More wet animals

The eagle owl chicks have reminded me (not very politely) that they, too, take regular baths:

Timber is molting!

The last time you saw Timber, our screech owl, he had just had a nice bath. In this video Timber is molting, which means his old feathers are shed and replaced by new ones. The health of a bird's feathers is crucial to its survival and adult birds molt at least once a year. The process is gradual as the bird must keep some of its feathers in order to maintain body temperature.

As you can see, Timber still manages to hang on to his natural owl-dignity, even as the humans make fun of his hairdo.

What is cuter than an Eastern screech owl?

A soaking wet Eastern screech owl! I was out in the weathering yard feeding the birds and noticed Timber enjoying a bath. I ran back in to grab my camera and...

behold, the cuteness:



Timber was injured as a chick and came to live with us at the World Bird Sanctuary because he couldn't be released. He's stolen a lot of hearts in our education programs and is one of our most popular birds.

Wimbledon eagle owl style!

Yes fans, once again it is time to appreciate the mad skills of our Eurasian eagle owl chicks as they teach us all a thing or two about tennis:

A perfect pounce!

Be thrilled and amazed at the progress of our Eurasian eagle owl chicks as they rid the playroom of those hideous and annoying tennis balls:

Sleepy little barn owl

This is the last of Athena's and Sonar's chicks, hatched on the 20th of February. The hand raised chicks will be sent to education programs around the country, while Athena and Sonar raise the others for release.

The chicks are carefully monitored for health and weight and kept in professional brooders until they are able to thermo-regulate. At this stage, they are fed at regular intervals four times daily.

As you can see, this little owl would much prefer a nap!



P.S. Joy's finger was injured by Joy and not by a bird!

Meanwhile, back at the nest....

Here you see Athena hard at work caring for her young. Brooding Five chicks is tough work!

Barn owls start incubating as soon as the first egg is laid, so the oldest chick is two weeks older (and considerably bigger) than the youngest chick. Raptor chicks can't thermo-regulate, so Athena has to brood them to keep them warm. As they get older and get more down, they need less brooding.

The chicks being raised in the nest box will be released here in Missouri. In the midwest, barn owls are rare. The parents (Athena and Sonar) are both unreleasable rehab birds. Most of the babies we raise are released. A smaller number are raised for breeding or education.

News from the nest box!

In January our barn owl Athena and Sonar, her mate, began nesting. As of today six of their eight fertile eggs have hatched. Five of the babies remain with Athena in her nest box.

The bird in this video is three days old and being hand-raised for education purposes. The baby is eating lean rat meat, with some vitamin water, and calcium added.