A member of the audience stands with his arm outstretched for a falcon to land on during an Ohio School of Falconry presentation Wednesday at the Belpre EMS Training Academy. Many of the birds used for the program are trained and used to being around crowds of people. Lead Falconer and Raptor Educator Sean O’Hara said the birds go wherever the food is. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

BELPRE — The Ohio School of Falconry visited Washington County for demonstrations at multiple libraries Wednesday.

Ohio School of Falconry Lead Falconer and Raptor Educator Sean O’Hara presented at New Matamoras, Marietta and Belpre through the Washington County Public Library branches. He finished up Wednesday afternoon at the Belpre EMS Training Academy.

“We try to have an event at the library each year, and we’ve never had the Ohio School of Falconry here,” said Belpre Branch Manager Casey Copeland. “Yeah, we were all really excited for this.”

About 50 people registered and attended the demonstration in Belpre.

“Today, I’m here to talk about pigeons,” joked O’Hara, who has been with the school since 2022. The audience was fully engaged during the experience, and children were encouraged to ask questions.

Lead Falconer and Raptor Educator Sean O’Hara holds Henson, a male Eurasian eagle owl, on his arm for the audience to see during an Ohio School of Falconry presentation Wednesday at the Belpre EMS Training Academy. Henson is commonly used for the programs at the Ohio School of Falconry. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“They’re going to do real life bird things, they’re going to flap their wings, they’re going to poop on the ground,” O’Hara said.

He brought out a wide selection of birds such as hawks, owls, falcons and buzzards. Each bird displayed its unique personality and the crowd engaged with O’Hara’s comedic presentation.

The Ohio School of Falconry is a for-profit entity and the money goes towards supporting bird rehabilitators and wildlife educators.

“The reason this is so important is because raptors in the wild have a 90% mortality rate in the first six months of life,” said O’Hara.

The bird demonstration allows for community members to have the chance to not only see birds up close and in person, but also to ask an expert questions.

Cruella the gyr-saker falcon is 6 years old and one of three falcons in the education program at the Ohio School of Falconry. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“I want you to be able to look at them, to compare them and see what they do,” said O’Hara.

After all of the birds were presented, O’Hara selected five audience members to stand at the front and let one of the hawks fly and land on their arms.

The birds are trained and specifically used for the falconry programs so they’re used to being around large crowds of people.

More information is available online at www.ohioschooloffalconry.com. Upcoming events can be found on the Washington County Public Library’s website.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com.

Quinny the European barn owl is considered the smallest of the subspecies. Barn owls can catch up to 1,000 rodents a year. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Echo is a hawk that has the ability to fly up to 180 miles per hour. Echo was among five hawks in an education program presented by the Ohio School of Falconry Wednesday at the Belpre EMS Training Academy. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

One of the falcons in the education program with the Ohio School of Falconry would fly and then land on the outstretched arm of a volunteer from the audience during an Ohio School of Falconry presentation Wednesday at the Belpre EMS Training Academy. Food was placed on the volunteers hand so the bird was trained to fly wherever the food was. (Photo by Amber Phipps)