More new arrivals...
Tiny has been brought in as a long-awaited companion for Titch, our female Burrowing Owl, who has been with us since early last year (for more information on Titch, click here). Raised locally by a private breeder, young Tiny is Suffolk born and bred and comes from the same home as Titch and also Baloo, our Indian Eagle Owl. In our efforts to provided the best surrounding for the owls in our charge, wherever possible we like to keep them in pairs and so we hope that Tiny and Titch prove to be a perfect pairing!
Burrowing Owls in their natural habitat... and Titch
as a youngster
The Burrowing Owl is a small owl with with a round
face, no ear tufts and what look like
disproportionately long legs. It is a species
normally found across north and south America and
whose favourite habitat is open landscapes and
deserts with areas with low vegetation, where they
roost in burrows. Though often active during the day,
Burrowing Owls do most of their hunting between dusk
until dawn, feeding on a wide variety of prey and
changing food habits according to location and time
of year. Beetles and grasshoppers form a large part
of their diet, supplemented by small mammals like
mice, rats, gophers, and ground squirrels. Burrowing
Owl live up to 9 years in the wild.
--
Following on from our previous blog about some of the
other new arrivals at Stonham this Spring (see
"New
Arrivals"
and
"First
Lady, Second Generation")
we’ve now come up with a suitable name for one of
our baby European Eagle Owls. We thought it best
to call at least one by a name that was linked to
his mother's, and as Rheia is the name of a Greek
goddess, our choice is Hades because, as you can
see from the accompanying pictures, he is indeed
one hell of an owlet!
Hades looks
like a bundle of fun now - but his sheer size as a
youngster and strong talons illustrate that he will
soon be
a quantity to be reckoned
with!
Now with a few weeks under his belt, along with our
new Malaysian Wood Owl Bali, Hades has moved from his
first home - the rudimentary but well protected floor
of our falconer's hut, where they have both spent the
last 5 weeks happily crashing into everything in
their path - into a crèche aviary.
Hades & Bali together
in the crèche aviary, where they are beginning
to fledge
This provides a secure space for young owls to stay
during the day, where they can adapt to the outside
world, the climate and the enquiring scrutiny of
visitors at S.O.S; and also stretch their wings and
fledge as they grow their all-important flight
feathers through. At night, whilst the evenings are
still chilly, they are brought back indoors but once
old enough, they will take up residence in their own
full size aviaries at S.O.S!
As always, we'll keep you posted on their progress.
Andrew Farrow