School is for the birds!

Stephanie Blakelock of Crossroads, teacher's assistant at Black Butte School started it all.

She asked me if I would bring Marly, Wild Wings' great horned owl education bird, to the school. The question immediately brought to my mind Gary Landers (operator of Sisters' Wild Wings raptor rehab facility) and the beautiful turkey vulture (TV) he fixed up after it collided with a car. The TV didn't fare too well with the accident and lost the end of its right wing. Therefore, it could not be released back to the wild as Gary has done with hundreds of his other patients. It, too, became an educational bird.

Things progressed like a snowball rolling downhill. When I spoke to Gary he immediately thought of his assistant, Bill Gawloski, who was training another education bird, a young female Swainson's hawk, also incapable of taking care of itself in the wild.

The outcome was that one adult turkey vulture, one juvenile Swainson's hawk and an adult great horned owl - in company of their aforementioned human friends - went out to Black Butte School last Wednesday morning.

The children, in grades 4-7, were not only looking forward to the visiting birds; they were prepared as well. From the moment all three of us stood before the entire student body of 16 students, things began to happen. Questions came flying from the children as soon as the introductions were made about the TV, hawk and owl.

"What do turkey vultures eat and do..."

"How long have you (Gary Landers) been doing this job?"

"How did you get these birds?"

Jordan asked, "Is a turkey vulture a raptor?"

Megan: "How do you set these birds free?"

"Why do Swainson's hawks like grasshoppers?"

As the program was drawing to a close, one of the teachers asked, "Well, students, what did you learn about these birds today?"

Ethan raised his hand and said, "That turkey vultures regurgitate on their enemies to distract them, and so they can have a quicker takeoff to get away."

Joel said, "Swainson hawks make the second-longest migration of all hawks!"

Megan learned that the great horned owl cannot turn its head 360-degrees.

Jackson said, "I learned that the Swainson's hawk was named after a scientist named Swainson." And Marissa piped up, "I learned that Swainson's hawks make their 9,000-mile migration in seven weeks!"

Lily thought turkey vultures were bald, but when Gary brought the turkey vulture up close so she could see the bird's head more clearly, she was surprised to see it had tiny, hair-like feathers on the top of its head.

Hunter said, "I learned that Swainson hawks eat lots of grasshopper in Argentina." His brother Cole said, "Yeah, and owls have one ear up and one ear down..."

The day ended with students wondering over the new things they learned, and Gary Landers again seeing the value of all the time and TLC he puts in caring for and training the unfortunate birds that were injured and repaired, but incapable of going back into the wild. They lead valuable lives, teaching children about the world around us.