MEXICO — Libraries are normally bookworm territory, but several owls swooped in to the Public Library on Tuesday.

By all accounts, the visit was a hoot.

“This is my favorite program because not only do I get to bring a lot of cool stuff with me today, but I get to bring live owls all over Maine,” said Robin Kuehn, an intern with the Chewonki Foundation who visited the library with three types of native owls. “I find that pretty exciting.”

As part of the library’s “Terrific Tuesdays” program, Kuehn spent an hour entrancing a roomful of children and their parents with facts about local owls — and the owls themselves. Wearing a sturdy leather gauntlet on her arm, Kuehn introduced the crowd to a screech owl, a barred owl and great horned owl.

The owls have been recovering from injuries at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset. Walking around the room with an 18-inch great horned owl on her arm, Kuehn explained how the owl — believed to be at least 25 years old — broke a wing when it was hit by a car in the mid-1990s. That owl has stayed with the Chewonki Foundation ever since.

“They are not pets,” Kuehn said. “They’re actually wild birds that have been rehabilitated and have not been able to be released back into the wild.”

The great horned owl on Kuehn’s arm seemed slightly alarmed by the dozens of nearby children who squirmed and shouted out questions such as “Are owls related to pterodactyls?” and “How many owls are there?”

Kuehn kept up with it all, answering that scientists believe owls and other birds are the descendants of ancient pterodactyls, and that there are five or six types of owls that call Maine home throughout the year. Kuehn also described how owls hunt mice — and even skunks and porcupines — with the help of whisper-quiet feathers, razor-sharp talons and massive eyes.

“Owls have gigantic eyes. If we had eyes as big as an owl’s, our eyes would be the size of grapefruit or softballs,” Kuehn told her wide-eyed audience. “They take up two-thirds of the space of their head.”

Kuehn also played recordings of the different owls that call Maine home. Each type of owl makes its own distinct call, from the sharpening-saw whine of a saw-whet owl to the screech owl’s high-pitched plea, which resembles the whinnying of a miniature horse.

The children also heard the call of the barred owl, whose well-known hoot sounds eerily similar to a human’s voice.

“Some people think their call sounds like someone saying ‘Who cooks for you, who cooks for you?’” Kuehn said. “Once, when I said that, a little girl raised her hand and said ‘My mom and dad.’”

The Mexico Public Library’s “Terrific Tuesdays” program will continue next Tuesday, July 24, with “Earth Jams,” an interactive music program for kids featuring musician Matt Loosigian. That program will begin at 10 a.m. in the Calvin P. Lyons Meeting Room beneath the Town Office.