This information will help you plan your group visit to The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey. Click on a link below to learn about a specific topic or scroll down for the complete list.

For more information about our facility and to find further resources for students and teachers, choose a link below.

Our Education Programs

All education programs are designed to:

• Be developmentally appropriate

• Meet state required standards and curricular objectives

• Emphasize active participation of students

• Feature our fascinating raptors as a “lens for learning”

Available Programs

A general tour includes a visit to all of our exhibits in the Biology/Ecology Wing, the Conservation Wing, the Rainforest Room, and the Discovery Room, as well as an introduction to our resident education birds.  Perfect for those who want to see a little bit of everything.  Tour lasts approximately one and a half hours (one hour for grades Pre-K–1), and is appropriate for all grade levels.

As an alternative, you may choose from one of the special topic tours (see table below). Use the grade levels as a general guideline, but keep in mind that many of these special topic tours can be adapted to fit any grade level. All of the special-topic tours are one and a half hours in length. These include a visit to all of our exhibit areas, as well as a brief, hands-on activity or demonstration pertaining to the chosen topic.

Admissions

All school groups are admitted free of charge. (This includes all teachers and accompanying adults, up to one adult per five students.  Additional adults will be charged the discounted adult rate of $4.00.)

For a group of 15 or more scheduling at least two weeks in advance, prices are $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for youths ages 4-16.

Scheduling

Non-school Groups

Advance reservations for groups allow us to keep our visitor population at an appropriate capacity for our facility.  Because we want all our visitors to have a positive experience, we cannot admit unscheduled tour groups of more than 15. Please call to make a reservation prior to bringing a group of 15 or more.

School Groups

Group Size
The minimum group size for school groups is 15 students.  Groups of this size, or greater, will have a private tour docent assigned to the group.  The maximum number of students that our facility can accommodate at any one time is 120.  Please plan accordingly.

When to call
Because spring (March-May) is our busiest season, we recommend scheduling a field trip in the fall or winter months if possible. If you need to schedule for a specific date during the spring, it is best to contact us well in advance.

In general, we recommend scheduling at least two weeks prior to the date you would like to come. While we can sometimes add you to the schedule with less than two weeks’ notice, it may not be possible to match our schedule with your desired date and time.

How to schedule
To reserve your preferred date and time and make arrangements for your visit, call 208-362-8687. If you would like a topical tour or a customized tour, please ask to speak with our Education Program Coordinator.

    When you call to schedule, we will need to know:

• The date and time you wish to visit

• The name, phone number, and email address of a contact person for the group, as well as a mailing address for the group or institution

• The name of the group (for example, “Peregrine Elementary School” or “Cub Scout Pack 92”)

• The number of students and adults who will be present

• The age/grade level of the students

• The type of tour program requested

• Whether you plan to eat lunch here

• Any special needs or requests

When You Arrive

• Follow signs for bus parking.
• Send one adult to the gift shop/admissions area (first building on your right when you enter parking lot) to register the group. This person should be prepared to give the gift shop attendant the total number of students and the total number of adults present.
• For school groups, keep students seated on board the bus upon arrival. Your tour guide will board the bus to welcome the group and review conduct expectations.
• We provide one tour guide per every 20-30 students, so please have larger groups already divided accordingly. If you arrive early for your tour, you may choose to allow students to wait in these designated groups in our parking area and a tour guide or staff member will be with you as soon as possible. For the safety of your students, do not allow them to run and play games in our parking area.
• Students will enter the facility through one of our two gates, NOT through our gift shop/admissions area. Please do not allow students to enter the gift shop prior to the tour.

Late Arrival/Cancellations

If you arrive late for your tour, you will lose that time for your visit. Our tour guides are volunteers who have come to our facility at the date and time you requested, specifically to conduct your tour. We cannot extend your tour time if you arrive late. If you realize that you will be arriving late, please make an effort to contact us so that we can plan accordingly.

If you need to cancel your visit, please give us as much advance notice as possible so that we can make that time available to another group.  We will also need to let your scheduled tour guide know of the cancellation. 

Lunches

If you plan to eat lunch in our courtyard, let us know when you call to schedule your trip so we can reserve the area for your group. Please review our interpretive center map to see our courtyard area. There is space in the courtyard for one to two classes to picnic. We do not offer food service, so please encourage students to bring all needed items for their lunches. A soda machine and snack machine are located in our main entrance area, and we require an adult from the group to monitor students while they are purchasing items or using restrooms. We trust that all our visitors will leave our facility litter-free.

Our courtyard area includes the chambers of some of our live birds. For the health and safety of our birds and in consideration of our other visitors, our expectations for student behavior remain the same even while they are in this outdoor space. Students should refrain from climbing or sitting on barriers, avoid making loud noises, and should WALK when moving through the courtyard area.

Gift Shop

After the completion of the tour, you may choose to allow students to browse in our gift shop. No more than five students will be admitted at one time, and an adult from the group must accompany the students into the gift shop.

Student:Adult Ratio

Plan to have as many adult chaperones as may be appropriate for the needs of your particular student group. At least one adult per every ten students is a desirable ratio.

Prepare accompanying adults to actively participate in management of the group during the tour. We ask that adult chaperones stay with the group at all times, and support our behavior expectations for students by setting a good example.

Please note:  one chaperone for every five students is admitted free of charge.  Additional adults will be charged the discounted rate of $4.00.

Name Tags

We ask that all members of the group wear clearly visible name tags. This lets us address you and your students correctly and helps our guides build a better rapport with students during the tour.

Our Conduct Expectations for Student Groups

We want to encourage student enthusiasm and establish a positive tone for the tour by asking that students meet our simple conduct expectations:

We expect students to communicate respectfully with our staff,
their tour guide, and classmates; to be considerate of other visitors,
and to be quiet and use calm, slow movements when near our live birds.

Evaluation

Please complete and return the tour evaluation card after your visit. Your comments will help us continue to improve the programs we provide.

Tips for a Great Trip

The more prepared you and your students are, the richer your field trip experience with us can be!

• Contact our Education Programs Coordinator if you have any questions in planning your trip or your unit of study. We want you to have a wonderful and meaningful visit!

• Carefully determine the time it will take to travel to our facility. Arriving on time allows for a smooth start to your tour. Arriving too early means your group may have to wait before a tour guide is available, and students may become restless, leading to negative behaviors during the tour. Arriving late limits your group’s time at the facility and reduces the content we can provide during your tour.

• Review our driving directions and map to our facility. Make sure your bus drivers and parent drivers are aware that we are located on South Cole Road.

• Use our website resources to prepare your students for what they will experience here. When students know what to expect, they can make a smoother transition to a new environment.

• Learn a few “raptor basics.” When students know what a raptor is and what makes these birds unique, our docents can provide more in-depth content during the tour. However, we are also happy to give students a great basic introduction to learning about raptors.

• Teachers, please identify yourselves to the tour guides so that they will be able to check in with you throughout the tour. We also want to make sure you receive post-visit materials, including the tour evaluation form.