'Birdman' of Idaho relishes his rescue role

IDAHO FALLS — Jim Porter might grumble about the time and money he puts into saving birds of prey, but there's no doubt he loves what he does.

Porter, an animal control officer for Idaho Falls, was designated southeastern Idaho Fish and Game's raptor rehabilitator in the early 1980s. Since then, he's taken on more than 1,000 birds.

He feeds and houses them, then releases them when they're ready to return to the wild or finds homes in zoos and education programs for those that will never hunt again.

It's not an easy job.

It takes time and commitment, and sometimes birds just don't make it. Many of those that do survive will die soon after they're released. Porter said he doesn't have any idea whether birds he releases fare better than birds that grow up fending for themselves, only 10 percent of which survive their first year.

"We just try to give them a step up so they can get back into the wild," Porter said. "How many of them really do get helped? Or do you just prolong the inevitable?"

Porter got into birds in the 1960s. Back then, he hunted with hawks in the Los Angeles area. Some 15 years later, he moved to Jefferson County, where there was more open space to hunt. Though his wife complained about the time he dedicated to birds, for Porter, there was no turning back.

"It's basically a sport, but when you get into it, it's a lifestyle," he said.

Soon after arriving in Idaho, Porter found himself the keeper of wounded and abandoned raptors found all over eastern Idaho. They come to him by way of private citizens, Fish and Game, zoos, veterinarians and police.

"He's been the go-to guy when it comes to raptors," said Gregg Losinski, Fish and Game's Upper Snake regional conservation educator. "He over time has amassed an incredible amount of field knowledge, the kind of stuff you don't learn at veterinary school."

Some of the birds Porter houses have been injured in accidents. Others were pushed out of the nest by their mothers when they were young. Sound harsh? It's all part of nature, Porter said.

The idea is that a mother bird, like the mother of any other animal, calculates how many young she will be able to feed and protect. If she has six chicks and can only handle four, the two smallest and weakest get the boot.

"It's just hard. Mother Nature's a difficult person," Porter said.