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Dawn
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| Posted: May 16 2006 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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My oldest read Hoot for his reading group recently, and on June 1st we are going to the see the movie as a field trip. 
We are studying trees right now so I thought it would be fun to rabbit trail into creatures that live in trees, like ducks, squirrels, insects and owls. We have not seen any owls yet, but we have heard them in the woods out back, especially early in the mornings.
I wanted to ask if any of you could recommend resources on owls ~ information, books, personal stories or photos etc. ~ that I could share with my boys. I did find a NWF page on Hoot today that looks interesting ...
Also, while I'm at it, what else lives in trees (besides songbirds)? 
Thanks for any ideas!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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MaryM
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Owls - Ooohh, yes a FAVORITE topic here, but I'm on my way out. I've got lots of resources and will post soon.
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Mary M. in Denver
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lapazfarm
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Here is our favorite owl resource:Owl Pages
It is an incredible resource with everything you could possibly want to know about owls and then some. We especcially like listening to the owl calls here.
Kidwingsthis is a super site with a virtual owl pellet dissection and some beautifully done worksheets (which I normally shun, but these are good).
Some other links:
San Diego Zoo-owlsand activities here
owl cam
world of Birds
spectacled owl
Have fun! This is onw of our favorite subjects, too!
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MaryM
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We are currently on a very prolonged owl rabbit trail which started at Christmas time, so this subject is near and dear to our family (note the avatar)- particularly the 6 year old who so wants to see Hoot. He also so wants to go to Hooters everytime we drive by and no amount of explanation will convince him it's not a place that has owls.  
He will be very excited about this!
MacBeth did her February 2005 Wild Monthly on Owls. There is a ton of great information and links there. In addition to the great picture books she lists, I would add our favorite picture books:
Owls - Gail Gibbons
Billywise - Judith Nicholls
The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark - Jill Tomlinson (which is a picture book adaptation of a enjoyable chapter book)
The Barn Owls - Troy Johnston
Animal Predators: Owls is a great owl photobook for children.
The links, KidsWings and Owl Pages, that Theresa recommended are ones we use a lot, too. They are great.
I also highly recommend the book Owl Puke (which is on the Wild Monthly list). Lots of good information and activities in that one. It comes with an owl pellet for dissection. There are lots of on-line suppliers of owl pellets. I ordered ours from Genesis Inc. which overall seemed to have the best prices if you aren't ordering in bulk.
One thing from the Owl Puke book that was really a hit was the recipe for "edible owl pellets" - made with chocolate/peanut butter mixture and rice crispies (I modified it to leave out the corn syrup). I wrapped them in foil just like the real pellets you get from the suppliers. Every one got a kick out of these. We ate them for dessert the night we dissected the owl pellets.
Owls are very common in legends and Native American folklore. We have explored that a bit in our study and will do more. Animal Lore & Legend: Owl is a book we are reading. There is legend info at the Owl Pages site.
Since you said you could hear an owl in your area - you could go on an owl hunt. Look for the tell-tale pellets and whitewash around base of trees. It indicates a favorite roost. When we were at my parents earlier this year we found a bunch of pellets under a tree in their yard (never saw the owl though). Funny story - we had ordered some for dissection and when my mom saw them, she said I think we have some of those in our yard. But she had thought they were "dog pooh." Sure enough she showed me where they were and they were owl pellets. The "wild" pellets were more interesting to dissect because they had more varied contents. So if you are lucky enough to find some that's great. In order to see owls at my parents we would go out right before dusk and scan the trees in areas we had been told owls roosted. We saw a couple (Great Horned) every night but it was way before the trees had leafed out. Winter and early spring are definitely best for viewing.
Back in Denver, we also checked with the local Audubon society to find out where we were likely to see owls in the area. It turned out that there were nesting pairs of Great Horned Owls in one of the nearby state parks. The visitor center has them marked on a map so we were able to hike out to the site. If we hadn't known where to look we never would have seen them - they really blend in during the day. Anyway we saw a mom and three owlets (actually pretty big ones, not yet flegded) We were right under them. It was awesome. Unfortunately no pictures to share. We just got our digital camera this weekend - and missing these shots was one of the motivators to finally get it.
We have several raptor education/rehabilitation facilities in Colorado which is great because they do programs - we have one set up for our support group in a couple weeks - will be seeing a Great Horned Owl up close and personal. I did some checking into what might be available in your area - Owl Pages lists owl rehabilitation contacts in the US by state.
I also found this owl banding program in the Hopkins Memorial Forest. It looks really cool - you could check if they allow visitors - many do. We've had a prep class to visit a songbird banding station here. If all goes well and the birds aren't stressed they will even let the children release the birds after they are banded and measured. We are really looking forward to it.
Massachusetts Audubon talks about locations of various owls in your area and suggests contacting one of their sanctuaries about owl excursions. They also have a Snowy-Owl tracking project at the Logan Airport. We would love to see a Snowy - alas not likely to in Colorado. Though we do have Burrowing Owls, like in Hoot, which you wouldn't have in the East, but we haven't seen any. Hope to find a spot where they might congregate.
