On August 23, our Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator Julie Cotton gave a presentation to a group of Japanese visitors at Joe Turkovich's prune and walnut farm to explain how barn owls can provide effective pesticide-free pest control. Joe is an ardent supporter of pesticide-free farming and even has several nest boxes located on his farmland to encourage barn owls to move into the area.

This event was also the debut of our newest education ambassador! After 6 years with no glove-trained barn owls, the CA Raptor Center recently acquired a new barn owl from Lindsay Wildlife Experience - and it turns out she is a natural on the glove.

The new barn owl did a great job at her first official CA Raptor Center off-site event as an education ambassador. She stayed calm on the glove (even falling asleep for the latter half of the presentation) and allowed the visitors from Japan to visit her up close.

Birds of prey offer natural pest control services in human dominated landscapes, especially on farms, where recruiting raptors is often a key commponent of sustainable agriculture. Barn owls are often recruited to nest boxes installed by growers as part of an integrated pest management framework. However, application of anticoagulant rodenticides is also a component of farming operations, which may limit the contributions provided by raptors due to secondary rodenticide poisoning.

The very same graduate students who rescued "Peppy" (see story above!) are working on a study to quantify frequency and effects of secondary exposure to rodenticides in barn owls. Their goal is to create a complete picture of raptors and rodenticide application in industrial agriculture in order to make recommendations to enhance natural pest control services provided by raptors and reduce secondary poisoning from rodenticides based on sound science.