Baby owl!

[sonnyjane]

Stunning! Wear it in good health.

Everyone is wearing baby owls this season!

First off, hahahhaa! Was that a glitch?

Bahahahah I can't believe I missed that earlier!!!

 

[tyty333]

Oh my gosh, he is soooo cute!

We were at a park one day and I saw these 5 funny bumps on an oak tree limb. They looked like they were part of
the limb but when I looked closer they had eyes and beaks. It was 5 little owls sitting on a limb. I think it might have
been a Mom/Dad and 3 babies? They were so adorable and I felt so lucky to have seen them!

 

[Sky56]

Cool thread. Nice pictures!

 

[JewelFreak]

Owls are NOT very smart birds, so they recognized me as someone that fed them as opposed to being aggressive or afraid when strangers came by, but raptors are not affectionate like parrots, for example. In that picture when I'm kissing that owl, in order for me to be able to do that, I had to scratch her chin to put her in a little "trance" and then I could kiss her head lol. Most raptors aren't affectionate.

Sonnyjane, I read a book (Wesley the Barn Owl by Stacey O'Brian) by an owl researcher at UC who "raised" an orphan barn owl. He became so attached to her that she could not leave him. He lived with her for 18 yrs till he died -- wouldn't eat when she was gone & attacked her boyfriend when he came into her bedroom. I know he imprinted on her, but when he reached puberty, he seems to have seen her as his mate. A couple times a year he would, ahem, mate with her arm or leg. They did communicate as individuals. She makes a point that barn owls are very different from other owls in their dependence & ability to relate to others -- they mate for life, for instance, & if a mate dies, the other owl will often turn his head into a tree & simply die. Here she is with Wesley:


Sorry for the threadjack continuation, amc, but it's such a fascinating subject. What luck for you to see that little guy!

 

[sonnyjane]

Owls are NOT very smart birds, so they recognized me as someone that fed them as opposed to being aggressive or afraid when strangers came by, but raptors are not affectionate like parrots, for example. In that picture when I'm kissing that owl, in order for me to be able to do that, I had to scratch her chin to put her in a little "trance" and then I could kiss her head lol. Most raptors aren't affectionate.

Sonnyjane, I read a book (Wesley the Barn Owl by Stacey O'Brian) by an owl researcher at UC who "raised" an orphan barn owl. He became so attached to her that she could not leave him. He lived with her for 18 yrs till he died -- wouldn't eat when she was gone & attacked her boyfriend when he came into her bedroom. I know he imprinted on her, but when he reached puberty, he seems to have seen her as his mate. A couple times a year he would, ahem, mate with her arm or leg. They did communicate as individuals. She makes a point that barn owls are very different from other owls in their dependence & ability to relate to others -- they mate for life, for instance, & if a mate dies, the other owl will often turn his head into a tree & simply die. Here she is with Wesley:


Sorry for the threadjack continuation, amc, but it's such a fascinating subject. What luck for you to see that little guy!

Ahh, yes, imprinting is a totally different animal and is absolutely NOT what you want when raising an animal at a zoo. You want the bird to still know it's a bird. If a bird gets too attached to their trainers than they usually can't be used for education programs any longer. For that reason we were always very sure to maintain a "professional" relationship with our animals.

I had heard of that owl suicide myth before but other than her accounts have never heard that elsewhere. All of the bird keepers, trainers, and curators I've worked with disagree with her suggestion on that matter. Most raptors do mate for life (as long as both are alive), but if the mate dies/doesn't return to the nest, they will still continue to mate with a new partner. Imagine how quickly the species would go extinct if that was true haha. While an imprinted barn owl can definitely be attached, the barn owls that I worked with (we had three) were some of the less intelligent in our collection compared to the other raptors - also the most annoying with their screeching sound.

I have read some of her work and she seems very defensive about people calling owls "dumb" so I'll comment to that effect: They hunt very much on instinct. If they see movement, they are drawn to it and act on in as a reflex. They don't really have complex thought processes like many other birds, especially the parrots and corvids which are the most intelligent by far. I love owls, but of all the birds I've worked with (and I've worked with more than 75 different species), owls are definitely at the bottom of the intelligence scale.

