Tommy, a barred owl kept at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center for the past 10 years, has died, the nature center announced today.

"Tommy was the first bird of prey used regularly in our outreach programs," said Kim Hargrave, director of education at the nature center. "He would bring awe and wonder to the faces of those who met him. I found it inspiring to share a bit of his world with others."

Tommy would visit schools, libraries, scouting groups and senior centers, charming his audience with his eight-hooted vocalizations, the nature center said in a statement. In recent years, however, he had been retired from outreach service because of cataracts. He was moved into a smaller enclosure that allowed him to find his food more easily and still socialize with visitors.

He came to the nature center after an encounter with a vehicle that left him with the partial loss of his left wing that prevented him from being able to survive on his own in the wild. His rescuer was Doris Mager, a bird rehabilitator and founder of Save Our American Raptors.

In the wild, barred owls usually nest in tree cavities or in the abandoned nests of hawks or crows near red maple swamps or marshes. They will also use man-made nesting boxes. They mainly prey on mice and other small mammals, but will also catch frogs, salamanders or snakes.