Educational Programs
Basic Tour: Helping Alabama’s Native Wildlife (About 1 hour)
Enjoy a fascinating tour of Alabama’s oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center, and learn about how the Center provides special care for close to 100 species of birds, mammals and reptiles. Meet some of Alabama’s magnificent native wild creatures and learn about what you can do to be a good neighbor to the wild creatures in your ecosystem.
$4 per person; 15 students and adults or less $50 flat fee
Basic Tour: Helping Alabama’s Native Wildlife, plus TreeTop Nature Trail Hike (About 2 hours)
Add an outdoor adventure to your Wildlife Center tour. The TreeTop Nature Trail is an elevated boardwalk featuring six species of non-releasable birds of prey living in large, naturally-furnished cages in a beautiful wooded valley just below The Wildlife Center. The TreeTop Nature Trail is reached by a relatively easy hiking trail that is three-tenths of a mile in length. Allow one-half hour for the round trip hike through a pristine stream-cut valley, which gives children and adults a chance to enjoy Alabama’s native woodlands at first hand, as well as an additional half-hour to meet hawks, owls and vultures in a natural setting.
$6 per person; 15 students and adults or less $80 flat fee
Special Add-on Feature—Live Educational Birds:
The Wildlife Center offers special programs that include two non-releasable birds of prey, a Barred Owl and a Mississippi Kite, that have been trained for educational purposes.
For an additional $30 per tour, The Wildlife Center will include an up-close encounter with one of our educational birds. Add an extra 30 minutes to your tour for this feature.
Chaperones:
The Wildlife Center is a functioning wildlife rehabilitation center. To ensure the well-being of the animals, we request that groups provide adequate chaperones to ensure that tours are conducted in a quiet and orderly manner.
Suggested student/chaperone ratios:
Elementary School—1 chaperone for every 5 students.
Middle and High School—1 chaperone for every 10 students.
Park Entrance Fees:
Tour prices do not include entrance fees for Oak Mountain State Park. Entrance fees are to be paid separately upon arrival. Admission fees are as follows: twelve years and older $2 ($3 on weekends), children ages six through eleven $1, and children five years and younger free.
To Book Your Tour:
The Wildlife Center’s educational program is staffed solely by volunteers. Therefore, all tours are subject to the availability of a trained tour guide. Programs can be scheduled for the hours of 9 am to 3 pm, Sunday through Saturday and must be scheduled at least one month in advance. Please call the business office at 205-663-7930 between 9 am and 5 pm.
The Wildlife Center is also open daily 9 am – 5 pm for individual self-guided tours.
Groups of 10 or more are asked to schedule a tour in advance.
The Wildlife Center’s Payment Terms for Educational Programs:
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All tours/programs must be paid in full no later than one business day before the program. All weekend tours/programs must be paid by the end of business hours on the Friday before the program.
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Cancellations should be made as soon as possible. Refunds will be given if cancellations are made at least 24 hours in advance.
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The Wildlife Center is not an entity of Oak Mountain State Park. Payment for entrance fees must be paid to the park gate upon entrance unless otherwise arranged through the Park Office (205) 620-2520.
Other Funding Resources:
Financial Support is available for Educational Programs From Birmingham Audubon Society.” For more information, go to www.birminghamaudubon.org and click on the link for grants to access the application form.