From golden eagles to peregrine falcons, this rehabilitation and education center is a haven for birds of prey. 

Sponsored by Visit Lake Norman

In 1975, an injured broad-winged hawk found its way to Dr. Richard Brown, an ornithologist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Along with several biology students, Brown helped the bird back to health and released it into the wild—it would be the first of many rehabilitations.

Over the years that followed, more and more birds were brought into the makeshift clinic in the basement of the university’s biology building.

In 1980, Brown and Deb Sue Griffin, one of his students, decided to make things more official. Together they founded Carolina Raptor Center, which has admitted some 20,000 birds over the last four decades.

Source: Carolina Raptor Center – Huntersville, North Carolina – Atlas Obscura