Reading, writing, and arithmetic was accompanied by wildlife on Wednesday.

Homeschool students received a visit at Central Church of Christ from Otis, an Eastern Screech Owl that is part of Rock Island State Park’s wildlife education program. 

“He was struck by a car and injured,” said park ranger Holly Ingram in explaining how the owl became part of the program. “During his recovery, he imprinted on us. That occasionally happens. It’s not possible to release him back into the wild.” 

Wildlife education involves imparting knowledge about wildlife to future generations. Ingram offered students information about the owl.

The Eastern Screech Owl is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. Pairs are usually monogamous and remain together for life. Like most raptors, males are smaller than females.

Screech owls regurgitate the bones, fur, and feathers of their prey in an oval pellet, usually once or twice a day. 

“You can actually piece the skeleton in the pellets back together,” said Ingram. “I’ve done it. It’s interesting and not a bad as it sounds. You can learn a lot about them from their diet.”

Despite the name, Eastern Screech Owls do not screech. The voice of this species features whinnies and soft trills. 

“Owl eyes are fixed in their sockets,” said Ingram. “That’s why they must turn their head to see around them. You and I can see to the left and right without turning our heads, because our eyes are not fixed.”

Owls have binocular vision, which is vision using two eyes with overlapping fields of view. This allows good depth perception.

“We don’t know how old Otis is, because he wasn’t born in captivity,” said Ingram. “In captivity, their life expectancy can be about 20 years.”

Visits by Rock Island State Park rangers are by request.