National Aviary names bald eagle after Brighton Heights man for his service

Some people receive gold watches for years of loyal service and others may be treated to a lunch. For Michael Flinn, it was something very different.

A new bald eagle at the National Aviary on the North Side was named Flinn in honor of Mr. Flinn, an attorney with Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, who has been a volunteer at the aviary for more than 20 years.

Mr. Flinn was doing pro bono work for the Northside Civic Development Corp. in 1990 when then-mayor Sophie Masloff proposed closing the aviary. The organization approached Mr. Flinn, asking for his help.

“They said they didn’t want one more bad thing happening for the North Side and wanted to see if they could privatize it and keep it open,” he said.

Mr. Flinn served as the chief negotiator for the privatization contract that was signed on July 1, 1991.

“My reward for successfully negotiating the contract was that they made me the president of the board,” Mr. Flinn said.

Mr. Flinn served for two terms on the board.

“One of the benefits of being a lawyer is that I cleverly put in the bylaws that there were term limits,” he said. “Of course, the board has executed a waiver three times in my case.”

As a youngsterr, Mr. Flinn lived in the Mexican War Streets and then his family moved to Brighton Heights. After graduating from North Catholic High School, Mr. Flinn headed off to the University of Notre Dame to study English with plans to go to law school.

“My father was an attorney and I had that leaning my entire life,” he said.

When it came time to choose a law school, Mr. Flinn decided to return to Pittsburgh. He attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

“Pittsburgh was home,” Mr. Flinn said. “Besides, I was already engaged to my now wife and she is an East End girl.”

Mr. Flinn said he enjoys serving on the board and has a special fondness for the staff at the aviary. He is also proud of the fact that since those early years, the size of the aviary has more than doubled and offers an enjoyable learning experience for all ages.

“It is a really different personal experience than going to the zoo — and I love the zoo,” he said. “You can hold things and birds can even land on you. You can’t do that with lions and elephants.”

Saving the aviary also helped the North Side, Mr. Flinn said. In an area that had seen some difficult times in the early 1990s, having the resource for residents of Western Pennsylvania is a great benefit, he said.

“It is a really nice central core with the Children’s Museum less than two blocks away, and the [Carnegie] Science Center is less than a mile away,” he said.

Cheryl Tracy, managing director and chief operating officer of the aviary, told Mr. Flinn that the staff wanted to honor his 25 years of volunteer service by naming the bald eagle after him. They gave him the option of naming the bird something else, but he passed.

“I told them that selecting a name was too hard,” Mr. Flinn said. “There were way too many people that I could offend or slight.”

The bald eagle named Flinn is estimated to be 4 years old and suffered a wing injury that makes it impossible for him to survive in the wild. Flinn is part of the education collection and is being trained to participate in programming and shows. A plaque was installed by Flinn’s cage.

“I can’t tell you how honored I am,” he said. “There are such quality people there and I am proud to be part of the aviary.”