OUTDOORS EVENT FEATURES BIRDS OF PREY

Sitting on a little round perch in the center of a square piece of orange carpet at the Show Me Center Saturday was a Peregrine falcon a bird that until 1991 had not been hatched outside captivity in Missouri for more than 100 years.

The falcon and three other birds of prey were brought to Buck McNeely's Outdoorsman International Expo and Sporting Clays Tourney by the World Bird Sanctuary headquartered in St. Louis.

The WBS director and founder Walter Crawford was on hand, telling giggling children about the birds, while holding a massive golden eagle on his right hand.

"He weighs about 7 pounds," Crawford told the awe-struck children. "He can only carry about half his weight while in flight.

"A lot of people think that these birds attack horses, sheep or cows, but that's simply not true," Crawford said. "He couldn't even carry off a large rabbit."

The eagle is 27 years old and has become a fixture of Crawford's expeditions around the world.

The bird starred in a Chrysler-Jeep-Eagle commercial in Hawaii after the Chrysler Corp. donated a considerable amount of money to the sanctuary.

"Birds raised in captivity usually live three to four times longer than their wild counterparts," Crawford said. "Nature can be really tough on these birds."

For Crawford, the expo was a homecoming of sorts.

"I graduated from Southeast Missouri State University," he said. "I really enjoy coming to Cape Girardeau.

"In fact, that's why I'm here," he continued. "This was supposed to be my first weekend off in about three weeks, but I wanted to come to Cape Girardeau and see some old friends during this exhibit."

Crawford's bachelor's degree is in agriculture, which he said gave him the foundation to move on to what he does today.

One of those decisions was to begin the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis. Its mission is to preserve the Earth's biological diversity and to secure the future of threatened bird species in their natural environment.

"Birds are barometers of our environment," said Crawford. "It goes back to the days when coal miners used to bring canaries down into the shafts with them to safeguard themselves against exposure to lethal gasses."

Crawford said conservation is not a philosophy of the way we live, but rather a component of everyday life.

"People have to realize that what they do today, here in Cape Girardeau, can affect rare bird species in South America," he said. "That is why we target the youth, tell them about their world, their environment and their future."

Since its formation, the organization has spread to seven states.

Last year, the WBS spoke to more than 2.3 million children all over the United States; 75,000 in St. Louis alone.

But why would a conservation-promoting organization set up shop at a hunting expo?

"Conservation organizations work with hunting organizations rather effectively," Crawford said. "Most problems with endangered species are not the result of hunters' activities, but rather the way we live every day.

"There are a few hunters who disobey regulations that can give a bad name to all hunters," he continued. "These species are being destroyed by people who don't understand how important birds are to us."

Take the Peregrine falcon for instance. It was being destroyed by the presence of DDT, an agent in many fertilizers, in its system. Falcons were laying eggs with shells so thin they stood virtually no chance of surviving.

In 1985, the WBS began working to reintroduce Peregrine falcons into Missouri a state from which they had been absent for more than 100 years.

In 1991, the group enjoyed great triumph when two falcons they released from the top of the Anheuser-Busch building a few years prior had baby falcons on a ledge outside the 36th floor of the Southwestern Bell building in St. Louis.

Said Crawford: "That's when we feel our greatest sense of accomplishment: when we see birds go back to the wild, where they should be.

"This would be a sad place if we lost the birds," Crawford said. "A really sad place."

Crawford and his birds will be at the Show Me Center again today. Oct. 23 and 24, the World Bird Sanctuary will hold its annual open house, showcasing hundreds of rare and exotic birds. Admission is free.