In a cramped room in the Edwardsburg branch of the Cass County District library, children huddled together to watch as a large Eurasian eagle owl spread its six-foot wing span.
The children were fascinated.
“How does it get to be so big?” a child asked. “It’s huge.”
The owl was one of several birds featured in a presentation by the Lake Milton Raptor Education Center for the Cass County District Library. The library organized and sponsored four presentations by the education center at various district library locations to have children interact with rehabilitated birds and educate the children about the lives and habitats of the birds. Tuesday, June 27, saw presentations at the main library branch in Cassopolis and at the Mason/Union branch. Thursday, June 29 saw presentations at the Edwardsburg and Howard branches.
“We’ve done animal presentations in the past and they have been really popular,” said Marketing Coordinator for the Cass District Library April Hughes. “We have not had a birds of prey workshop in a long time, so [the library] thought this was a good idea.”
The Edwardsburg presentation showcased Mishi, a Eurasian eagle owl, Rio, an American kestrel falcon, Fern, a screech owl, Willow, a barn owl, Matilda, a turkey vulture, and Irish, a barred owl.
Presenters Aimee Pico and Darlene Brockman talked to the children about everything from the birds’ diets to how the birds came to be in their care.
“[The Raptor Education Center] works to rehabilitate all kinds of birds and release them back into the wild,” Pico said. “But there are some birds that can’t go back into the wild, so we take care of them.”
The library has been planning the bird presentations as part of its “Build a Better World” summer program.
The presentation was meant to fit into the summer’s theme by getting youth and adults to think about the environment and animal habitats, Hughes said.
Some of the ways Brockman and Pico suggested audience members could help preserve bird habitats was being aware of the types of fertilizers and rat poisons they use, not cutting down old trees and creating bird houses.
Hughes agreed that children should be learning about habitat conservation at a young age.
“We wanted people to be thinking about how they could build a better world starting with their own homes and community,” Hughes said. “There are things that kids can start doing at a young age. With the birds of prey especially, that’s something that might not be on someone’s radar or that they might not know about, so it’s a good learning experience for them now, so they can starting thinking about what they can do.”
In addition to being informative, the children seem to enjoy the bird presentations, which is evident in the attendance numbers Hughes said.
The Edwardsburg presentation had 47 attendants, the main branch in Cassopolis had 95 and the Mason/Union branch had 79.
“People love animal programs,” Hughes said. “I think it’s just being able to see an animal up close and learn interesting facts and information about it.”
For a full list of summer programs at the Cass District Library, visit cass.lib.mi.us.