 

[JewelFreak]

That's interesting. Her experience is only her experience, of course. She did work with other owls at work, but this seems to have been an unusual relationship -- maybe an unusual owl to start with, if there is such a thing. Brains appear to be plastic enough that certain things can be brought out with the right stimuli or reward, especially if started young, that would not emerge in different circumstances. I didn't get the impression in that book that this owl was all that intelligent, but that he achieved an individual relationship with her within his owl limitations. Much of what he did was just natural behaviors adapted to living with a human.

What you say about their hunting makes sense. All species evolve what they need or die out. Nature doesn't tend to waste energy, so coming up with skills beyond the necessary isn't common. Owls do extremely well hunting as they do. Even cats don't have great hunting strategies -- they hide, stalk, chase, pounce. If prey escapes, they simply repeat & repeat, but it works to keep them going (human depredations aside) so there's no need for anything fancier.

Thanks for your informative answer. I envy you with the whales!

--- Laurie

 

[minousbijoux]

Owls are NOT very smart birds, so they recognized me as someone that fed them as opposed to being aggressive or afraid when strangers came by, but raptors are not affectionate like parrots, for example. In that picture when I'm kissing that owl, in order for me to be able to do that, I had to scratch her chin to put her in a little "trance" and then I could kiss her head lol. Most raptors aren't affectionate.

Sonnyjane, I read a book (Wesley the Barn Owl by Stacey O'Brian) by an owl researcher at UC who "raised" an orphan barn owl. He became so attached to her that she could not leave him. He lived with her for 18 yrs till he died -- wouldn't eat when she was gone & attacked her boyfriend when he came into her bedroom. I know he imprinted on her, but when he reached puberty, he seems to have seen her as his mate. A couple times a year he would, ahem, mate with her arm or leg. They did communicate as individuals. She makes a point that barn owls are very different from other owls in their dependence & ability to relate to others -- they mate for life, for instance, & if a mate dies, the other owl will often turn his head into a tree & simply die. Here she is with Wesley:


Sorry for the threadjack continuation, amc, but it's such a fascinating subject. What luck for you to see that little guy!

Ahh, yes, imprinting is a totally different animal and is absolutely NOT what you want when raising an animal at a zoo. You want the bird to still know it's a bird. If a bird gets too attached to their trainers than they usually can't be used for education programs any longer. For that reason we were always very sure to maintain a "professional" relationship with our animals.

I had heard of that owl suicide myth before but other than her accounts have never heard that elsewhere. All of the bird keepers, trainers, and curators I've worked with disagree with her suggestion on that matter. Most raptors do mate for life (as long as both are alive), but if the mate dies/doesn't return to the nest, they will still continue to mate with a new partner. Imagine how quickly the species would go extinct if that was true haha. While an imprinted barn owl can definitely be attached, the barn owls that I worked with (we had three) were some of the less intelligent in our collection compared to the other raptors - also the most annoying with their screeching sound.

I have read some of her work and she seems very defensive about people calling owls "dumb" so I'll comment to that effect: They hunt very much on instinct. If they see movement, they are drawn to it and act on in as a reflex. They don't really have complex thought processes like many other birds, especially the parrots and corvids which are the most intelligent by far. I love owls, but of all the birds I've worked with (and I've worked with more than 75 different species), owls are definitely at the bottom of the intelligence scale.

Too funny! Never would've guessed - common lore has us general public conned, eh?!!

 

[amc80]

Baby and mama sitting next to each other.

 

[amc80]

Another

 

[amc80]

One more

 

[sonnyjane]

Another

Toooooo cute!!!

 

[amc80]

Apparently daddy owl was there yesterday as well.

 

[dk168]

Love the pics of the baby owl with its mum, thanks for sharing!

DK

 

[minousbijoux]

Those owls look huge! How big is the courtyard where they have established themselves? There must be plenty of good tasting critters to keep them around in there.

 

[JewelFreak]

Wow! Fantastic pics! They do look huge, but they're big birds. When the horned owl who lives in our back yard flies over, I feel like it's a low-flying plane. The wingspan is incredible. You are SO lucky, amc, to have them right there!!

 

[amc80]

Those owls look huge! How big is the courtyard where they have established themselves? There must be plenty of good tasting critters to keep them around in there.

The courtyard is pretty big. I'm terrible at estimating measurements by it's probably 200ft by 75ft? There must be mice and other things in there because I've seen traps.

 

[BhavinJ]

Beautiful Owl...


I've seen white owl which sometimes comes near my house. (I think maybe to eat my kitty cats. Lol... )