A baby barn owl, estimated at around 10 days old, was brought into our clinic this month after unfortunately falling from his nest. Upon admittance he was cold and weak so our clinic nurse tubed the small baby with some fluids and placed him on a heat pad. Thankfully he perked up fast! Currently the baby is in the care of Emma Laurieston, a volunteer from Scotland and doing very well. He is picking up weight every day, eating on his own and starting to get some of his more adult characteristics.

Baby birds/owls grow very fast and soon, when he is around 2 months old he will move permanently to an outside enclosure where he will learn to fly properly. At the moment he is taken outside during the day for sunlight and brought back into the clinic at night as he doesn’t have his adult feathers yet.

We will keep you updated with his progress!

Fun facts:

• A barn owl grows from egg to adult in 63 days
• The Barn Owl is one of the most successful and widespread birds of prey on earth. They are found across the globe and in nearly all habitats.
• They mostly feed on small rodents such as voles and mice as well as frogs and insects.
• Barn owls are one of the only birds in which the older babies feed the younger. The parents will lay the first egg and incubate immediately, laying the rest of the eggs a few days apart thereafter. By the time the last egg hatches, the first hatched chicks are already developed far enough so that they can feed the newest hatchlings the food that mum delivers to the nest. It has been recorded that as many as 26 eggs have been laid by one breeding pair in a single breeding season! They usually lay around 5 to 6 eggs, so this extreme would only occur when there is a huge abundance of prey, especially mice.
• Barn owls do not hoot, they screech and sometimes hiss.