Nature Canada

Birds of Prey Visit Ottawa Schools

Alex MacDonald

Alex MacDonald, Conservation Manager

Over 1,400 elementary school students got to meet Apollo, a Red-tailed Hawk, and his colleague, Darwin, a Great-horned Owl, as part of Nature Canada’s school tour with Falcon-Ed in Ottawa on March 24th. The tour included stops at 4 Ottawa area schools, each of which received a 45-minute presentation by Falcon-Ed’s biologist and falconer, Geneviève Zaloum, who handles Apollo and Darwin. The presentations not only gave students an up-close view of these majestic birds, but also taught them about what makes birds of prey, or raptors, so unique and important in the ecosystem – and in the students’ own NatureHood. The goal of Nature Canada’s NatureHood program is to connect urban Canadians, especially youths and new Canadians, to nearby nature. Apollo and Darwin are ideal ambassadors of nearby nature for the kindergarten to grade 6 students at Farley Mowat, W.E. Gowling, Stittsville and Bayshore public schools, as both the Red-tailed Hawk and the Great-horned Owl are locally-occurring species.

It’s such a pleasure to work with Geneviève, Apollo and Darwin to raise local students’ awareness of nearby nature and the many creatures that call it home. This sort of accessible, up-close learning opportunity is difficult to create in the classroom or in the field, and it helps students to see firsthand how exquisitely adapted these birds are to their environment, while calling attention to their vulnerability to human impacts. And those lessons are transferable to so many other wildlife and habitat conservation issues we face today. In order to create and nurture the next generation of conservationists, we need to help them see and appreciate how precious nature is, before it’s too late.

If the students’ reactions to Apollo and Darwin, and Falcon-Ed’s various raptor-related props are any indication, today’s youth can still get excited about nature! Among the comments shared and questions asked, we heard:

“Why doesn’t the Peregrine Falcon catch on fire when it dives?” [In response to the explanation that Peregrine Falcons are actually the fastest animal on earth, with aerial dives of up to 300 km/hr]

“I learned that the Red-tailed Hawk eats a mouse whole, then keeps the good stuff and spits up the bad stuff, which is called the pellet.”

“Nature is everywhere.” [In response to the question: Where is nature?]

“I never really saw a real owl in person and it was a great feeling that I saw him [Darwin] and when he hooted.”

Working with the staff and birds from Montreal-based Falcon-Ed is always a treat! All of Falcon-Ed’s birds are born in captivity and have been specially trained for human contact and falconry – no wild birds are used.

We owe a very big thanks to White Swan for sponsoring our NatureHood program and enabling us to offer these exceptional live raptor demonstrations to so many deserving Ottawa students!

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BayshorePS_FalconEd_March24-2015_cropped

WEGowlingPS_FalconEd_March24-2015_cropped

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