I have been an owl freak for as long as I can remember. We
all have our favourite animal’s don’t we? Well mine just happens to be an owl.
It’s not difficult to explain why. You only have to look around you to see all
the depictions of owls, the ornaments, the jewellery and accessories. It seems
that these elegant birds of prey are at the height fashion this season and are set
to be staying around for the foreseeable future. Why? Obviously there is just
something about them. As the original fan
who stuck by them, when Indian Elephants were more popular or other
collectables, I will remain loyal, even when they become “So last century!”
So you will understand why I was so thrilled when I was
presented with a voucher for the owl handling experience at Birdworld, as a
birthday gift from my friends.
It was a dream come true for me and I was not disappointed
when the big day came.
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I met with the keeper, Chrissy, at about midday. She was really welcoming and she knew her stuff. She
walked us through the flying arena to where the birds were kept. This wasn't
just about owls, I learnt about kookaburras, parrots and the first birds I got
to handle were a friendly pair of horn-bills. They were so tame and not at all
unnerved by my presence in the small enclosure. Immediately one of them jumped onto my arm.
This was a warm up for me as I was starting to feel jittery about holding an
owl. I mean, what if he didn't like me?
Then I met Bandit, a Burrowing Owl less than a year old. He
was so cute as you can see in the photos. Burrowing owls are from North and South America . In the wild, they roost and nest in
burrows on the ground which is why they have quite long legs for running.
Although they’re active during the day, they hunt from dusk to dawn when their
food comes out. I was informed that anyone could own these owls without a
licence as they were not from this country. This worried me a little because I
also learnt how rigid the care procedures were for their survival. The keepers had to make notes of their weight
every day to calculate how much food they would need. These little birds can
die very quickly if over or underfed.
Bandit flew to me as I fed him mealworms. He was
quite excited and very hungry. At one point he jumped into my pot of worms. I
later saw in his notes that his weight was low that morning meaning he would
need a lot to eat.
Mozart was an Indian Eagle Owl. I was awe struck when Chrissy brought him out.
His large orange eyes were mesmerising. She placed him on a perch to put on his
Jesses (little leather straps to keep him from flying off) talking me through
how and why they were necessary. It was all very fiddly but Mozart remained
unperturbed whist this was going on. He was very tame as he had been hand
reared. In the photo he doesn't look real but I can assure you he is.
He was
really soft too. This is because owls need to fly silently to catch their prey
so heavy coarse feathers just wouldn't cut it. Owls have very flexible necks so
they can turn their heads swiftly. You can tell by the eye colour of an owl
what time they hunt. Orange eyes like Mozart’s are from dawn to dusk, dark eyes are
night hunters and yellow eyes like Bandit’s are dusk to dawn. The flat disc that surrounds their eyes
acts like a satellite dish picking up
signals, so they have acute hearing and can focus in on a heartbeat.
Unfortunately this leaves very little room for a brain. So the myth about them
being wise has been shattered for me.
I had a wonderful experience and it was just long enough, Mozart was getting a bit heavy. I got a certificate signed by Chrissy and a cuddly toy owl to remember it by.
After we walked around and saw lots of other
fascinating birds. It really is a great day out and I will definitely be going
again.
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