“If we can reach just one, it’ll all have been worth it.” I think most educators, traditional and alternative, have whispered this to themselves a time or twelve. We say it because most of the time, we never really know what happens after someone walks out of our program or classroom. Maybe they remember the subject matter—in our case, the birds. Maybe some fun bit of trivia sticks with them. Maybe we’ve even helped shape how they see the world just a little bit. Usually, we just don’t know....

So, what exactly does it mean when we say a bird is “off for molt,” and why does it matter?

Throughout history, owls have been surrounded in myth and legend. We humans tend to make up stories about that which we do not...