Owls at School
On
Wednesday, November 1, we had a chance to meet some owls "up close and
personal" in our weekly assembly. Our first/second grade teacher Leigh
Pezzano brought us two owls from the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center in Philadelphia, where she has been a volunteer. She explained that
both of the owls were ones that would live out their lives at the Schuylkill
Center because of the permanent nature of their injuries, unlike others
there that are cared for and released. The little screech owl has a broken
wing that did not heal properly, so it cannot fly. The much larger
barred owl has a deformed foot, probably a result of pesticide contamination
when it was developing in its egg.
We had a chance to observe and talk about the ways they were well-adapted for their roles in nature as predators, including their camouflaged coloration, their strong talons, and the special feathers that silence their wings in flight. Leigh pointed out that silent flight not only prevented the prey from hearing an owl's approach but also allowed the owl to continue to track the sounds of its prey. We saw that the owls were able to rotate their heads much further than we can. Leigh explained that owls have more vertebrae (bones) in their necks than we do, and she added that they need to be able to rotate that much because they cannot move their eyes as we can. Their eyes are so large that there is no room for muscles to enable them to move.
Leigh also reminded us that November 1
was a perfect day to have an assembly about owls. She said that in Mexico
this day is known as the "Day of the Dead" (Dia de Los Muertes). It's a
day for remembering family members who have died and for celebrating their
lives. In Mexican tradition, owls are believed to have a special connection
with death, so it was a very fitting day to have owls visit us at Miquon.
Thanks, Leigh! It was a great assembly, and we all learned a lot about
owls.
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