Name the Baby Raptor Species on Facebook

We invite everyone to go to our Facebook page, and submit guesses to our wall about which species the baby raptors are on our new Cover Photo. We will let you know "who" these babies are on Monday, April 2. We will have a new Cover Photo and opportunity to try out your identification skills every two weeks until mid-June!

Raptors of Minnesota Public Programs Friday, April 6

The Raptor Center is pleased to offer two public Raptors of Minnesota programs on Friday, April 6. There will be one at 11:00am and another at 1:00pm. The programs are first come, first served, no RSVP's. Adults are $7.50 and children are $5. The Raptor Center will be open on Sunday, April 8.

Facebook Name the Baby Raptor Species!

As most of you know, Facebook is changing their page format starting this Friday, March 30. Over the next few weeks, we will feature images of baby raptors as Cover Photos. Post your guesses as to which species each baby raptor is on our Facebook page. Keep following us to learn the answers!

Our first photo will go up on Friday, and we will let you know “who” it is on Monday, April 2.

Snowy Owls released

Three Snowy Owls were released back into the wild on Saturday. Volunteers were able to watch

as these birds were sent off on a cool, foggy day to hopefully find their way back to more northern breeding grounds. Both KSTP and the St Cloud Times paper have information.

YouTube video from a TRC Fan!

Check out this neat video that a recent visitor to TRC created! Thank you for sending this!

The Raptor Center in the News

About.com ran a nice piece on us recently!

TRC Help the Girl Scouts Celebrate 100 Years

The Raptor Center presented at the Mall of America this past weekend, as a part of the Girl Scouts 100 Year Celebration. Adam Barnett, Interpretive Naturalist, took this pic from the corner of the stage, looking out onto the crowd.

Here are a few more pics on the Girl Scouts' blog.

KSTP, WCCO and KARE 11 were just a few of the local network affiliates who covered this great event.

Raptor Tails for Young Learners

Join us for an activity-oriented learning experience for ages 3-5 about raptors and their environment. Children will hear stories, take part in activities, and get to meet a live raptor each session. The goal of this program is for pre-schoolers to develop a positive relationship with raptors and the environment.
Spring/Summer Session: "Raptors in Spring and Summer"
March 20: Baby Raptors and Eggs
March 27: Raptor Watching
April 3: All About Beaks and Talons

Please join us for one or all the sessions.

Classes are from 10:15am to 11:00am on Tuesdays, and are limited to 10 children. A parent or guardian must accompany each child. Call 612-625-0201 to pre-register. Pre-registration price for each class is $5 per child, or $7.50 for two children in a family.

Download flyer here.

The Raptor Center at National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association Conference

The 2012 NWRA (National Wildlife Rehabilitators Conference) is held next week in Baton Rouge, LA. Gail Buhl, Education Program Manager, will present on three different topics related to training and work with educational animals. Gail will start with the basics of animal training and what it means for enriching the lives of the educational animals they work with. She'll then talk about solving “problem” behaviors and how to prevent them in the first place, and finally conduct breakout sessions where specific challenges can be addressed.

Dr. Ponder and Dr. Willette in Taipei

Last spring, The Raptor Center hosted its first Avian Orthopedic and Basic Raptor Rehabilitation workshops. Designed for veterinary and rehabilitation professionals, they drew participants from around the world. Two veterinarians from Taiwan were so impressed with the knowledge and skills of our staff that they invited Dr. Julia Ponder, Executive Director, and Dr. Michelle Willette, staff veterinarian, to present in Taiwan this week. The Endemic Species Research Institute is hosting an Avian Clinical Technique Workshop. Over several days, Drs. Ponder and Willette will introduce and demonstrate many of the techniques The Raptor Center has perfected related to avian clinic care, traveling the last day to the Taipei Zoo for final presentations.

Dr. Ponder has sent an update! "Yesterday, Dr. Willette was supposed to start the day with a lecture on raptor handling and physical exam. Last minute, it was changed to a demonstration/practical with birds from the local wildlife center. We decided I would grab the bird and be the handler while Dr. Willette explained the process." Dr. Ponder's familiarity with safe procedures in handing raptors served her well - the species was a crested serpent eagle, one she had not encountered before. The bird is quite small for an eagle - perhaps 30-50% bigger than a large female red-tailed hawk.

The photos Dr. Ponder sent are: Photo 1:class photo in front of the Endemic Species Research Institute; Photo 2: two students working with a crested serpent eagle, and Photo 3: Dr. Ponder with the crested serpent eagle.

TRC Travels to the Breck School

Judy Moran presented a pre-K education program recently at the Breck School, for Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. McCool's classrooms. Bud the bald eagle and Bubo the great horned owl (named for his Latin name of Bubo virginianus) helped Judy illustrate TRC's message of how important raptors are to our environment. We thank Breck for their generous permission to post these photos.