Reed Students Are Rapt By Raptors

By Susan Coney

The students at Reed Intermediate School were spellbound by the recent presentation entitled, “The Raptor Project Birds of Prey,” brought to the school by the Cultural Arts Committee. Jonathan Wood, a master falconer and host of the show, travels around the United States bringing with him 60 birds; the largest traveling collection of birds in the country. The past week alone Mr Wood traveled to six states educating children about the fantastic creatures.

In addition to performing at schools across the country, Mr Wood also rehabilitates and trains birds. His birds have performed in motion pictures and on television countless times. Mr Wood captured everyone’s attention when he told the audience that his white owl was the bird that appeared in the Harry Potter films.

Mr Wood’s show at Reed featured 15 to 20 raptors from diverse habitats. Many of the birds in The Raptor Project have permanent handicaps and have been donated to his project by crowded wildlife centers around the country because they were unable to reintroduce the birds into the wild. “We hire the handicapped,” Wood said referring to the birds. “And then use them as teachers and charming ambassadors of the environments they inhabit,” he said.

Mr Wood told the children that he first became interested in birds when he was their age. In the sixth grade he read the classic novel, My Side of the Mountain, written by Jean Craighead George. An award-winning book, it is about a young teenage boy named Sam, who runs away to the Catskill mountains where he meets and trains a falcon, which becomes his closet companion. Inspired by the book, Mr Wood chose to follow his own dream of becoming a Master Falconer.

 Mr Wood and his wife Susan operate The Raptor Project today from a 14-acre, private facility in New York’s Catskill Mountains, where the birds are housed, exercised, and cared for in spacious, state-of-the-art aviaries.

Featuring a diverse group of birds, Mr Wood gave fascinating information about his collection. He introduced the students to a magnificent peregrine falcon. He explained that the peregrine, the fastest creature on earth with the ability to fly up to 250 mph, was close to extinction in the late 1960s due to the heavy use of pesticides. A remarkable group effort on the part of wildlife conservationists in the past three decades has brought back the peregrine population. Today 12 pairs of peregrines live on the top of skyscrapers in New York City.

Another bird spotlighted in the show was a prairie falcon by the name of King David. Mr Wood explained that bird handlers must wear a gauntlet, which is a leather glove/arm protector, because of the sharp, extremely strong talons on the birds. He showed the audience how he placed a hood on King David because it calmed the bird. He taught the audience that placing a hood on birds of prey coined the saying, “I hood winked him.”

At the close of the performance Mr Wood told the children, “I have been blessed to live in the greatest country in the world. I had the opportunity to turn my hobby into a career. Go out there and pursue your dreams and goals and stay out of trouble.”

After the program a group of sixth grade students from Matt Brown’s class gave their reaction to the presentation. Kristin Lynch said, “It was so awesome! I liked how all the birds flew around the room and over our heads.” Megan Preis added, “It was really, really cool. It was nice of Mr Wood to take care of all the birds, because they were disabled, which makes it hard for them to survive in the wild. That is why I thought it was fabulous.”

Mr Brown commented, “The Birds of Prey show was amazing. The show is a must see. The birds were beautiful, especially in flight. The bald eagle was my favorite.”

Mr Wood gave an evening presentation at Reed School on May 12, to allow children to bring their families to see what they had experienced earlier that day.