Yaaaay Silo's here! :D

Oct 13, 2010 15:57


Horizon Wings finally got a barn owl :D  Barn owls are super rare (more rare than double rainbows) in Connecticut, so it was highly unlikely for us to have one as a program bird.  HOWEVER, a raptor rehab place in South Dakota unfortunately had to close its doors...meaning all their birds needed to find homes.

A few weeks later, their female barn ( Read more... )

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Comments 12

merimask October 13 2010, 20:59:04 UTC
OMG stunning pictures!! The barn owl is especially lovely. They have such fascinating faces. The ones I've seen here in Western NY and southern Ontario are much paler than Silo...I wonder if plumage varies in different regions like it does for Red Tails or if it has something to do with the bird's age & the season? Hmm...

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kazeno_taka October 13 2010, 21:11:35 UTC
Oh, and thanks :D I'm slowly learning more about how to use this camera.

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kazeno_taka October 13 2010, 21:12:07 UTC
The main thing that affects plumage (primarily paleness) in barn owls is gender. Most North American raptor species have no difference in plumage (the kestrel and northern harrier being the main exceptions), but barn owl males tend to be paler than the females.

And also region can effect overall color. Silo is from South Dakota, so it's very possible that owls from that region may be darker than the ones in western NY. I hope we get more barn owls in Connecticut. Sadly, like the kestrels, they like open fields and cavities like dead trees and old, crumbling barns...which is the exact habitat that is disappearing in the state.

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adifferentdrum October 13 2010, 21:35:59 UTC
What pretty little birdies! :D It's funny because Dakota is making her 'I am upsetz! :|' face and all I could think of is Pootie making that EXACT face when Remmi gets more attention. XDDDDD

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kazeno_taka October 13 2010, 21:38:14 UTC
Hah she's usually a pretty calm bird, so when she makes that face you KNOW she's steamed :D Actually it was more that she didn't want to come out today, and we were trying to train her to go into her travel box like a lady rather than like a fighter jet. :3

It's amazing how animals can be so expressive :D

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vantid October 14 2010, 00:01:17 UTC
Loving these shots, they make me wanna draw BURDS. You know just birds cause they aren't different species or anything .:P But really good stuff and yay creepy barn owl faces. :}

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kazeno_taka October 14 2010, 00:11:14 UTC
I totally understand the 'just drawing birds' urge. Forget species, just BIRDS. :D And I love barn owls - their faces are just so weiiiird. :3

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charreed October 14 2010, 00:28:43 UTC
Oh wow, such beautiful photos! That osprey reminds me of Marco's osprey morph... Yes, I just made a blatant Animorphs reference ;)

Ooo... Can't wait to see the peregrine! Does the centre have any bigger raptors?

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kazeno_taka October 14 2010, 01:00:25 UTC
The biggest birds we have are the red-tail and a great horned owl. We're hoping to get an eagle someday :D

And omg your avatar is one of my favorite animated gifs ever. Bombird makes such awesome avatars.

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charreed October 15 2010, 16:03:35 UTC
Yeah, I saw someone had that avatar and I had to snag it up. I LOVE goldies and it was just like "Do Want!" *yoink*

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corvus_animus October 14 2010, 22:28:53 UTC
These photos are fantastic! Barn owls are SUPER COOL and the red on Dakota's tail, just WOW! Kestrels = the best badasses ever and the osprey just cracks me up XD

But...MOAR JULIAN!! ;)

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kazeno_taka October 15 2010, 01:39:32 UTC
Dakota's tail is the best tail. All our birds are the absolute best of their species, and they all know this. Especially Athena, who chews us out vocally if we make one mistake in her queenly presence.

The poor osprey still isn't doing too good :( He came to us with a nasty bout of pneumonia and he's still breathing funny. Add in the fact that ospreys are one of the hardest raptors to keep in captivity, even temporarily, and he's just a miserable ball of fishy smelling feathers.

And I prooomise next time I take pictures I will make sure to get some of Julian. I was going to take some of him today but we had about 3 birds out so he had to stay inside. We played 'hammer the stick' though! Or rather he did, and I watched. The game goes like this:

I give Julian a stick through the bars. He yanks it through, and proceeds to snap it into a million pieces and/or hammer it to sawdust. Then he tries to poke it back through the bars and my goal is to see if he's going to let me 'have' the stick or not. 99% of the time the answer is 'no.' :3

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