January 29 & 30, 2004
Students Get Up Close & Personal with Raptorial Birds
Approximately 871 elementary school children from Lewistown Elementary and Havana New Central School participated in educational programming at Dickson Mounds Museum, focusing on the wintering eagles and other raptorial birds to be found in the Illinois River Valley.
Students attended presentations featuring a number of live raptors, including a Great horned owl, Screech owl, Barn owl, Turkey vulture, Harris hawk, Red-tailed hawk, kestrel and an American Bald eagle. Several of the birds provided free-flight demonstrations as naturalists from the World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis, Missouri taught children about the diets, habitats and unique characteristics of each bird species. Additional programming was also provided by staff and volunteers from the Emiquon / Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who taught children about eagle feathers, eggs, wingspans and more.
The World Bird Sanctuary programs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Presentations and resource packets distributed to students and teachers were made possible through Department of Natural Resources Field Trip Grants and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Emiquon Refuge, in recognition of 100 years of national wildlife refuges.
