The Carbon County Environmental Education Center is in need of fish to feed the birds in their care.

In a recent post on Facebook, the center said, “Our birds prefer whole, not gutted or beheaded fish.”

The birds must recognize their meal as a fish, so fillets or beheaded fish will not work.

“We will accept any legal-size, legally caught fish,” Franklin Klock, a naturalist at the center, posted on Facebook recently. “Donated fish should be lure-caught to ensure no hooks or sinkers are inside. Fish can be live, freshly dead or frozen.”

The center currently has 26 resident raptors that cannot be released back to the wild for a variety of reasons.

“We are one of only about 27 rehab centers left in Pennsylvania, which is half as many as there were 30 years ago, when we began,” Klock said.

The center takes animals from all over: Carbon, Luzerne, Lackawanna and parts of Schuylkill counties as well as the Lehigh Valley and sometimes all the way to the New Jersey border.

One broadwing, “Flyway,” was brought to Hawk Mountain, during peak migration. “We happened to be on the mountain with a group of Jim Thorpe school kids when we heard the actual call on the radio: “KJB211 base to North lookout. Are our most distinguished friends from CCEEC still on the mountain? Tell them that when they return to the visitor’s center, we have a patient for them,’?” Klock said.

While not all the raptors feed on fish, for several species it makes up a large part of their diet.

Klock said the fish consumption varies. “We may use none, if other food is readily available, or we may need as many as three or four per day.”

Licensed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rehabilitate wild mammals and birds, the center recently cared for an injured osprey. Ospreys feed exclusively on fish.

“The osprey has healed and was successfully released. However, when we got it in, we had no fish to give it,” Klock said.

“Having some on hand in the freezer will help the next one we get.”

He added, “We would like to thank the community for their continuing support with fish donations as well as monetary gifts to buy food such as rats (yes, you can buy them online), donations of cases of turkey legs (Koch’s) and veterinary medical supplies.

The center is always seeking donations of paper towels, baby receiving blankets, baby food in jars, small animal treats, fresh fruits or vegetables, 2-inch masking tape, gallon zippered bags and mealworms.

If you have fish to donate, call the center at 570-645-8597.

See the raptors and other exhibits at the center, located on Mauch Chunk Lake property at 151 E. White Bear Drive, Summit Hill. The property has trails to explore, butterfly and bird gardens, and a bird feeding station in the winter.

The accessible elevated boardwalk trail takes visitors past all of the nonreleasable birds of prey.

Inside the 100-year-old building that once housed dairy cows, see a mounted black bear, animal skulls, skins, shells and more exhibits.

Building hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The building is limited to 10 visitors inside at one time.

The grounds and trails are open during daylight hours.