Jenni B.

Jenni went to school for Microbiology, completely unrelated to birds, but grew up with cats, dogs, and hamsters and of course a love for all animals. She didn't know the first thing about birds or ever dreamed she would love birds so much. Jenni's life changed in graduate school when she found an orphaned baby crow. She raised the little guy for the summer but, admittedly, did a lot of things wrong. After that experience she decided she wanted to learn how to properly care for wild birds. She started by volunteering with a local wildlife center and has been caring for birds ever since. Jenni has become known as the "bird lady" for central Iowa, as there are very few rehabilitators who specialize in birds in her area. Every year since she started rehabbing in Iowa, her numbers have increased by over 25%. Last year she took in 588 birds, with about 75% of them being nestlings or fledglings. Jenni has taken in birds as small as hummingbirds, as big as pelicans and swans, and all in between. So many of those birds will be helped by an incubator, especially the most fragile babies.