Owner Steve Pyne discusses products and services with Kathy Morris at The Wild Bird Center of Burke. Photo by Abigail Constantino/The Connection
Is it true that when one holds a bird in one’s hand, the bird gets so nervous it dies?
No, said Steve Pyne, owner of the Wild Bird Center in Burke. This is the type of expertise and more that customer Kathy Morris can rely on when she comes in the store. She enjoys the store’s newsletters, which contain articles that “dispel myths” about birds, and it has coupons, too, she said.
Morris is a regular customer and an avid backyard bird enthusiast. She has three bird feeders and six birdbaths in her home. “It’s a great store...I buy gifts here, too,” she said.
The Wild Bird Center has been at the Burke Centre Shopping Center for 24 years. Pyne bought the business from original owner Craig Betts seven and a half years ago. His love of birds started with his father. “He always fed the birds and put up a bird feeder,” he said. Wanting a new career after being an IT professional, he bought the store.
“It all starts with an appreciation of nature,” said Pyne. Customers come in with a desire to bring nature in their home and to be closer to it, he said.
There is usually a surge of customers in winter, spring and early summer. “In the winter, people are more likely to feed the birds because there’s less food,” and in the spring people want to feed the birds and their young, he said. Spring is also the time to clean yards and make them attractive, so people come in for items to decorate their backyards.
The Wild Bird Center of Burke is located at 5765-I Burke Centre Parkway.