Date: 1/20/25 10:38 am From: Barbara Volkle <barb620...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] Flaco webinar & World Owl Hall of Fame award winners
Thanks to Gary Menin, Sr. for this post.
In order to get news on this topic, contact him directly in order to get on his mailing list.
Barbara Volkle Northborough, MA <barb620...>
* From: gcmeninsr <gcmeninsr...> Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 10:49:03 -0500 Subject: Flaco webinar & World Owl Hall of Fame award winners
This is Great News on a National & International Level - but also an
opportunity to nominate some field leaders here in New England to this high
honor - like Laura Kiesel, Jane Newhouse, Christine Cummings, Heather Packard, Zak Mertz, James Joyce, Marcia Wilson and so many others (our local neighbors) that deserve similar recognition !! *
Flaco the Eurasian Eagle Owl Expert Panel Presentation
with David Lei & Jacqueline Emery, Marjon Savelsberg, & Lisa Owens-Viani
Sunday, February 2 at 1 PM Central Time
(the 2-year anniversary of Flaco's release)
On February 2, 2023 a vandal cut a hole in Flaco the Eurasian Eagle Owl's enclosure at the Central Park Zoo in New York. He quickly learned to hunt on his own and resisted all recapture efforts. As he adapted to life in the "wilds" of New York City, he developed an immense following around the US and world. He survived for just over a year before succumbing to rodenticide poisoning and pigeon herpesvirus.
Learn more about the day-to-day details of Flaco's life from David Lei and Jacqueline Emery, birders who followed and photographed him nearly daily and published a book about Flaco; Marjon Savelsberg from The Netherlands, a top expert on Eurasian Eagle Owl vocalizations and behavior; and Lisa Owens-Viani, a strong and successful champion of strict regulations on anticoagulant rodenticides to protect wildlife.
The panel presentation will be about one hour long, with a Q & A session following for up to an additional hour.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but registration is required to join via Zoom. It will be concurrently livestreamed to the International Owl Center's YouTube channel. I want to hear the experts' views on the Flaco situation! <https://app.getresponse.com/click.html?x=3Da62b&lc=3Dhq7Zbf&mc=3DIk&s=3DZC= Fqbs&u=3DS5iHY&z=3DEEi8StG&>
2025 World Owl Hall of Fame award winners
Champion of Owls
Scott Rashid, Colorado USA
Scott Rashid is the founder and director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI). He has spent 27 years in the Rocky Mountains working with owls and will receive a 2025 World Owl Hall of Fame Special Achievement Award for his work.
Rashid documented the first Flammulated and Boreal Owl nests in Rocky Mountain National Park. He also monitors nests of Barn, Northern Pygmy-, Northern Saw-whet, Eastern Screech-, and Great Horned Owls and has installed over 150 nest boxes in Colorado plus 10 in Texas. He designed a larger Barn Owl box that helps prevent mortality of owlets due to crowding.
Over 1,400 owls of 10 species have been banded by Rashid, including 553 Barn Owls from his nest boxes and 461 Northern Saw-whet Owls. He incorporates public education programs with his Barn, Northern Saw-whet and Boreal Owl banding efforts to give people an unforgettable up-close experience.
He employs live cams on nests to better study breeding behavior of Great Horned and Barn Owls and shares their intimate details with the world via livestreaming. In a single 24-hour period 56,000 households from 38 countries watched his livestreams.
Education is a key part of Rashid=E2=80=99s repertoire. He has delivered hu=ndreds of educational presentations focused on several different owl species, primarily in Colorado, but also in Texas and Arizona. He has a number of popular and scientific articles to his name, and has published in *Colorado Birds*, *Bird Watcher=E2=80=99s Digest*, and the American Birding Association=E2=80=99s *Birder=E2=80=99s Guide to Conservation and Community.* He also authored five books about owls, illustrated with his own beautiful artwork and photographs.
Due to need in the area, Rashid also wound up becoming a bird rehabilitator, including helping many owls.
Truly, Scott Rashid is a champion of owls.
Rashid will be the keynote speaker at the International Festival of Owls on Saturday, March 8, 2025 in Houston, MN
For his thirty-six years devoted to sharing everything owl with the German-speaking world, Rudolf Schaaf is receiving a Special Achievement Award from the World Owl Hall of Fame.
Hailing from Ludwigsburg, Germany, Schaaf and other owl enthusiasts founded AG Eulenschutz (working group for the protection of owls), which is under the umbrella of Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, or NABU). AG Eulenchutz is dedicated to deepening the understanding of all aspects of owls while promoting their research and conservation within the Ludwigsburg district.
Shaaf has served as editor for the beautiful and informative *Kauzbrief* (owl letter) since its inception in 1992. Thirty-six annual editions of *Kauzbrief* have been produced and distributed at no charge to libraries and universities, as well as paid members of AG Eulenschutz and other owl friendly groups. About a thousand copies of each issue are printed, and back issues are also available online.
The *Kauzbrief* offers readers a full-spectrum view of owls. As may be expected, each issue features a variety of articles on owl conservation and research from the local area, Germany, and around the globe. The publication also explores the connections between humans and owls with many articles investigating owls in art and culture.
AG Eulenschutz members focus on conservation of Barn Owls, Little Owls and other others. This includes habitat work such as planting fruit trees, building and putting up nest boxes, banding young owls, and working with landowners to adopt owl-friendly land management practices.
Schaaf is unable to attend the International Festival of Owls in person, but will join us virtually either live or via recorded video.
Expert-led Owl Prowl
Saturday, February 8 at 4:30 PM
Learn the calls of our local owls, how to identify them, and then experience them in the wild with Educator Jo Severson, our resident expert owl call imitator. There are still a few spots left. Not recommended for children under 12 due to the need to stand very still in the cold. Pets must stay home
This mug just has Piper the American Barn Owl when cold, but when you add coffee, tea or other hot liquid you can see the rest of the owls, in the same arrangement as on the Owlmobile.
The second printing of *Owl Music* (not autographed) is only $24.95!
International Owl Center, PO Box 536, Houston, MN 55943, United States
