Download our latest brochure (PDF). Should you have a question or concern that is not addressed on this page, or a question that is specific or unique to your venue or circumstance, please contact us as soon as possible.

NOTICE: we'll soon be changing this website to take advantage of new Web 2.0 technologies. Alongside  these improvements will also come a redesign, a section devoted to Sabrina and Scoote. As we continue to consult with educators and therefore constantly updating, improving and testing innovations in our show modules, a "What's New" section will be developed. What we do - in a nutshell Many of us live surrounded by concrete, asphalt and steel. As members of the modern techno-society we have created, our sense of place in the natural world has been lost for many of us, and diminished for most. We are a part of nature and nature is a part of us, no matter how hard we try to separate our lives and our selves from it. A true and lasting understanding and appreciation of nature is of paramount importance in the development of a complete human being. We develop and deliver entertaining educational programming that is extremely effective in bringing folks of all ages just a little bit closer to nature, and nature closer to them. Why we do what we do For a variety of reasons our modern society has made our natural world seem unclean and threatening to our children. For many children, watching a nature show on television is their only exposure to nature outside of the urban environment. Accordingly, a majority of children in city  centres have made few, if any, personal connections to nature at any level. In the not-so-distant future, solutions to many environmental problems will lie in the hands of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. If these children do not acquire some solid connections to the natural world prior to adulthood, it will be that much more difficult for future societies in North America to put right the mess we most certainly will have left for them. Our fast-paced shows are age and venue-dependent, draw upon a variety of teaching models and employ multiple medias. We enable grounded comprehension of, and greater respect for, Canada's forests...all the animals, plants & fungi living within them (and cannot live without them!).

The Presenter
Steve Patterson, a biologist and naturalist, is principal owner of Hummingbird Services. He is, first and foremost, a "nature-connections edutainer". His primary focus is to develop and deliver entertaining, science-based programming that enables children to not only appreciate nature, but empower them to build and nurture their own connections to our natural world.

Steve has been studying northern flying squirrels since 1994. His ongoing nesting box-focused field work, with an installed base of over 300 boxes in Grey & Bruce counties in Ontario, Canada has produced two papers to date. The northern flying squirrel is considered a keystone-species of Canada's boreal forest for two reasons (see The Keystone-Species Concept in Ecology and Conservation, L. Scott Mills, Michael E. Soule, and Daniel F. Doak, BioScience, 43 (4), 219 (1993)). We direct our focus on North American forests, their plant and animal inhabitants, and the myriad threats to the health of these forests and their associated ecosystems.

Steve's youngest son Jesse caught the flying squirrel bug when helping in the field during his undergrad years at University of Toronto. Jesse went on to achieve a Masters of Science in Forestry (M.Sc.F) at U of T, (his research-based thesis on the ecology of the northern flying squirrel in a fragmented landscape) and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary (researching northern flying and red squirrel nest-protection and aggregations). Proof that the nut does not fall far from the tree? :-)

In the not-so-distant future, solutions to many, if not all, of these threats to our very existence on this blue planet of ours will lie in the hands of our children and grand-children (of which I currently have two). If our younger generations are saddled with a poor understanding of and few real connections to the natural world, it will be that much more difficult for them to put right the mess that past and current generations will surely, and sadly, have left for them. Fortunately, there are many caring and selfless Canadians who recognize this looming disaster who are quietly (and some not so quietly!) doing their part to help, in a tremendous variety of innovative ways. There is still time, but no longer is there time to sit on our hands.

