I got to see the lil fella today!
So many people showed up they had to split the session into 2 groups so we didn't overwhelm the birb
This lil guy is Nox! They aren't 100% sure what sex it is, but they're pretty sure he's male.
He's a brancher, so he can't fly yet but is real good at jumping. In the wild he'd be jumping from branch to branch to build up his flight muscles, but he'll be flying soon
Nox is 5 weeks old, weighs 190g, and has reached his adult size, but his flight and tail feathers haven't grown in yet. He'll be a full adult next week!
The Northern White Faced Owl is from Africa, usually between the Sahara and the equator (according to Wikipedia, staff just said Africa). It used to be believed that this and another species, the southern white faced owl, were the same species but are now recognized as separate birds
His lil whiskers are called bristles, and they function like cat whiskers! He's just learned to tear meat, the trainer had big tweezers to give him lil bits of rabbit (some were placed on her glove and some were put right in front of his beak!)
He kept bobbing his head around, which is called triangulating and helps him figure out how far away things are.
*checks notes* these are also known as transformer owls! Like screech owls, they can stretch themselves real tall and thin to try and camouflage itself as a branch (search for transformer owl and you'll see what I mean)
After today he'll spend time with a foster parent to teach him how to Bird, then he'll join the legion of ambassador birds they have out here!
(PS his feathers are so fluffy my phone had a hard time taking clear pictures of them)
If you're near Boise this is absolutely worth a trip, they have so many other birds to see, and there's a walking trail just outside as well as a huge ampitheatre they use when it's not too hot out
Thanks so much for telling us about this!!!
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