Ava-4/9/09-The Audubon Society
Yesterday, we also went to the Audubon Society. It was near Volunteers for Wildlife. The Audubon Society started out as a nature preserve, but then turned into a nature center, to educate people about wildlife. We interviewed a guy named Aaron, who works there. When interviewing Aaron, he told us many things:· Unlike some other interviewees, Aaron believes that the conditions are better for the owls now because there is more prey for the owls, that wasn’t there in the 1960’s and 1970’s.· Once again, Aaron believes the best way for the public to help is to get educated. This will take away any fear of the owls, therefore taking away any hate or people getting defensive toward the owls. · Like Birding Bob, Aaron believes that a “successful” release is when the owls are breeding on their own, not having to be re-introduced every so often, there are no *nest boxes, and there is a good rodent population. He believes that when you can make a natural “replica ecosystem” for the owls, it is successful.*Nest boxes are used so the owls don’t have to find trees, find food, or make nests on their own. It is sort of like being captivated. Aaron said that sometimes the owl releasers were using nest boxes in the beginning of the project, but not telling anyone because that wouldn’t be “successful.”· He agrees that it was a good idea for Len Soucy, who works at The Raptor Trust and released the first batch of owls, not to release a second batch of owls, because of pesticides in Central Park. · I was wondering if there were any reintroducing of rodents to Central Park, to go hand-in-hand with the owl project, so the owls would have more food. Aaron said there wasn’t.· Aaron says that the bird-calling machines aren’t connected to any studies saying that it could actually harm the birds. At first, I thought he totally agreed with playing the tapes, which surprised me. Then he said that The Audubon Society’s owl walks only use the recordings once every two weeks, and in different places. Plus, they don’t do owl walks in that specific nature preserve because it’s only 15 acres and it would be distracting to play a recording. However, he does believe that using a bird-calling machine helps people connect with the birds, and it gets people interested (this is what Andy said too).· Sometimes birds are tracked by leaving flour out on the ground. This way, you can see the wing beats and footprints in the flour, to see if any birds have been by.· I concluded that the disappearance of the owls related to the food chain is like the chicken or the egg. Did the prey decline because the owls eat them? And if the rodents/birds did decline, that would cause the owls to decline. So, which came first? I can relate this to our world. We overuse our resources so then we don’t have any left. I am not saying this is what happens with the owls, but that it’s something to think about. Is there such a low rodent population that the owls “use” them all up? · Aaron said that screech owls live about 10 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity. It’s interesting to compare that with what Jason said.· Owl feathers are hollow at the end, to make a silent flight for the owls when hunting. This is unlike any other bird feather.· Screech owls have feathers that are good for camouflaging. For example, a red-faced screech owl’s ear tufts could be broken branches. Also, they are good at blending in with red cedar trees. · Red faced screech owls (like in the photos below) are more common than grey owls.· Owls have feathered feet.· If an owl’s ears are back, they are angry.Also, during the interview, a lady named Alice came out with a red-faced screech owl. He was so cute! As you can see below, he is blind in one eye. They think he got hit by a car. I loved today’s two visits because we got to see the little creatures we are saving up close!
The entrance. 
As you can see, this red-faced screech owl is sadly blind in one eye. It is thought that he was hit by a car.
Another picture of the screech owl. 
Theodore Roosevelt’s grave site. He is important to our project because he helped in saving wildlife during his presidency. Also, he chose to be buried here!