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BY HILLARY VIDERS
SPECIAL TO NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
TENAFLY, NEW JERSEY —— A group of two dozen youngsters and parents at the Tenafly Nature Center recently got up close and personal with owls and had a real hoot.
It was the center’s first program in “Bird Brick Builders,” a series designed to educate children about birds by allowing them to build Lego versions of different species.
Environmental Educator Alex Braunstein explained, “We selected the owl for the first Lego build because nature has made the owl the perfect hunter.”
Braunstein began the presentation with a lecture about the feathered friends. The children learned a number of details, such as the fact that amongst the 200 different owl species, three live in New Jersey – the screech owl, the barred owl and the great horned owl. All owls are predators, and members of each species communicate with one another with distinct sounds. Although the owl’s diet generally consists of rodents such as mice and squirrels, large owls will also eat smaller owls of different species.
To help these predators catch their prey, owls have excellent eyesight, sharp beaks and talons. Braunstein illustrated that point by holding up several examples of large curved owl claws.
Photo by Hillary Viders
Braunstein explained that owls eat creatures in their entirety, not just the meat, but also the fur and bones, and that owls have two stomachs. When fully digested, the owl’s food is compacted into pellets. He pointed to several examples of these pellets and indicated that everyone would have the opportunity to dissect them later.
When asked about how owls see at night, Braunstein pointed out that because owls’ eyes are so big and don’t move, in order to see, owls must turn their heads, and those heads can rotate as much as 270 degrees.
“Imagine Yankee Stadium,” he said, “but with everything completely covered so that it is pitch black. Now, if you place one single lit candle on the pitcher’s mound, an owl would be able to see just as well as we are seeing here in this room flooded with light. That’s how extraordinary their eyesight is.”
At this point, Braunstein brought out Mene, a 7-year-old barred owl that had been rescued after being hit by a car on a highway. The majestic creature perched on Braunstein’s arm and demonstrated its large wing span.
At the conclusion of the show-and-tell portion of the program, which included many questions from the children, Braunstein supervised the group in constructing miniature owls from Lego sets. When they finished, children had the opportunity to show off their creations in a photograph with Braunstein and Mene.
In the final segment of the program, families sat at tables outside the main building where they analyzed samples of owl pellets to see the components of what it had eaten. The sunny day and mild weather made it a great learning as well as social experience.
The Tenafly Nature Center has seven miles of hiking trails, and conserves 400 acres of forest. It has many outdoor and indoor displays (including the new Butterfly House) and offers 1,310 programs and classes that bring environmental education to over 26,000 people.
Upcoming events in February and March include a Camouflaged Egg Hunt, Maple Sugaring, “Natural Sweethearts,” Seasonal Scavenger Hunts, a Guided Nature Walk, The Great Backyard Bird Count, a Spring Campfire, Nature Story Time and a Seasonal Trail Cleanup.
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