The Numbers Tell The Story

The reach of Audubon ambassadors is expanding...and so is the rising cost of their care.

By Mary Lhowe

Since its earliest days, Audubon Society of Rhode Island has brought animal ambassadors – or, more specifically, wild, living creatures – into classrooms and libraries across the state. The goal? To introduce children to the joys found in nature and build on that moment of wonder when they engage up-close for the first time with an animal found in the wild.

That moment of wonder cast a silence over a classroom of third graders in mid-January at a Pawtucket elementary school when Audubon educator Lisa Maloney slowly lifted a small Eastern Screech-Owl out of a travel carrier and raised it on her gloved hand in front of the students. For a moment, kids and adults in the room were immobile. A few low “oooh”s escaped.

It Really Adds Up

The Eastern Screech-Owl, named Acorn, is one of the six owls, three hawks, one raven, three snakes and many turtles that Audubon educators take to schools and public places where the animals are presented in environmental programs and educate on species, behaviors, adaptations and more. Educators also explain how these special birds and animals depend on healthy habitats to thrive and how the impacts that climate change, pollution, and habitat loss can have on their populations in the wild. Audubon’s hawks and owls alone reached over 15,000 people in 2024. Add the turtles and snakes, and the number would be well over 20,000 people served in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. And then there’s Zach the Raven, who enthusiastically greets guests daily in his aviary at the Nature Center and Aquarium. Many return over and over again simply to enjoy his antics. Zach’s reach alone could be over 12,000 people a year.

Lauren Parmelee, Audubon senior director of education, emphasizes that these animal ambassadors are wild, not pets, and require specialized care and state and federal licenses. In one way or another, all the animal ambassadors at Audubon have been injured and rendered unable to survive on their own in the wild. After they arrive at Audubon through wildlife rehabilitators or other channels, they make their homes in large aviaries that have been specifically designed and built to support their individual needs. They are protected from predators, provided with veterinary care and necessary medications, and fed appropriate diets (for the owl, frozen mice). This care will be provided for the remainder of their natural lives.

“Our Avian Ambassadors are beautiful creatures,” said Parmelee. “Connecting and engaging with wildlife up close is something people don’t experience on a regular basis. It can have a lasting, positive impact on how they view the natural world. Our birds help Audubon to stand out from other environmental education organizations, they are our niche and can help us to spread messages on the importance of science, biodiversity and habitat conservation in a way that people relate to.”

Our birds … help us to spread messages on the importance of science, biodiversity and habitat conservation in a way that people relate to.

– Lauren ParmeleeSenior Director of Education

But as the number, popularity and reach of Audubon’s ambassadors continues to expand, the cost to care for these captivating creatures is also growing. Parmelee explained that the annual budget for the ambassador program last year was over $50,000. This funding is required to cover a long list of growing needs such as housing, perches, food free of pesticides and rodenticides, veterinary care, medications, and more. Also, for educators: custom travel carriers, gloves, leads, and backpacks. And then there are the animal caregivers, a staff of four full-time and 2 part-time educators and professionals. They are a bit like the postal workers…neither snow nor rain nor heat stops this dedicated team from their appointed rounds to feed and care for Audubon’s birds and animals.

Ambassador: a Visitor, a Representative, an Emissary.

Maloney, the Audubon educator who accompanied Acorn the Screech-Owl to the Pawtucket school, knows her audience and knows how to build suspense to the nick of perfection. As the program began, she stood before the third-grade class, in front of a chorus line of large, colorful posters of owls lining the wall behind her.

“That one is scary,” a boy confessed quietly. “It’s the way he’s staring at me.”

“Does anyone know anything about owls?” Maloney asked. Arms shot into the air, some fingers fluttering with eagerness.

Maloney engaged with her audience and explained that in the next hour the class was going to talk about owls and then work together as animal detectives by figuring out the type of owl that was tucked away somewhere in the classroom at that very moment, who would make an appearance at the end of the hour.

Gasps. Visible jolts of excitement.

Maloney launched into a discussion about camouflage and feathers. She brought a large preserved owl wing around the classroom, about the size of a serving platter, for the students to touch. Some hesitantly; some not. There was more: Maloney discussed prey and feeding, passing around a model of an owl skull and some preserved biofacts of owl legs and talons.

Some “no thanks” when it came to touching the talons.

Maloney said owls can turn their heads three-quarters of a circle, and one girl noted the class had just learned that this was the same as 270 degrees.

Teacher Kim McAssey beamed at this curriculum crossover. Owl detection work got underway. Re-formed into small groups with lots of loud scootching of chairs, children were given jigsaw puzzles that matched the owl posters on the wall. On the back side of the puzzle pieces was data on each breed of owl. Students used these “clues” to fill in blanks on large, laminated rectangles made to look like Rhode Island Owl ID cards.

Finally, Maloney reached into the carrier and gently brought Acorn out to meet the class. Eastern Screech-Owls are not large –six to 10 inches tall. On Maloney’s gloved hand, the owl was a compact jewel of precise brown and gray markings, her eyes large and round, with yellow irises, which she kept trained on Maloney almost the whole time. Some students reared back a little in their chair as Acorn appeared from the carrier. Several jaws dropped. And Maloney, with a calm and reassuring manner, described fascinating facts about Eastern Screech-Owls. She talked about Acorn’s injuries, adaptations and natural habitats. Students raised their hands and asked questions. With endless patience and a huge smile, Maloney provided answers to a room full of unending awe.

Making it All Possible

Each year Audubon educators bring ambassadors not only to schools and libraries, but they also lead programs at Boys and Girls Clubs, summer camps, YMCAs, senior and community centers, public events, and Audubon’s neighbor, the RI Veteran’s Home in Bristol. Parmelee said the programs have reached every Rhode Island school district at some point over the years, and in many schools, visits are repeated on an annual basis. The Audubon education calendar is always a bit like synchronized scheduling: what animal or bird is accompanying which educator, to what school, and when!

The fee for an owl program is $160 per class; but many schools in city districts such as Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls can apply for Audubon scholarships to cover the cost. Scholarship funds are raised by the organization through grants and individual donations so that Audubon can remove the barriers that prevent schools in under-served communities from participating.

Grant funding and proceeds from events like Raptor Weekend are also needed to help offset the significant costs associated with care for the Animal Ambassadors. Generous donors and supporters have always been the lifeblood of Audubon and individual donations, often from people who “adopt-a-raptor” each year, continue to make scholarships and the animal care program possible.

And those donations make a direct impact. Pawtucket third-grade teacher Kim McAssey noted, “we work this [visit] into our ongoing math, science and reading curriculum.” And the program by Maloney and Acorn was a prelude to a field trip that the class will be taking to the Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium in the spring, as will over 500 other third graders in the Pawtucket Public Schools as part of a partnership with the district that has been in place for over a decade.

With Acorn tucked carefully away in her carrier, McAssey began herding her students out of the room, to make way for another owl program with a second class. “Let’s go,” she told the students. “We will be spending a lot more time talking about this.” No doubt. Many moments of wonder occurred that morning.

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Mary Lhowe is a Rhode Island-based freelance reporter. She has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. At present, she works mostly for the environmental news website ecoRI.org,