An excited crowd gathered in front of the Walker Building last Thursday to watch three rare birds of prey swoop overhead.  The crowd itself included some local elementary, middle, and high school students bused in from their respective schools to watch and learn about some fearsome predators.  The “Whoo’s in Houghton” presentation was part of the Upper Peninsula Raptor Rehab and Wildlife Centers’ program to educate students of many ages about birds of prey and their rehabilitation.
The Wadsworth Hall Student Association (WHSA) organized the event, staffed the Rehabilitation Centers’ sales table, and invited several of the local schools to attend as well as DNR Education and Outreach Specialist Tim Burke, and representatives from the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences.
“I found out about their program over the summer while working in Baraga” says WHSA program coordinator Rebecca Prich, “I thought it would be a great program to bring to Tech: its’ educational, social, and gives us a chance to volunteer.”
The opportunity to help out a program like the Raptor Rehabilitation Center was especially appealing to the purpose of the WHSA: to provide “opportunities for community and personal development”.
“The center really isn’t that old, only like six years or something like that”Prich says, “and its’ the only place in the Upper Peninsula that rehabilitates big birds. Its’ really great to be able to help out a program like that.”
The tents were set up from 10:30 a.m.  to 8:30 p.m. with presentations on-the-hour from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then from 5 p.m. to close.  The event was free and open to the public.  The school groups showed up for almost every presentation from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
A Great Horned Owl, a Coopers Hawk, and a Barred Owl were on display for the presentation.  The students’ also had a chance to watch one of their fellow classmates be dressed up as a bird of prey to learn more about the function of each of the birds’ specialized sensory organs.  “The kids love it”, Prich says, “the reaction from the kids’ is probably the best part [of the program].”
The program was organized for Michigan Tech students to enjoy as well. “Programs like these give Tech students the opportunity to see something they wouldn’t normally see otherwise,” says WHSA President Gregory Knauf, “there’s not a lot of opportunity for students since there aren’t any zoo’s or anything, to see and interact with wildlife.”
Each presentation lasted only forty-five minutes but it is thanks to the WHSA students who organized the event that for many students, Tech or local middle school, there was an opportunity for those forty-five minutes to learn something new about the place we live in from these impressive predators’ point-of-view.