered head and eye trauma. A few weeks later, we admitted a very young barred owl chick. Our volunteers made valiant attempts to re-nest the baby but we were unsuccessful. We set the young bird up in a carrier facing the adult bird in the hopes that the young owl would imprint appropriately on another owl instead of one of its human caretakers. When the adult owl showed interest in the chick, we allowed them to interact, with supervision. To our relief—and delight!—the adult immediately began brooding the chick, and was soon observed feeding it as well. The two stayed together until the adult’s head and eye trauma resolved and the chick was old enough to be released. ACCA board member and volunteer LeJay Graffious banded both of them, and the owls returned to the wild together. We wish them long lives and best of luck in the wild!

On December 21, 2017, we admitted a snowy owl from Vienna, WV. The owl had been hit by a car and suffered a coracoid fracture. (The coracoid is a bone in a bird’s shoulder necessary for flight.) We released the rehabilitated owl on January 20, 2018. Read the entire story on our friend Julie Zickefoose’s blog, and see this article from the Marietta Times.
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Did you know that after several years in the works, the ACCA has launched the West Virginia Young Birders’ Club? Check out our website and Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wvybc

​Channel 5 WDTV story about our turkey vulture’s return home! April, 2015:

​Channel 5 WDTV story about our turkey vulture release, September 6, 2014.

Channel 12 WBOY story about our loon release, January 17, 2013

Channel 12 WBOY (Clarksburg/Morgantown, WV) story about our Turkey Vulture release on International Vulture Awareness Day, September 3, 2012
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WV Public Radio’s Glynis Board’s story about our Turkey Vulture release, September 3, 2012

Charleston Gazette article, “WV Group Rehabilitates Injured Birds,” June 23, 2012

In April of 2012 three Barn Owl chicks fell more than 30 feet from their nest on the Hardy County courthouse in Moorefield, WV. While one of the chicks was too badly injured to return to the wild, after several weeks at the ACCA two of her siblings, pictured here in their hack box, or surrogate nest, were successfully released on a farm in Old Fields, WV. Special thanks to Kieran O’Malley of the WV Division of Natural Resources for his help and dedication to these owls! And thanks to the staff at the Hardy County courthouse for rescuing the babies from the cement after their falls.

This Red-tailed Hawk was admitted in mid-March, 2012, from Preston County, WV. She suffered a wing fracture, probably the result of being hit by a vehicle. After seven weeks of rehabilitation, the hawk was released in May at Cooper’s Rock State Forest. Watch a short video of Dr. Fallon releasing the hawk here.

After undergoing weeks of rehabilitation, including physiotherapy and creance flying, this Barred Owl was returned to the wild near where it was found in Summersville, WV. The owl had a  fracture near the end of its wing, probably the result of being hit by a car. Before release, ACCA volunteers “imped” the owl’s tail — replaced broken feathers with unbroken ones. The owl was also banded before release; see pictures of the owl being banded here.

This Black-capped Chickadee fractured its coracoid bone when it flew into a window in Preston County, WV. After several weeks of rehabilitation at the ACCA, the bird was released by the folks who  found it. They say the chickadee still visits their feeder daily.
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A Common Loon–the ACCA’s first patient!–was released on Cheat Lake in January, 2012. The bird had no serious injuries (other than dehydration); we provided supportive care and returned the loon to the wild. Watch a video clip of the release here, and make sure you turn up the sound:  Common Loon Release, January 2012

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