West Coast Falconry searches for three missing birds after break-in

Three birds were still missing a week after someone broke into West Coast Falconry and deliberately released 11 raptors from their enclosures on Spring Valley Road near Marysville. Staff kept asking the public for sightings, photos and location details as the search stretched on and the cost of the intrusion climbed into the thousands.

The break-in hit a facility that depends on gear as much as it does on birds. Investigators said the intruder cut off tracking gear attached to the birds, removed equipment and forced the birds out of their enclosures, leaving West Coast Falconry with damaged or destroyed supplies that staff said would be expensive to replace. The fundraiser tied to the search says the money will go toward replacing equipment, improving security and possibly building a more secure mews. It also says the birds are either imprinted on humans or have special needs, which is why staff warned they might not survive on their own.

Recovery moved fast at first. West Coast Falconry said six of the missing birds were found close to the property within the first hour of the search, including Don Diego, who was spotted perched in a tree about 100 feet away. Active NorCal reported that Mavro, the center’s eagle, turned up at a neighbor’s property about a mile away, and a barn owl was recovered the following morning. Earlier coverage identified four birds that were still missing at one point: Cora, a red-tailed hawk blind in one eye; Cubbie, a peregrine falcon that might approach people; Amadan, a barn owl; and Walter, a great horned owl.

By the June 24 update, the business said three birds were still unaccounted for. The official fundraiser described those birds as a peregrine falcon originally transferred from a rehab center, a red-tailed hawk blind in one eye and a great horned owl rescued at 4 days old. West Coast Falconry opened in 2006, and the break-in left a long-running educational falconry business dealing with a wildlife search, a security problem and a financial hit at the same time.

The Yuba County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been notified. A week after the break-in, the missing birds remained the center of the story, and the search still depended on the same fragile link falconers know well, quick eyes on the ground and birds that should never have been outside their mews in the first place.