The Stars Of The Show Northern flying squirrel Sabrina (b. 2004), and southern flying squirrel Scooter (b. 2006), are Steve's captive-born and raised "ambassadors of forest ecology and biodiversity". They have proven to be wonderfully effective tools for engaging young minds. Steve and his furry sidekicks are licensed and monitored by the good folks at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Elementary School Programs, Library Programs & Special Events. We do it all! We offer targeted programming for elementary schools (Grades 2 to 7), library events, and general-interest programs designed for woodlot management, forestry, environmental, field naturalist, scouts/guides, special needs and a variety of other groups and organizations. Partnering With Ground-breaking Learning Initiatives We have partnered with Belfountain Public School (BPS), a small experimental elementary school situated in Caledon, Ontario. BPS is on the forefront of change in how schools approach learning. Utilizing a variety of methods and modalities, development of the the whole child "head, heart and hands" through authentic environmental learning, using community-based opportunities and natural elements for student enrichment. The goal of this initiative is for students fo become active citizens engaged in their community with an awareness of their role in the local environment. To this end, a northern flying squirrel nesting box monitoring program (.pdf download) is in place, with the gracious assistance of Credit Valley Conservation and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Every year, a new crop of Grade Four children are responsible, under guided direction, for monitoring and data collection. Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (ADD/ADHD) We are ADD experts! Our programming has been holistically designed from the ground-up to not only gain and maintain attention, but to retain, emotionally and intellectually, the core elements that allow human beings to respect the inherent values gifted to us by connecting to nature. Our Fees In a nutshell, our programs are very reasonably priced, regardless of venue. We have set price lists for our Library and Elementary School Programmes falling within the Greater Toronto Area umbrella. Contact us and we'll be happy to send you an information package. For elementary schools and libraries within the Greater Toronto Area, venues located east of Yonge Street carrying a slightly higher fee. With most other venues, there are many variables at play, so we do not provide a price list. Please contact us for a quote. - just like Scooter & Sabrina, we are very friendly and we don't bite! Marketing Our Shows Once you've booked a show, you might need some help promoting it to your target audience(s). We have promotional packages bundled up and ready to go, including images, copy and great marketing ideas. We're here to help you get the most "bang for the buck"! Parent Power! Sadly, many educators do not understand the importance of nature in the development of the whole person. Are you a parent who would you like to promote our services to your child's school principal or your local public library? Please download a copy of our Program Brochure! Far & Away We are often asked to do shows by folks located outside of the Greater Toronto Area. We are happy to accommodate such requests, and we often travel to various parts of the province, however, we recognize that budget constraints are a commonplace fact of life in the world of natural heritage education. If you are located outside the Greater Toronto Area and would like to have us visit your school or group, we strongly suggest "partnering" with other local-area schools, libraries, nature groups, etc. in order to keep costs within reason. Contact us for particulars on how this tactic can work for your school or group. Additionally, we may have schools and groups on file who you may be able to partner with.

Value Added Service
Educators of all stripes appreciate our ^#1 Google-rated companion website, FlyingSquirrels.com! We get kudos from around the world on a regular basis - from all sorts of professionals, and plenty of regular folks too. FlyingSquirrels.com is, and will always be, an advertisement-free online resource where anyone can learn about North America's little denizens of the dark, and be assured of the informations' scientific integrity. The site is upgraded with new material on an ongoing basis. Click on the banner below to visit:


Summer Road Trips!
The summer of 2008 saw us take our Summer Tour on the road to western Canada, performing at various campgrounds, zoos, nature centres and science centres! We traveled 15,300 kilometers from Mississauga to Vancouver Island over a 65 day period, meeting a lot of great folks, all the while having the time of our life!

We think every child in Canada should have the opportunity to experience, first hand, the wondrous world of flying squirrels and forest ecology.....and the child within every adult as well! The months of July & August find Steve and the squirrels "out on the road' conducting our Summer Tour, performing our shows at various libraries and campgrounds throughout Ontario. Steve's wife of 34 years, Marianne, joins the troupe for several weeks during this period.

The End Of The Outdoor Show
Our burgeoning list of on-stage equipment, the vagaries of our climate-change-induced weather patterns, and a disastrous rain-soaked 2009 summer season has resulted in our making the decision to no longer offer outdoor shows. Our shows have always been a MUCH better experience in controlled environments anyway!