Overly Outstanding Owls

Anyone who knew me before my internship at World Bird Sanctuary knows that I absolutely love owls.  Anyone who met or spoke to me after the start of my internship knows that my all time favorite bird is Tigger, the Tawny Owl.

Many people love owls because they are adorable, which is completely true.  However, they are also amazing creatures!  For example, owls can turn their heads 270 degrees around.  This  enables them to look over their right shoulder, completely behind them, and then over their left shoulder in the same glance! 

Most owl species have fringing on their outer wing feathers, which muffles air flowing over their wings and gives them silent flight.  This makes it much easier to sneak up on their prey. 

Cupid the Barn Owl steals everyone's heart

One truly remarkable owl species is the Barn Owl.  You can find videos of these amazing birds online that demonstrate just how incredible these birds really are.  One such video that I found demonstrates just how incredible a Barn Owl's sense of hearing truly is.  The one in the video is trained that a certain sound leads to food and is trained to find the source of the sound.  You can see that the sound device is placed in an area of tall grass where it is not visible. As soon as the sound is made the owl flies directly to the source. In slow motion, you can see the owl's head is completely locked right on target the entire time. These birds are some of the best hunters I have ever seen. 

Peabody the Tawny Owl waiting for his cue to fly onstage (photo: Mike Cerutti)

Many people, myself included, love Tawny Owls because they are so adorable.  However, these birds are considered a prey species.  Tawny Owls share habitat with the second largest owl species, the Eurasian Eagle Owl.  Because of this, Tawny Owls are known to be quite aggressive.  These birds will chase larger birds and animals from their territory. People who have hobbies like bird watching and wildlife photography will actually avoid Tawny Owl territory during breeding season.  These owls have been known to fly after people, as well as other predators, to flush them out of the Tawny Owl territory.

I have been able to witness some of these adaptations this summer while working at WBS’s Stone Zoo bird show in Boston.  We have two great owls with us--Cupid, the Barn Owl, and Peabody, the Tawny Owl. 

Don't let Tigger's sleepy demeanor fool you--Tawny Owls can be fierce

There are many more amazing adaptations and traits of owls that I enjoy learning about every day that I work with these birds.

If you live in or are visiting the Boston area this summer, be sure to schedule a visit to Stone Zoo—and in particular, the bird show.  I think you will agree with me that these beautiful creatures are amazing!

Submitted by Jamie Cobetto, World Bird Sanctuary Stone Zoo Birds of Prey Show Trainer/Naturalist

(photo: Flannery O'brien)

Audience Questions

“You have the coolest job.”  “I want to be just like you when I get bigger.”  “You must love coming to work every day.”  “I love seeing the birds!”  These are just a few of the comments World Bird Sanctuary bird show presenters hear every day.  And I must tell you, it never gets old!

Cupid the American Barn Owl flying into trainer's glove - photo by Lisa McCabe

However, there is something even better than compliments.  And what’s that, you may ask?  The questions!  From my two years’ experience working with birds at World Bird Sanctuary’s Milwaukee County Zoo bird show and five years of working in a zoo, I have found that questions from the general public about animals can be broken up into 3 categories.

 

Buford the Bald Eagle out in the public display area - photo by Erica Fenske

General Animal Questions.  These common questions are usually about age, species, or name.  Every once in a while though you get the really good ones--the ones that challenge you as a trainer.  With only two years under my belt, I get challenged every day.  But the wonderful thing about being challenged is that it gives me an excuse to ask even more questions!  If someone asks me how many feathers are on a bird’s head, I ask my supervisor how many are on their entire body.  If someone asks what a bird eats, I ask specifically what species.  No matter how much I learn there is always something more to learn!  I ask questions every single day and as much as I can to improve myself, so I can improve how I do my job.

How Can You Do This?  As weird as it sounds, I enjoy answering these.  No matter which species you work with, you sometimes get a “non-zoo person” who can’t fathom the idea of animals in captivity and find our career choices as “wrong.”  You can’t help but be frustrated at first, but that is why we do what we do.  Having the animals on display only fulfills part of their duties as ambassadors of their species.  We are here to fulfill the other half by explaining to people how they are doing it.  No, we don’t take perfectly healthy animals out of the wild.  No, they are not miserable.  Yes we take the best care possible of them and give them the best lives they could ever imagine.  Explaining these concepts, one person at a time, makes me feel like I am making a difference in the world.  And, hopefully if we educate enough people, we can help animals everywhere.

