Thomas Ricardi shows the students a red-tailed hawk at Russell Elementary School Friday
RUSSELL—Students at Russell Elementary School were given a unique opportunity Friday morning—to watch a rehabilitated bird of prey be released back into the wild.
Students were provided that opportunity, as well as a presentation on birds of prey and conservation, by the Massachusetts Bird of Prey Rehabilitation Facility and its owner, Thomas Ricardi. Ricardi was invited to the school as one of the Russell Elementary Parent-Teacher Cooperative’s enrichment programs for students.
“The enrichment program brings things from the community that students may not be able to get to or their families can’t afford,” Allison Tallon of the Parent-Teacher Cooperative, said.
Ricardi educated the students on the many different birds of prey that are in the region, including several that he brought in to show. Students were able to see several kinds of owls, as well as hawks, a kestrel falcon and a golden eagle.
Thomas Ricardi gets ready to release an owl into the wild while at Russell Elementary School Friday
The birds on display were part of Ricardi’s rehabilitation facility and were unable to be released back to the wild due to injuries they sustained. Some of the injuries were based on human impact, like the hawk that was blinded after being hit by a car on a highway.
This was also part of Ricardi’s lesson to the students—that human impact is what has caused the loss of many birds and other animals.
“The biggest problem facing birds is people,” Ricardi told the students. “Planet Earth is only so big.”
He cited the encroachment onto the animals’ habitats by humans, the use of pesticides and poachers as some of the reasons for this. He also made sure to tell students to never approach baby animals.
After Ricardi spoke with two groups of students and gave two lectures, he provided the students and faculty with the marque attraction—the release of an owl into the wild.
The owl—which is the school’s mascot—was previously injured and Ricardi rehabilitated it back to health. With the assistance of a faculty member, Ricardi took the bird from a pet crate, then placed it on the ground.
The bird leapt off the ground and flew away into the wilderness nearby, to an applause from those on hand.
