Please join us in celebrating the life of our Founder, Carol Akerlof, with food and drinks under a tent in front of the organization that she founded in 2004.
Saturday, October 2, 2021 2:00PM – 5:00PM EDT Toasts to Carol start at 4 pm.
Bird Center of Michigan 7800 Platt Rd. Saline, MI 48176
In lieu of flowers, Carol’s family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Bird Center of Michigan. To contribute, please visit https://gofund.me/e7af6ecf.
As fall approaches and the days get shorter, the Bird Center of Michigan will be reducing our clinic hours accordingly. As of today, we are currently open from 7:30 am – 8:30 pm, 7 days a week. Phone and intake hours are 8:00 am – 8:00 pm. Please do not bring a bird to the Center without speaking directly to a staff member first.
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our Founder, Carol Akerlof. Carol’s kindness, calmness, compassion for people and animals, and undying determination have left a legacy of education and countless wild lives saved.
Around 1980, Carol was living in Palo Alto, CA, with her family, while her husband was working on a project for U of M. She and the children found an injured bird and took it to a wildlife rescue. That was the beginning of Carol’s serious involvement with wild bird rehabilitation. She was able to take a rehabilitation class and spent many days volunteering.
When Carol returned to Ann Arbor, she joined the wildlife rehab team at the Humane Society of Huron Valley. In 1984, she attended the National Wildlife Rehabilitation Association Conference, and quickly applied and was granted a permit. She also applied to become a 501C3 non-profit organization.
It was official! The Bird Center then became a licensed Songbird Rehabilitation Center. Carol held a training session at Washtenaw Community College and began acquiring a group of passionate volunteers.
For many years birds were cared for in volunteers’ homes, with Carol’s careful guidance and support always available. Her phone rang well into the night, her refrigerator was filled with mealworms, and people constantly arrived at her door, often in tears, while lovingly carrying injured or baby birds.
In 2004, the Bird Center received a grant that allowed the center to move into the tiny building on Mary Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2021, the Bird Center of Washtenaw County became the Bird Center of Michigan and acquired a new home in Saline, Michigan with 2.5 acres. All due to Carol’s vision and foresight for saving birds.
We will be hosting a Celebration of Life with Carol’s friends and family at the Bird Center of Michigan. Details forthcoming. In the meantime, if you would like to donate to continue the legacy of this most AMAZING woman, please visit our donate page.
Unfortunately, our Gardening Event has been rescheduled to Sunday, July 25th, from 8 am – 4:30 pm due to inclement weather expected on Saturday. We hope you are still able to attend! Sunday’s weather is going to be perfect! Thank you for understanding.
Join Audeline and Ashley, graduate students from the University of Michigan, in transforming the Bird Center of Michigan’s landscape into a beautiful, naturalized, bird-friendly garden!
As one of the main features of their Master’s Practicum Project for Landscape Architecture, more than 500 plants (mostly perennials) will be going into the ground beginning Sunday, July 25th, and they need all the help they can get to make this happen!
If you are interested in helping this vision come to life, please join us whenever you can! Event runs from 8 am – 4:30 pm. (You do not need to volunteer for the entire day. Even a few hours will help!)
Cold beverages and snacks will be provided! Check out our Facebook event page to RSVP.
The Bird Center of Michigan would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday weekend! We’d like to remind you to be aware of the life-threatening injuries fireworks can cause many types of wildlife species.
