The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) is a non-profit environmental education organization based in Quechee, Vermont

Quechee, Vermont

Quechee is one of five unincorporated villages in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont. Quechee is also a census-designated place. It is the site of the Quechee Gorge on the Ottauquechee River and is also the home to the Quechee Lakes planned community initiated in the late 1960s, which...

. Its mission is to motivate individuals and communities to care for the environment through education, research, and avian wildlife rehabilitation.

Avian rehabilitation

One role VINS takes on is to bring birds back to health and release them back to the wild. VINS has federal and state permits that allow it to be able to have birds that can be used in educational programs. The teaching birds range from a Great Horned Owl to a Peregrine Falcon. The birds of prey, or raptors, used for teaching cannot be released into the wild because they would not survive. The reasons these birds wouldn't survive can vary, perhaps the loss of an eye or because they were raised by people. VINS also has exhibit birds that aren't used for educational programs; these injured birds live in outdoor enclosures. VINS has 18 encloures that contain dozens of birds of prey.

VINS also holds several professional development workshops for teachers each year. At these workshops, teachers learn how to teach environmental citizenship and how to create curriculum around certain environmental issues. These workshops are not limited to birds, and can include a wide array of Vermont's wildlife, such as Trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

, Bobcats, and Vernal Pools.

VINS Nature Center

The VINS Nature Center in Quechee includes 17 raptor

Bird of prey

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

 exhibits that house hawk

Hawk

The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...

s, eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

s, vulture

Vulture

Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...

s, falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

s, owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

s and raven

Raven

Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...

s. The facility also has a nature shop, a classroom, several nature trails, a behind-the-scenes animal support facility, and a new exhibit consisting of frogs. There is also a flight simulator, where a visitor can feel as if one is flying. The center is located 1/3 mile west of the Quechee Gorge

Quechee, Vermont

Quechee is one of five unincorporated villages in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont. Quechee is also a census-designated place. It is the site of the Quechee Gorge on the Ottauquechee River and is also the home to the Quechee Lakes planned community initiated in the late 1960s, which...

along Vermont Route 4.