‘I wanted to help save them’: Maryland girl pens bird guide for a cause – WTOP News

At 11 years outdated, Xaviana Leis, from Edgewater, Maryland, shouldn’t be solely a broadcast writer, however she’s additionally a philanthropist.

Leis, who goes by Xavi, has written and illustrated a information to the birds of Maryland, and the cash raised from the gross sales of her e-book goes to a nonprofit group that rehabilitates raptors which were injured.

Xavi and her mother, Megan Dombi-Leis, stated that Xavi was impressed to become involved with birds after a speaker visited her Lady Scout troop and talked about how birds need assistance from people.

“I heard that insecticides and fishing line are harming the birds. And I needed to assist save them and cease them from getting harmed by what we’re doing,” Leis stated.

Since then, she and her mother have volunteered to assist transport injured birds to licensed rehabilitators, such because the Owl Moon Raptor Heart in Boyds, Maryland.

Suzanne Shoemaker, the licensed rehabilitator who runs Owl Moon, stated that she works with all types of birds of prey, together with hawks, eagles, falcons, owls and even vultures.

“They’re vital within the ecosystem, they usually’re simply vital as a result of they’re dwelling creatures that we are attempting to share our world with,” Shoemaker stated.

The middle can be about educating younger folks and getting them concerned as a lot as they’ll within the work.

Shoemaker stated that it’s “tremendous good” that Xavi is donating the cash from the e-book’s sale, however it is usually simply as thrilling to see her enthusiasm.

As of final Friday, Shoemaker stated she has discovered that the e-book gross sales have generated some $5,000 for Owl Moon, and that’s welcomed given what Shoemaker’s seeing this 12 months.

Late winter is often a gradual time for rehabilitators, however this 12 months, “There has not been any gradual time in any respect for us this 12 months. It’s been nonstop” Shoemaker stated.

On studying how a lot cash her e-book gross sales generated, Leis, who has additionally offered a few of her watercolor illustrations, stated, “I’m actually completely satisfied that we raised that a lot cash. I didn’t suppose that I used to be going to boost even near that quantity.”

“One of many first instances we transferred an eagle, I stated to my mother that I used to be screaming on the within” with pleasure, however, “We now have to be fully quiet within the automotive,” Xavi stated.

Xavi stated that human voices can stress the birds, and “in the event that they transfer as a result of they’re scared, they may injure themselves extra.”

Her favourite hen is the bald eagle. Not solely are they stunning, majestic birds, however Xavi stated their story touched her. Within the Nineteen Sixties, they had been getting ready to extinction, and now “they’re coming again and thriving,” she stated.

Xavi’s mother recalled telling her daughter how when she was a baby, the one time she noticed a bald eagle was in a zoo.

“Now there’s one on our avenue,” Dombi-Leis stated. “We simply lookup, and there’s hawks and eagles and birds that weren’t there after I was a child. It’s fairly fascinating to see them round in all places.”

You should purchase the “Maryland Hen Information” at Classic by the Bay, Wild Birds Limitless, Caprichos Books and Wild Birds Limitless.