When learning takes flight

Outdoor Lab is a rite of passage for all Jeffco sixth-graders, and more than 90 students from West Jefferson Middle School traveled recently to the Mount Evans Outdoor Education Lab for a week of learning and living.

“The birds kind of hook ‘em,” Hill said. “You don’t realize how big they are when you see them fly overhead or see them in a picture or on a tree.”

A bird psychologist, Hill understands raptors, their behavior, social structures, skills and shortcomings. She’s also pretty good at reading her human audience, and Hill has noticed that the kids who live in the mountain areas are more familiar with birds of prey.

“The kids from more inner city are more surprised when they see them; they almost look frightened. It takes them longer to adjust,” Hill said. “They’re a little more awestruck.”

Still, Hill did notice that a few of the West Jeff students really seemed to savor the moments when the birds were first brought out or when the Harris hawk flew so close they could feel the wind from the beating wings.

“They took a moment before they took a picture; they were appreciating it first,” Hill said.

Emma Warnecke, 11, from Michelle Fulford’s class, called the raptor demonstrations cool and interesting.

“I liked watching the birds fly,” Emma said. “I was surprised how small the falcons really are.”

Hill, who fell in love with raptors in 1997, has been with HawkQuest since 2008 and said the nonprofit organization gives as many as 500 presentations each year. Each presentation consists of an owl, falcon and bald eagle, but the information is specifically tailored to the audience.

“I hope they (the kids) make some kind of connection … so they can appreciate that bird for what it is,” Hill said. I want them to have an appreciation for those animals that they may see all the time.”

Hill said HawkQuest’s goal is to let kids see the birds up close and understand their importance. Her special trick is the way she explained the mystery of raptors, with words that normally wouldn’t be associated with birds: sunglasses, maple syrup and guillotine.

Students “oohed” and “aahed” as Hill explained the details of the lives of birds of prey. Some birds have “sunglasses-like markings” that help reflect light away from their eyes; some of the faster birds have a maple-syrup substance on their eyes that helps them see during a super-fast descent; and some raptors can be as deadly as a guillotine in midair.

A few kids were horrified to learn that the small red cubes of food in Hill’s hand were really diced rabbit leg.

Soaring imaginations

Danny Barth, 11, from Frank Reetz’s class, said he liked the flying part of the demonstration, but he learned things about eagles he didn’t know.

“I didn’t know that the bald eagle came close to extinction,” Danny said. “It was because of pollution.”

A few lucky students who answered Hill’s raptor questions correctly had the chance to have their picture taken with the bald eagle, a massive, dignified creature that, despite its beauty, has kind of a checkered past. She told the students that Benjamin Franklin did not want the eagle to be the America’s national bird; he wanted the turkey, she said. Bald eagles are crafty scavengers and are notorious for being bullies. They’ll steal other animals’ food and intimidate other birds, according to Hill.

“Eagles are birds of bad moral character,” she said.

Sixth-grade teacher Kristy Sjogren has seen the raptor presentation several times and believes her students learn much from it.

“It’s amazing every time I see it,” she said. “The adaptation for these animals is amazing.”

Reetz confessed that his favorite bird in the demonstration wasn’t the eagle.

“I liked the owls,” Reetz said, “they have a secrecy and privacy and magic that I like to use when I’m writing.”

Reetz thought the presentation taught the kids an appreciation for animals that they don’t necessarily see every day.

“Kids these days are tech-saturated, but they are animal sensitive,” Reetz said.

Box:

For more information about the programs at HawkQuest, visit http://hawkquest.org

Every search on a computer or purchases from participating merchants can help support the mission of Parker-based HawkQuest. If interested in supporting the nonprofit that educates people in Colorado about raptors and birds of prey, go to Yahoo’s nonprofit search engine, GoodSearch, and under the section marked, “Who do you search for?” type in “HawkQuest” and hit the “verify” button. By indicating HawkQuest as your primary nonprofit, each time GoodSearch is used to find topics on the Web, the group will receive 1 cent.

Online purchases made from participating stores such as Target, Amazon, Staples and PetsMart will result in up to 30 percent of the price donated to the program.

Melissa Hill, educator with HawkQuest, said the birds, which can’t hunt for themselves, are fed a special diet of prepared foods instead of live animals. It takes $75 a day to feed the 32 raptors used to teach schoolkids about birds of prey.

“It’s not going to be a huge moneymaker, but every penny really helps us,” Hill said.

This story ran in the November 17, 2010 edition of the High Timber Times. Photos for the story were taken by Matthew Jonas, photo editor for Evergreen Newspapers.