Chip Off The Old Owl
June 26, 2011
It has been 5 days since the eastern screech owlet here at VINS was introduced to our adult eastern screech foster owl and we thought it was time for a little checking in.
Both of our owls are doing great! While there has not been any snuggling or cute nick-naming of one owl to the other (that we know of) our ‘Foster-an-Owlet’ project has given the orphaned screech owl an excellent role model.
The first day on the job our adult female had shown the youngster how to pose like a tree and blend into the background. The owlet has also been eating very well and has put on about 40 grams (1.41 oz, or about 0.09 pounds) since moving outside. That may not seen like much, but an adult screech owl weighs only about 180 grams (6.35 oz, or 0.39 pounds), so that’s a big jump toward adulthood!
In the image the adult eastern screech owl is the one on the left, and the owlet is the one on the right, hiding behind the leaves.
Keep checking in on our owlet, I’ll try to keep the updates coming, but pretty soon he will be all grown up!