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Mary M. in Denver
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MaryM
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Oh and I forgot to include the e-Naturalist links with owl activities:
Cough it Up!
Early Bird
Silent Night - we have played this Predator vs. Prey game several times.
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Dawn
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Theresa and Mary ~ thank you for all the wonderful resource suggestions! I have lots to go on, now!
Mary, you reminded me of our local Audubon sanctuary; I believe they have offered owl programs in the past. I'll have to check. And we haven't been up there in a bit, so a visit should be in order.
We'll have to check into adopting an owl; we adopted a Cooper's Hawk from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science last year.
And ooh, side-note, I just noticed on their website they have published a new book Small Wonders: Nature Education for Young Children. I have their book Hands-On Nature which is one of my all-time favorite nature resources. I just remembered there's a whole chapter on owls, including instructions for a simple puppet show using blue jay and owl puppets (both which we have). A good way to do something with my youngest (although the older two get a kick out of it too! )
Thank you for reminding me of MacBeth's site; I should always look there first!
MaryM wrote:
| He also so wants to go to Hooters everytime we drive by and no amount of explanation will convince him it's not a place that has owls. |
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Thanks again! This will be a fun rabbit trail!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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JennGM
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One of our favorite picture books is Owl Babies.
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Dawn
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Oh, of course, Jenn! Thanks for reminding me! My boys love this book ~ although my youngest gets very anxious when we read it, and we have to turn the pages quickly to get to the part when Mama Owl returns!
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MaryM
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Also found this great site last night - Owling.com . The pictures here are fabulous. They have sound clips of the calls like the other site.
Journey North has this literature link for the book Owl Moon. It looks like author Jane Yolen lives in Massachusetts, too.
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MacBeth
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Dawn, I was thinking about your owl trail and your spruce tree. The best place around here to find pellets is under the trees in our local spruce stand. One day, we found upwards of 30 pellets! Keep your eyes open!
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abcmommy
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For what ages is Hoot! appropriate? is it intense or scary at all? (book or movie info appreciated.)
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MacBeth
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Trip (14) thought the book was a bit inappropriate for younger kids. Themes of parents lying and children running away, and a kid "mooning" another kid were parts he did not like at all.
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Dawn
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MacBeth wrote:
| Trip (14) thought the book was a bit inappropriate for younger kids. Themes of parents lying and children running away, and a kid "mooning" another kid were parts he did not like at all. |
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Aaaahhhh ... so that's why Liam asked me what "mooning" meant! I forget what I told him, but it wasn't the exact truth!
So many kid movies (and books) these days seem to exaggerate that theme of adults being dumb and kids being the ones who know better/everything and that whatever means they have to take (like running away or sneaking around at night) - as long as it is for the "greater good" - is O.K. and even heroic. That bothers me and we talk about that all the time with our kids because you see it everywhere even in commercials! 
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abcmommy
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I'm pretty sure my 5 yo is familiar with mooning, so if that is the only objectionable element we are totally going to read and see this.
I think the themes of smart kids trump dumb adults appeal to typically egomaniacal children and as long as it is with in the context of a decent read with a moral story line (and obviously my standards arent any where near as high as many others) I am alright with it. It makes the kids feel like their team won for a change.
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Elizabeth
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abcmommy wrote:
| I think the themes of smart kids trump dumb adults appeal to typically egomaniacal children and as long as it is with in the context of a decent read with a moral story line (and obviously my standards arent any where near as high as many others) I am alright with it. It makes the kids feel like their team won for a change. |
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I don't believe, nor do I want my kids to believe, that we're on different teams. We all have the same goal and we're all working together to help each other get there. Movies and TV shows with this us-against-the-parents theme really bug me. We just don't operate that way here and I hate that false dichotomoy propogated by the popular culture. Parents are on the side of their kids; they want only the best for them. And they are wiser, not dumber. We want to lead kids to see that. This isn't a war; we only "win" if we all win. FWIW, I'm also not a fan of the typical dad-is-a-bumbling-idiot theme in so many movies and TV shows.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Courtney
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I agree, Elizabeth. Have you noticed how many "stupid man" commercials are out there? My dh gets quite tired of this repetitive theme. I didn't know any of this about Hoot and am now really questioning even reading it aloud to the kids.
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momwise
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Here's a review
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MacBeth
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Thanks, Gwen .
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MacBeth in NY
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We rowed Owl Moon this winter and read Owl in the shower aloud as a family. I highly recommend it! We really learned a great deal from the story.
+Kristen
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I am so sad after reading the review of the movie Hoot. I was really impressed with the book and wanted to defend the father figure as very smart, giving great advise to the son, supporting him by guiding him to what can be done legally...and the mom! Not too many books for children deal with a miscarriage sympathetically, and show that it effects the entire family for years.
Another case of the movie not living up to the book...
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: HOOT and owls
