Join Kathy Fischer and Patty Albright from the Fontenelle Forest Raptor Program for the May 14 Omaha Science Café as they present, “The Science of Owls,” at 7 p.m. at the Slowdown.
This interactive Science Café will give attendees an up-close look at owls and the chance to dissect owl pellets.
Fischer is the manager of Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Program. She has worked with birds of prey for 10 years and manages the team of raptor volunteers, who feed and care for all the non-releasable birds that live in the Raptor Woodland Refuge at Fontenelle Forest.
Albright has volunteered with the forest’s raptor team for more than 20 years.
Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Woodland Refuge is a canopy-level exhibit 30 feet above the forest floor. Designed according to the natural habitat of the rescued birds housed within these mews, the refuge is home to more than two dozen birds of prey, including bald eagles, turkey vultures, a Swainson’s hawk, ferruginous hawk, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, Eastern screech owl and more. All of the raptors who live at the Forest are non-releasable due to a variety of factors, many involving previous injuries. These birds would not survive on their own and cannot be released.
Some of these non-releasable birds have joined our roster of educational birds for outreach and education programs. These programs allow staff and volunteers the opportunity to speak to the public about the vital role raptors play in our ecosystem and conservation efforts to protect them for generations to come.