ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Abilene Zoo needs live grasshoppers to help feed a large number of birds of prey they’ve been seeing in the City.

Zoo staff says they have seen an “unusually high number” of Mississippi kites, which are tiny birds of prey, this year.

They believe the high heat is causing the increase, theorizing that it is prompting more and more parent kites to abandon their nests with juveniles still inside.

Staff is working to rehabilitate the birds and they need live grasshoppers and crickets to teach them to hunt.

Anyone who wants to help is asked to collect the bugs and bring them to the Bird Rehab Center at the Abilene Zoo.

The Abilene Zoo is located at 2070 Zoo Lane.