• By: Kat Walcott

New exhibition at the Museum of Nature brings you up close and personal with owls

Photos: Kat Walcott

One of Ottawa’s most popular museums, the Canadian Museum of Nature, recently reopened and is excited to introduce a new, exciting exhibition to its beloved and dearly missed visitors! “Owls Rendez-vous” opens today at the museum’s outdoor plaza and features a variety of live owls (and an eagle!) in specially constructed habitats.

The exhibition, created by the museum in collaboration with renowned Ottawa rescue organization Little Ray’s Nature Centres, offers visitors a unique opportunity to see these stunning animals, who are quite shy and evasive to humans in the wild, in an environment built to closely replicate their natural habitat. Since all these birds are either captivity-born or rescues who have spent the majority of their lives in captivity, they are pretty comfortable around humans.

While formal presentations or workshops won't be offered as part of this exhibition, detail information plaques are outside of each enclosure and museum staff are around if you have additional questions or want to know more about these fascinating creatures.

Featured birds include a Barn Owl, Great-horned Owl, two Snowy Owls, an Eurasian Eagle Owl, and a bald eagle. Access to the exhibition is included with regular museum admission so book your tickets online now because they’re going fast!

About the Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences. The museum provides evidence-based insights, inspiring experiences and meaningful engagement with nature's past, present and future. It achieves this through scientific research, a 14.6-million-specimen collection, education programs, signature and travelling exhibitions, and a dynamic web site, nature.ca.

About Little Ray’s Nature Centres

Little Ray’s Nature Centres was founded in 1995 as a local, family-based, reptile rescue and educational outreach program. Since then it has grown to be the largest exotic animal rescue in Canada. Little Ray’s Nature Centres is an accredited member of the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) and licenced by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for the care and rescue of exotic animals.