HULBERT — A bald eagle, an owl and a hawk, all residents of Three Forks Nature Center, soon will have freedom more like what they had in the wild, said Park Manager Tony Presley.

Three Forks Nature Center is in Sequoyah State Park between Wagoner and Tahlequah, south of Oklahoma 51.

A new nature center was built several years ago, but the aviary was seven feet tall, not large enough to give the larger birds the space they needed to feel free, Presley said.

Wagoner resident Charlotte Jernigan made the larger aviary possible with a donation to the center, Presley said. She was also a donor for the new center and has worked on a number of bird-related projects at the park, Presley said.

“Her giving us the means to get this done has just been wonderful,” he said.

The residents of the new aviary will be large flight birds, said naturalist Cyndie Short. The center’s resident birds are ones that have been injured and cannot be released into the wild.

Presley said the bald eagle cannot fly, he just sort of hops around, but should like the new, larger quarters.

The new aviary will have about 600 square feet — about twice as much as much as the existing facility, which will continue to be used for song birds, he said.

Bird watching at the nature center and throughout the park is popular, Presley said. Several Audubon Society groups and amateur bird watchers make frequent visits to the park.

The park averages about 300,000 visitors a year, with about 400 to 600 a month at the nature center, Short said.

Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926 or lmcmahan@muskogeephoenix.com.