6 raptors die at Itasca nature center

Itasca police are investigating why six raptors died recently inside the Spring Brook Nature Center.

Caretakers at the center discovered the dead birds last week inside the building, which is undergoing renovations. Officials said the temperature inside the room where the birds were being housed was above 100 degrees.

Police don't believe anything nefarious is behind the' deaths. The investigation is pointing toward a construction accident, authorities said.

Itasca police Chief Scott Heher said a report likely will be released early next week.

The facility is owned by the village, but the birds are being cared for by Barrington-based Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Dawn Keller is the director of Flint Creek and called police to report the birds' deaths.

About half the center's raptors - used in educational programs - were killed along with two other injured birds being treated there, officials said. The dead birds include owls, a kestrel, a turkey vulture and a falcon. Keller was unsure how old the birds were, but some of the raptors had been there for years.

Keller said the birds normally would be kept in pens outside, but the enclosures flooded in late December. Because of the inclement weather since then, there hasn't been a chance to properly clean the pens.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Migratory Birds Permit Program Manager Andrea Kirk said Keller notified her of the birds' deaths, but the federal agency is not investigating.

"As long as they report the deaths to us our role is done," Kirk said. "If they find criminal activity, that would come to our law enforcement division."

Flint Creek took over the raptor program at Spring Brook last spring after the village was forced to cut funding because of budgetary constraints. Years ago it had ended the rehabilitation program there, but Flint Creek officials resurrected that as well when they took over.

Spring Brook also houses injured mammals and reptiles, Keller said.