SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Friday, April 6, 2012

Feeding two little baby Barn Owls

Baby owlets are obligate carnivores: their digestive systems can only cope with meat, and it needs to be whole food with skin, bone and varying amounts of indigestible material such as fur, feather and scale.
Whole food provides the correct balance of calcium and phosphorus, which is critical for the growth and development of the musculo-skeletal system. These little birds are being fed a mix of food that will ensure they grow up big and strong.

In the wild, parents change the type of food given to babies at different stages of development (just like human parents!) If you find orphaned baby birds, it is very important to get them to a trained rehabilitator as quickly as possible to ensure that the correct food with the right balance of nutrients can be given