The HawkWatch International Education team has some pretty great humans, but the stars of our team are the Raptor Ambassadors. When we deliver a program, once the bird is out, not much else matters. Fortunately, seeing people’s awe at our amazing raptors is one of my favorite parts of the job. And while there is no question about how cool my feathered coworkers are, they are not the only cool thing we bring to programs. We have some tools of the trade that are an essential part of what we share.
Travel box
Our birds travel in boxes to and from programs. This leads to one of the most popular questions we get: “What’s in the box?”
These boxes are essential because they give the birds a relaxing and safe space while we are traveling in the car and walking from the car to the program location. Walking with a strange box through crowded high school halls may draw attention, but not nearly as much as a bird on the arm.
Replicas
Bird bones are fragile, at least compared to human bones. So, if we want people to have a chance to see a bird’s skull or feet up close, using replicas made of strong materials will (mostly) ensure these items don’t break as we transport them from program to program or as they pass from hand to hand. And while that’s not foolproof (we have broken replicas to prove it), it certainly helps. Passing around replicas, rather than bones, also helps many learners feel more comfortable about interacting with these items and ensures we don’t leave anyone out. We use replicas along with many other items to teach about how raptors are different from other birds in our program designed for those on the Autism Spectrum. You can find out more about that program here.
The most common replicas we bring are feet and skulls, and the most popular of these are our Golden Eagle foot and Great Horned Owl skull. These are great for helping learners figure out and remember the three sharps—talons, beak, and eyesight—as they see and touch the replicas up close.
Glove
After seeing how big talons are, especially when our Golden Eagle Chrys comes to a program, learners understand why we always wear a glove when holding a bird. The glove also provides a consistent surface for the bird to stand on and is a visual cue that it’s time to get into business mode. In falconry, a glove is often called a gauntlet, so you might hear that term as well; I usually stick with “glove” because translating science and other topics into understandable terms or using words most people know is an important part of my job as an educator.
The size of the bird determines the size of the glove I wear. Artemis, the Western Screech-owl, is small and light, and she likes to sit on a pointer finger, so I don’t need to cover more than my fist and wrist. On the other hand, Chrys, the Golden Eagle, is much larger, and he prefers sitting on a forearm, so the glove I wear needs to cover my arm up to my elbow.
Feathers
Raptors are not ones for snuggles, and touch is definitely not their love language. That means people don’t get to touch them during programs, but even staff members don’t touch the birds behind the scenes unless it’s absolutely necessary, such as for medical care. Luckily, birds molt feathers throughout the year, so when one of our Raptor Ambassadors molts a feather that is in good condition, we save it to bring to programs. This lets learners get a feel for raptors without upsetting any of the birds.
We have permits from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that allow us to keep these feathers for educational purposes. So, no, we can’t let you keep the feathers we bring and no, you can’t keep a feather you found on the ground if it’s from a species native to the United States. We don’t keep all the feathers either. For our eagles, their feathers are sent to the National Eagle Repository in Colorado to be distributed to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Unsung Heroes
Three items that we bring to programs don’t get much attention or admiration, but are very important. They are a spray bottle of water, a drop cloth, and a pack of disinfectant wipes. We use the spray bottle to help our birds regulate their temperature. Some of our birds also simply enjoy the mist, so we’ll give them a few spritzes to help them stay relaxed.
The other two items are heroes because we can’t control the bathroom habits of the birds. When they gotta go, they go. The drop cloth is perfect for catching mutes (a term for bird poop, pee, and urates combined) when we’re standing in one spot. If we walk around with a bird who is ready to relieve themselves, the disinfectant wipes are there to save the day.
If you want to book a program with our education team and see some of these tools put to work, fill out an interest form here: https://hawkwatch.org/education/raptor-ambassador-programs/book/
This blog was written by one of HWI’s Educators, Chris Butler. You can learn about Chris here.
