News From The Mews

When I travel with the birds, I like to scope out our program location before I start unpacking. There's a lot to consider in a new space. Where should I set up the table? Which end of the table should the bird crates sit? Will people be passing through the space in the middle of the program? How close can kids sit? Is there anything above or behind us (like ceiling fans or windows) that might scare the birds?  Last week I ran across a new challenge when I arrived in Amery for a raptor program. The library, who was hosting the program, had reserved an outdoor stage for our event. I noticed right away that it was incredibly windy with a strong breeze coming from stage left. Since I hold the birds on my left arm and they don't like sitting with wind at their back, I knew that I would have to rotate my body and hold my arm at an angle so the wind would hit their side.  I also carefully considered their travel crate placement. I set the crates on the left side of the stage so the ...

Carson the Red-tailed Hawk deserves a bit of fanfare. This was the first year that she chose to participate in every program this summer. After 11 Talon Talks at the Museum and two library programs, Carson met over 580 people! 🎉 Carson met a big crowd at the Hayward Library this summer! 📷 :  Sherman & Ruth Weiss Community Library

"Would you be willing to donate an egg or two to science?" I asked Hayley, the Museum's Assistant Director. Hayley has a flock of backyard chickens at home and I was wondering if their eggs are stronger than store-bought eggs. Luckily she was willing to sacrifice a few for the raptor program demonstration. After meeting Aldo the American Kestrel during each live raptor program, we take a look at the problems associated with DDT that their cousin the Peregrine Falcon faced in the mid-1900's. DDT was fantastic at killing pesky insects, but it also thinned the falcon's egg shells so much that the eggs broke during incubation.  "I made an omelet for breakfast this morning," I tell the audience. "And those eggs were pretty easy to crack. If eggs are already pretty fragile, maybe we didn't have too much of an impact on the birds." So I set up the Egg Smasher for a science experiment: how much weight can a healthy egg hold? We slowly add weight to...