Biology, ecology take flight

World Bird Sanctuary volunteer, Elyse Lederer, holds a hooded vulture on a leather glove as she walks back and forth so the children can see it. Lederer and naturalist, Tess Rogers, spent Friday going to three area schools to educate students on the importance of protecting the habitat and water supply of these winged birds of prey.
World Bird Sanctuary volunteer, Elyse Lederer, holds a hooded vulture on a leather glove as she walks back and forth so the children can see it. Lederer and naturalist, Tess Rogers, spent Friday going to three area schools to educate students on the importance of protecting the habitat and water supply of these winged birds of prey.

A flock of birds temporarily turned the gymnasium at Immaculate Conception School into an aviary Friday morning.

The unusual collection of creatures that flapped and flew inside the gym included a small parliament of owls, a hawk, falcon, vulture and bald eagle.

The only thing these birds were grabbing with their talons, though, was attention.

Immaculate Conception's students were treated to a presentation by a naturalist and a volunteer from the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis.

They brought all the birds with them, and one by one, showed them off to the students to explain features of their anatomy, as well as how they hunt and feed, migrate and interact with their ecosystems.

Dakota, a juvenile male Swainson's hawk, has eyesight nine times better than a human's and, if he could read, would be able to scan every letter on a newspaper page from a football field away, naturalist Tess Rogers said as volunteer Elyse Lederer let the bird perch on her gloved forearm.

Lederer walked each of the perched birds around the gym to give students a closer look as Rogers gave the biological details of each species.

Some birds could not fly because of past injuries, but there were lots of "oohs" and "ahhs" from students as others, like Fred the African hooded vulture, soared from Lederer to Rogers and back for the reward of treats.

The Missouri American Water utility company sponsors educational events like these, Dan Vanderfeltz said. Vanderfeltz, who was also in the audience, works in maintenance for Missouri American Water.

He's a member of the Immaculate Conception parish, too, the school's Principal Heather Schrimpf said.

Vanderfeltz said this is the third time he's been at the school for a presentation like this, though Schrimpf said it's been a few years since the last one.

Vanderfeltz said an event like Friday's "teaches kids to teach their parents to take care of waterways."

"We might have the next great naturalist" here right now, Rogers said.

She noted the activism it took on the behalf of ordinary people to campaign for the successful ban of the insecticide DDT, which was threatening the survival of bald eagles, like the one they brought, named Liberty.

"The thing about free things is they're easy to take for granted," she explained of the natural wonders just outside people's homes.

Schrimpf said Rogers' presentation was her favorite part of the event. "She was animated," she said, adding, "that's how kids learn" things they can't learn through a textbook alone.

Rogers said she's always loved birds and began volunteering with World Bird Sanctuary two years ago to band birds for tracking purposes.

The sanctuary also nurses sick or injured birds back to health, performs field studies like nest counts, and catches and raises baby birds to boost the chances endangered species have to thrive, she explained.

Students enjoyed hearing some other interesting tidbits of information from Rogers about the winged guests before they took off:

Bald eagles are pirates, meaning they will opportunistically steal food from other birds. Eagles will scavenge, too, and because of these behaviors, "Benjamin Franklin thought eagles had low moral character" and didn't want them to be the national bird. The turkey lost as a contender by only two votes.

Barn owls, like the aptly named Goblin, probably have been responsible for most of the ghost stories from around the world because of their banshee cries and appearance.

Owls can't move their eyes because they take up two-thirds of the space in their skulls. That's why owls' heads have to pivot so much - 270 degrees - just to be able to see effectively.

African hooded vultures can projectile vomit as a defense mechanism. Their vomit is highly acidic; it can blind a threatening animal like a hyena or even eat through clothing if it's not quickly washed out. The acid also kills any bacteria or parasites living in the carrion on which the birds feed.