Tribes celebrate migratory bird return

Owls, parrots, and falcons made an appearance last Thursday afternoon at SKC’s Bird Day celebration. 

Bird Day was a day to commemorate the return of migratory birds and to educate Lake County residents of the role birds play in our local ecosystem. 

Displays and demonstrations were set up at the Joe McDonald Health and Athletic Center with the opening ceremonies at Johnny Arlee/Victor Charlo Theater next door. 

The event opened with an honor song performed by Yamncut and dances from Siliye Pete, Cortez Osborne and Arnod McDonald. 

Whisper Camel-Means, wildlife biologist for the CSKT, said the goal of the event was to show a fusion of art, science and Native culture with the central focus being birds. 

Although the National Bird Day celebration isn’t for another week, Camel-Means said that now is as good of time as any to start celebrating the return of our migratory friends. “People are starting to be aware of them,” Camel-Means said. 

Inside the athletic center, groups like Montana Audubon and Montana Natural History Center set up tri-folds and displays to educated visitors about the role birds play in our ecosystem. 

“They’re prey, they’re predators, they’re seed spreaders,” Vicki Cox, a Master Naturalist with Montana Natural History Center said. “And they take care of insects.”

Montana Wild Wings also had a display ready for visitors, but it involved some more intimate displays: live birds. The organization had four volunteers holding four birds. They held their display outside the theater to give visitors an opportunity to get closer to the birds and ask the volunteers questions. 

Byron Crow, a biologist and volunteer with Montana Wild Wings, was holding a ferruginous hawk, North America’s largest hawk. Crow said that days like Bird Day are important because it gives people exposure to the animals. “It let’s people understand the birds around us,” he said. “Birds are indicators. If a habitat isn’t able to carry a population of birds, how healthy is it for us?” 

Although adults came to the event, many of the activities were centered around kids and passing on the education and knowledge to the younger generations. Camel-Means said that kids could grab binoculars and an identity sheet to walk around and check out the birds near the event. “People want to come out for the birds,” she said. “You never know when you’re going to give a kid a lifelong love of birds or nature.”