Mound City, Mo. - The 36th annual Eagle Days at the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge is set for Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7. Visitors can see waterfowl and eagles during a driving tour through the refuge. Special exhibits will be on display at headquarters and the Dickerson Park Zoo will present a show featuring captive eagles. Eagle Days is a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and other public and private conservation partners.

MDC staff and volunteers will be at interpretive stops along the refuge driving tour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. An exhibit about passenger pigeons will be on display in the refuge headquarters building, said T.J. Peacher, MDC district conservation education supervisor. This is the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the passenger pigeon. Conservation has kept a similar fate from happening to other wildlife species. For example, trumpeter swans frequent the refuge in early winter and can usually be spotted on the marshes during the driving tour.

Also new this year, a driving tour loop will be available through Big Lake State Park, which is west of the refuge. The Missouri River oxbow lake at the park often holds big flocks of waterfowl such as snow geese in early winter, Peacher said. Maps showing a driving loop to Big Lake and back to Squaw Creek will be available at the event.

Dickerson Park Zoo staff will present live eagle shows at the refuge headquarters hourly from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. The zoo rehabilitates birds of prey such as eagles. Those birds with injuries too severe for them to return to the wild are used in exhibits and give visitors a close-up look at live eagles. The presentation includes interesting facts about eagles and their abilities.

The Squaw Creek refuge is north of St. Joseph and is reached via Interstate 29 by taking the U.S. 159 exit west.

For more information about Eagle Days, call 816-271-3100. For fun facts about eagles in Missouri and other eagle viewing opportunities, please visit http://www.mdc.mo.gov.