Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—August 3, 2012. Thorn Creek Audubon Society will host its Second Annual Hummingbird Festival on Saturday, August 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Wetland Discovery Center at the Park Forest Aqua Center, 30 N. Orchard. Those who are fascinated by our smallest birds will have a chance to see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at close range and even ‘adopt’ one.
Bird expert Vernon Kleen will band some of the birds that visit the Hummingbird Garden planted this year at the Discovery Center. The birds will be captured in remote-controlled traps attached to the Center’s hummingbird feeders, weighed, sexed and measured, and then banded so avian scientists can learn more about them, especially their migration patterns. Kleen is one of the few licensed hummingbird banders in Illinois.
Anyone who attends the Festival has the opportunity to ‘adopt’ one of the tiny creatures by making a $5 donation to the Illinois Audubon Land Acquisitions Fund. Donors will receive a special adoption certificate and have the privilege of holding, then releasing, their own bird as it continues to migrate south for the winter. Those adopting birds will be notified if their bird is recaptured. The $5 fee goes to purchase land in Illinois for wildlife preservation.
