At the Sanctuary we have our Raptor Display Cages for viewing by the public; currently with 15 species of Birds of Prey on display.
Our Songbird Aviary is always a big hit, containing a varying amounts of birds and species at any one time. Visitors may feed mealworms to our aviary birds for .25/cup
The Sanctuary is on 72 Acres of land, with 6 different hiking trials going through forest, pine groves, and along the Clearfork River.
The mission of the Ohio Bird Sanctuary is to preserve the biodiversity of Ohio through education, rehabilitation, and stewardship. The Sanctuary strives to fulfill the mission through the pursuit of three main goals:
Education is the cornerstone of the Sanctuary’s mission. During the school year over 20,000 individuals attended programs presented throughout the North Central Ohio area and at the facility. In addition to the school curriculum, the Sanctuary also offers other learning opportunities. On weekends programs such as Junior Naturalist, Creatures of the Night, Christmas for the Birds, Fall Wildlife Festival, and Breeding Bird Surveys. During the summer local children attend Nature Camps for students ages 6-12. Public outreach programs are made weekly at Mohican State Park Resort and seasonally at Malabar Farm, Gorman Nature Center, Kingwood, Wildlife Expos and the Ohio State Fair.
The Sanctuary’s educational outreach programming has expanded over the last three years to include programming for our area homeless shelter, summer camps for disadvantaged youth and weekly visits to the Mansfield City preschool classrooms. These programs are all funded through grants and corporate support.
The Ohio Bird Sanctuary was founded in 1988, by Executive Director Gail Laux, as the Richland County Raptor Rehabilitation Center. The Sanctuary was originally operated from the private property of the Laux’s. The Bird Sanctuary signed a lease with the Heart of Ohio Boy Scout Council in 1995 to create a public facility at the site of Camp Avery Hand. Through public, private and foundation support the Sanctuary developed a public facility that opened the summer of 1999. 2007 the Ohio Bird Sanctuary entered into a land contract with the Heart of Ohio Council to purchase the 52 acres it had historically leased. In 2009 the Sanctuary purchased an additional 15 acres plus a building suitable for renovation into a larger visitors center.
The development of the public facility occurred in stages. 1996-98 the board of trustees and volunteers created a trail system and conducted fund-raisers to renovate an existing building and parking lot. This first phase opened the doors of the Sanctuary for summer camps and special events. In 1999 a visitors center was constructed with an interpretive lobby, resource library, classroom, receiving area for sick and injured birds, office space, and an outdoor display area for live birds. Completion of this phase created a public educational center for hosting school groups and presently houses all the Sanctuary’s operations. A brick walkway and boardwalk were constructed to make the facility accessible to all individuals.
Future development includes the renovation of the dining hall structure into a visitors center. The renovations will include upgrades to make it energy efficient, accessible and the construction of a walkway to connect to existing buildings and displays. The Sanctuary is also in process of phase one to establish a wheelchair accessible trail and boardwalk into the Clear Fork Marsh.