The Raptor Foundation

What We Do at the Raptor Foundation:

Provide medical care for injured raptors. Return rehabilitated birds to the wild. Provide sanctuary for unreleasable raptors.

Provide research into environmental problems and conservation matters. Assist with "Breed & Release" programs to rebuild raptor populations across Europe.

We are a team providing a rescue service, 24 hour care and rehabilitation facilities for injured raptors. We provide a permanent, caring environment for raptors unable to return to the wild. We are committed to increasing rare species, and sharing knowledge and information on the medical treatment and rehabilitation of raptors. Emergencies are handled 24hrs a day, check our if you find a bird page for information on what to do and our contact phone number.

We fly our raptors at 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm.

Schools

The Raptor Foundation has extensive experience with school visits, both at the centre itself and also taking a selection of our birds into schools. We are able to tailor the visit for children of all ages from Foundation Stage onwards through to A & AS levels and we also have experience in visits to schools for children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities.

Our 30 acre site contains over 200 birds covering a wide range of raptors, from owls (including all native British species) to hawks, buzzards, eagles & falcons. As well as seeing them in the aviaries, there are opportunities to see some of our 45+ strong team of flying birds in our daily displays & appreciate the different flying styles & methods of hunting prey in the wild.

At the Raptor Foundation itself, we can cater for visits of upto 90 children. If the visit is arranged at the centre, an experienced member of our team will take the children on a guided tour of The Raptor Foundation and show them many of our 40+ different species of birds of prey from around the world. They will then get to watch one of our flying displays & get to see the birds in action. There will be opportunities for activities such as drawing, completing our worksheets on birds of prey and pellet dissection. In the event of bad weather, we have both an education room and an indoor flying arena, so the children's visit is not spoilt.

When visiting schools, we will bring a selection of birds to show the different types including the Owls, Hawks, Falcons & sometimes even Eagles. We like to do our talks in a suitably large hall as we aim to bring at least one but most often two birds that will fly indoors. We will also bring along an information pack with information about British birds of prey, worksheets & word searches and also a selection of owl pellets with instruction sheets for the teachers, so the pellet dissection can be done in class.

Our talks will be tailored to the children's age range and cover subjects such as habitat, conservation, behaviour and the adaptations of the different types of birds of prey, our barn owls are ideal to demonstrate silent flight as they fly over the children. For older children we can cover topics such as the physiology of the birds, food chains and effects of environmental change. We will also discuss the birds of prey found throughout the UK, letting the children know what they may see & what to look & listen for. Other subjects covered can include owning and handling birds of prey, falconry and how birds of prey are used both now and in the past for such purposes as hunting & pest clearance.

The most obvious areas we can cover are in the Science curriculum covering Life & Living Processes, but we can also cover such topics as Forces, Sound & Light. In Literacy the birds can be a wonderful inspiration for creative writing & also report, explanation & instructional writing. The birds can also be a focus in Art, Geography & History projects. If the teachers have any special topics that they would like us to cover in more detail or any cross-curricular needs, if they could let us know in advance and we will tailor our talk to suit.

When visiting the centre, our talk & display will usually last for an entire morning or afternoon. For visits to the school the talk & display will usually be a half day or whole day. Depending on numbers & ages of pupils, for a morning or afternoon visit we could do two talks to smaller groups of children.

Based in Cambridgeshire, ideally for travel close to the A1 & A14 and also having volunteers living in different parts of the country, we are able to give talks in schools not only locally, but throughout a very wide area of the UK. Please contact us to find out if we are able to visit your school.

Please contact us for details of availability & cost of either visiting the centre or our team coming out to your school through the quotations section or by telephone. Our prices are very competitive & all inclusive. We are happy to allow photographs to be taken throughout the talk and, if time permits, with children or staff members. There is no additional charge for allowing photography.

Our staff & volunteers who provide the talks are CRB checked for The Raptor Foundation.