"Keeping them wild" - As the founder and director of For the Birds of Acadiana, a nonprofit bird rescue, Julie Rabalais has become a local authority on bird care and rehabilitation.
''I feel like I'm fulfilling something that I enjoy,'' Rabalais said, ''and I'm also doing something to help that's bigger than me.''
Almost five years into running her nonprofit, Rabalais, a state and federally permitted avian rehabber, plays a critical role in wild bird care in Acadiana. Throughout the year and especially during migration seasons, south Louisianans might find ill, orphaned or injured birds in their backyards, often the result of collisions, cat attacks and habitat loss.
Rabalais has been the person to call for thousands of these cases.
''I've tried to keep them wild,'' Rabalais said. ''That's the whole goal.''
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