Let the International Owl Center staff help you unravel the mysteries of owls as you meet the Center’s feathered ambassadors up close and personal. Touch owl feathers, learn to identify owls by the sounds they make, explore children’s owl art from around the world, and take pictures of perfectly mounted specimens of nineteen species of owls illustrating typical owl behaviors. Experience an owl up close during programs offered every day we're open.
Our summer hours (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day) are 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday with programs at 11:00, 1:00 & 3:00. Fall through spring we're open Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon from 10:00 - 4:00 with programs at 11:00 & 2:00.
Experience big and small live owls up close and personal at the only owl education center in the USA!
Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
On the main street in downtown Houston.
Founded in 2015Why is there an international owl center in Houston, MN? It's Alice the Great Horned Owl's fault. She was permanently injured when she fell out of her nest at three weeks of age. Because she couldn't live in the wild, she was placed as an educational ambassador owl in Houston, working at the Houston Nature Center. Because the Nature Center was the trailhead for the Root River Trail, it served twin goals of environmental education and tourism. To that end, in 2003 the Friends of the Houston Nature Center put on the first Festival of Owls as a celebration of Alice's hatch-day in late winter. Three hundred people showed up. It became an annual event, soon attracting people from around the country. When more than 1,000 people started coming each year, the idea was hatched to start an International Owl Center in Houston so people could learn about owls year-round. The International Owl Center opened in 2015 and took over the International Festival of Owls.
The Owl Center currently operates out of an historic building in "downtown" Houston, but has purchased 4.5 acres in a park at the edge of town and is raising funds to build a new facility there that better meets the needs of the owls, visitors and staff.
