SAUGUS – Saugus children were treated to an up-close look at birds of prey at Saugus Iron Works on Saturday.
Jim Parks, a licensed raptor rehabilitator, taught the Wing Masters class for children ages 6 and older. They got to see several kinds of hunting birds, such as hawks, falcons and owls, and learned about their habitats. The event was sponsored by New Friends of Saugus Public Library, a group with an interest in improving the library’s building, programs, services and collections.
“I submitted the funding request, and they funded this program, and we are very grateful for this,” said Amy Melton, head of Children’s Department at Saugus Public Library.
According to Melton, Parks and fellow raptor rehabilitator Julie Anne Collier presented their snake program at the library last fall, and it was very popular.
“The kids love animals,” said Melton.
Parks kicked off the class explaining that the idea behind wildlife rehabilitation was “to rescue the creature, try to fix the problem, and then let her go.”
“We rescue only sick, injured, or orphaned birds of prey,” he said.
According to him, the birds presented at the program were those that would not survive in the wild because of their injuries, and that was the reason the program existed.
“I don’t believe in using animals for entertainment,” said Parks.
Parks first brought out a falcon, and explained what made “a falcon a falcon” – having long and pointed wings, low body weight, hard-stiff wing feathers, and an incredibly long tail for a small bird. The falcon he showed was the American Kestrel – the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Parks explained that with highways replacing open farm fields the natural habitat of this bird was diminishing.
“The future is unfortunately not very bright for this bird,” said Parks.
He then moved on to hawks and showed the audience a red-tailed hawk. He said it was probably the oldest bird they had ever rescued. The bird had a silver bracelet, which meant that its nest was studied by a scientist.
“She is one of the longest living red-tail hawks in captivity in the United States today,” said Parks.
He then proceeded to bring out owls, including a barred owl and a northern saw-whet owl. The northern saw-whet owl is among the smallest owl species in North America.
“Let’s be perfectly blunt, she is absolutely adorable,” said Parks about the northern saw-whet owl.
He explained that unlike falcons, who had hard wing feathers, because it was the speed that mattered most for them, owls had soft feathers to be able to get to their prey unnoticed.
“His prey will never know what is about to happen,” said Parks.
According to Parks, the best way to spot an owl is to follow the screaming “mobs” of birds. He reminded the children that owls are not active in the daytime, and that the only thing the owls were “interested in doing” then was “not getting noticed by other birds.”
According to him, despite widespread belief that only owls could turn their heads halfway around, it was something “even our national bird, a bald eagle can do.”
Parks said that birds needed to be able to turn their heads to extreme angles, because unlike humans, they could barely move their eyes.
The attendees loved the lecture. Nancy Cahill from Wakefield brought her grandson because she thought it would be interesting for him.
“I just love owls, and so does my daughter,” said Anne LoConte, a Saugus resident.
As it turned out, some of the visitors followed the program of the rehabilitators’ duo.
“We never miss it, it’s terrific,” said Saugus resident Jan Savoie.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected]
