Community Update

The Bird of Prey program at the SCHLITZ Audubon NATURE

CENTER (SANC) is ecstatic to announce the newest member of our teaching staff.  She was officially christened Dorothy; after Dorothy Vallier, the Founder of our Center.  She has been on the grounds for about a week and will soon be making short visits up to the main building. Northern Saw-whet Owls, Aegolius acadicus, are a tuft less, short bodied, short tailed, sable brown owl found across the northern tier of states and into Canada, wherever there are coniferous or mixed forests. The smallest owl in eastern North America, they are 8” tall, with a wing span of 18” and weigh in at a hefty 100 grams or 3 ounces. They are strictly nocturnal hunters. Their uniquely shaped asymmetrical skull aids their hearing by helping to pinpoint where the prey is. Perch hunters they capture mostly mice, large insects, and other small mammals to feed their mighty appetites.



 Dory (for short) was found hanging in a tree, entangled in a discarded kite string. When examined she had both a broken humorous and metacarpals in her right wing. She was kept in rehab for six months in the hopes that she could get full extension back in her wing.  While unable to fly well enough to survive in the wild we fully expect her to become a member of our indoor flight team.

To learn more about our Birds of Prey program please visit


our website at www.sanc.org