Scarlett the Red Shouldered Hawk - photo by Erica Fenske

How Do I Get a Job Like This?  Now THIS is my favorite question.  I love when children/young adults ask me this question because I wish I had asked it more myself when I was their age!  It shows that people care and more people out there want to serve our purpose--to educate the world about these amazing and beautiful creatures.  By now I have my basic response--get a science related college degree, do lots of volunteer/internship work, and most of all, have lots of determination.  Even though it is such a basic response, no one ever walks away looking discouraged, and that is the best feeling in the WORLD!  Yes, flying a Bald Eagle is a pretty amazing feeling, but knowing I might have just inspired someone to help eagles fly longer in the wild is a much cooler feeling!

So all in all, always ask questions.  And if you don’t know the answer, ask even more questions.  Questions are limitless and no one should ever stop asking!  A very wise teacher once told me that, “Any day that you don’t learn something new is a wasted day.”

Submitted by Erica Fenske, World Bird Sanctuary Seasonal Zoo Show Staff Member

Cupid: The American Barn Owl

I would like to introduce you to a new member of World Bird Sanctuary; Cupid the Barn Owl. 

How could anyone resist this face?

Cupid’s parents are Buffy and Moonshine—one of our newest breeding pairs.  Cupid was hatched on February 14^th, 2012 in one of the Propagation Department mews in the Sunnen Building.  His hatch date, fluffy white down, and striking heart-shaped face inspired the name Cupid.  (And if those beautiful brown eyes don’t pierce your heart, it probably isn’t beating).  

When Cupid turned five days old, Roger Wallace, WBS’s propagation coordinator, gently took him out of his parents’ nest and transferred him to a brooder box.  This box keeps the bird warm, like its real mother would, until it is big enough and has a thick, downy coat to keep itself warm.  Some of Cupid’s nest mates remained in the nest to be raised by the parents.  Those birds will have  minimal contact with humans and will be released into suitable barn owl habitat when they are old enough. 

Cupid was removed from the nest at such a young age in order to accustom him to humans.  When Cupid becomes an adult, he will fly in World Bird Sanctuary Education programs as an ambassador for his species, and will help to educate the public about the threats to his wild cousins that have caused them to be put on the endangered species list in some states here in the U.S.  He will need to be handled by, and fly around humans every day.  That is why we want Cupid to not have fear of humans. 

During the earliest days, Cupid--then known as #43 because of its band number--was hand fed, mostly by Roger Wallace.  By the time he turned 30 days old, he had gained enough body mass that he could maintain body temperature outside the brooder box.  At that point I put a carpet square in a small crate, gently placed him inside it, and took him to my apartment.  I felt a little nervous when I first began to take care of him; I had never raised baby barn owls before.  But Cupid responded well when I began to feed him. 

I love watching Cupid grow and change every day.  He spends his days in an owl playpen we built in half of an empty mew in the Educational Training Center.  That way he can get used to the pace and sounds of human activity.  In the evenings I allow Cupid free run of my apartment.  He normally tries to seek out little hiding places, such as behind the couch or under the desk.  I don’t allow him to hide for very long, because the whole point of his spending time in my apartment is to become accustomed to humans.  Even though I know he doesn’t understand, I spend a lot of time talking to him, and he just stares back and “chitters” at me. When I am ready to sleep, I just place Cupid’s crate on the floor and he runs right into it!  He knows which crate belongs to him, even when given the opportunity to go into more than one. 

Cupid has already made his public debut at World Eagle Day.  His next big step will be in April when he will travel with me to Milwaukee to continue his Education Bird training at our Milwaukee County Zoo bird show.  There he will become used to the routines of the day, his equipment and the commotion of the crowds at the zoo.

I am really enjoying the opportunity to help “Clever Cupid” to become a comfortable and proficient Barn Owl Education Ambassador.  After all, how often do you get the opportunity to be a foster mom to a Barn Owl?

Submitted by Leah Sainz, Naturalist/Trainer