CANFIELD — The Birds in Flight Sanctuary, located in Howland since 1991, has found a new home in Canfield and plans to open next spring.

Heather Merritt, executive director of the sanctuary, a nonprofit wildlife rescue organization, said originally a 63-acre site off Henn Hyde and King Graves roads in Vienna was considered.

“The property owners in Vienna decided to keep the land. We are currently building at the new location in Canfield and are not ready to open yet,” she said, noting she has been at the Canfield location working for the past six months.

The 80-acre property is off Columbiana-Canfield Road (state Route 46) and includes 52 acres of forest.

Merritt told Canfield Township trustees earlier this year that the sanctuary had outgrown its site in Howland. She was able to purchase the 80-acre Zarlenga Farm, which lies a half-mile south of the Canfield Fairgrounds.

“We are excited to be located in Canfield,” she said.

HOW IT BEGAN

Merritt began caring for birds in 1991, when her neighbor brought her a great horned owl. Her project grew from taking in 23 birds the first year to housing more than 300 today.

For 31 years, the bird sanctuary was located in Merritt’s backyard on Warwick Road off state Route 46 in Howland. It’s been home mostly to rescued birds, though Merritt said it also took care of other animals — with the exceptions of raccoons and adult deer.

Merritt said some of the birds already have been relocated to Canfield.

She and her son, Cameron, are the only ones working at the sanctuary now because they can’t have any volunteers due to caution over the bird flu.

“People unknowingly carry the influenza (virus). We always appreciated all the volunteers did, but we can’t have them right now,” Merritt said.

She said the country had an avian influenza outbreak in 2015, and then again in 2021 — following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit, all bird programs and exhibits were halted. The last nature programs Merritt did were in 2019.

Earlier, Cameron Merritt explained a living quarters is needed at the sanctuary because someone needs to be there; and there’s a need for a few rehabilitation buildings and an educational building with classrooms.

“It’s a 24/7 job. We need to be on site immediately in case of an emergency,” his mother said.

In 2021, the Merritts handled more than 5,000 animals and birds, with the majority of birds coming from the public.

OVERSIGHT

Merritt said people come across a bird of prey that may have been hit by a car, or injured some other way, and she gets the call. Birds that are injured to the degree they can’t live in the wild are permitted to be used for public education.

Today Birds of Flight Sanctuary carries two licenses, Merritt said. One is through the Ohio Division of Wildlife and covers animal rescues, including fawns.

The other license is through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and covers birds. Merritt said the birds of prey need to have a shelter where they are kept from the public.

The barn at the Zarlenga Farm is expected to be ready to house animals and birds by the spring. By summer, Merritt said she hopes to open to the public, except for the wild birds that are not permitted to be on public display.

The organization’s builder, Brad Gibson, showed Canfield trustees plans to enlarge the existing barn to handle more birds and animals down the road. Gibson said the expansion would be done in phases as donations allow.

“We are going to renovate the existing barn,” Gibson said at the meeting. “We also will be building several 24-foot octagon pens to serve as public education areas.”

bcoupland@tribtoday.com