Just got back from the Tulsa Zoo with our newest little bundle of joy! It is a baby Spectacled Owl. They are from South America. It was born on my birthday June 24th! He, or she, (we don't know yet), is just starting to open its eyes. Here is its first picture. I will be keeping pictures of it, as it grows week to week. We are going to have a naming contest and the winner gets a private tour of our Center.
Here are some of the names submitted so far for our new Spectacled Owl: Specs, 4eyes, Wise, Thiago, Knock-Knock, Mice-Tro, Merlin, Moche, Gaucho, Pamas, Barzil, and Avatar. Keep them coming!
Bonding time! Nothing like a baby owl checking out your nose with his little egg tooth still attached!
Program went great today at LaPetite Academy! Kids loved the birds and our baby was a big hit! This picture tells you why I do what I do!
This teacher was terrified of birds even little baby ones. But we convinced her to overcome her fears and hold the baby. She was so excited that she did it, she called her mom at home to tell her about her new conquest!
There was one more little girl that just melted my heart when she wanted to come up and feed the baby! She had a hard time holding the mice pieces in the tweezers so we gave her a little help.
Look who just opened his eyes almost the whole way! It's Avatar. I think when he saw my face it scared him so bad he closed them again! He has been trying real hard this weekend to open them.
Avatar our little Spectacled Owl is seeing the strange new world now that he has his eyes open. Today he got to watch his first TV program "Judge Mathis". He is just mesmorized by the people that are talking and moving inside the box!
"Avatar" our Spectacled Owl made his TV debut today! He did great. I had a hard time getting him back from the staff at KSN. Here is his first TV picture.
My little guys is growing so fast! he now uses a block perch to sit on while watching TV. The best thing is that he is staying very sweet and gentle as he gets bigger!
If your're wondering why his eyes are so big, I just woke him up from a nap! He is now 5 & 1/2 weeks old.
Started crate training Avatar yesterday. He is to big for his cardboard box now. This is the first thing he has been afraid of. I carry him around while he is in it to get used to the movement. I let him out during the day to roam around. He wouldn't come out, so I am bribing him with a mouse! No luck yet. They are cavity nesters in the wild.
We started glove training "Avatar" today and he took to it like a fish in the water! He is wanting to climb all over the place in the house now, so I only let him out of his crate when I am there to watch him. When the weather cools off, He will be introduced to his new outside home. Here he is on the glove for the first time!
Today started a new training for Avatar. He knows how to fly, and it is still to warm to put him outside, and I am building him a new enclosure. So we had to put jesses and anklets on him and train him to sit on a bow perch until he can go outside. It does have a claming effect on birds, but I really hate doing it in the begining because he doesn't quite understand it.
We took Avatar outside to his new pen yesterday. He seems pretty lonely after being inside with us for the last 2 months. I can't believe how fast he has grown. Took him to the farmers market Saturday morning and he did great with the crowds, kids, balloons, strollers and cars and trucks on 21st street. I put him in a tree to see what it was like, and he liked it. Here is his first tree photo!
I put "Avatar" back in his pen this morning. As I walked away, he turned his head and looked at me and said "where are you going and why are you not taking me with you?" I kind of feel like crap for leaving him alone. I can't beleive as a grown man I act like this over a little owl! He has lots of room. His new enclosure is 16 ft. long X 12 ft. wide X 10 ft. high. Plus he can look around and see lots of things out in the fields.
Avatar our Spectacled Owl is getting to be a big Boy! He is starting to get the white coloring around the bottom of his eyes that will form a ring in about 2 years. Here is a close-up of his eyes. The ring will look like he is wearing spectacled glasses.
Now that our Spectacled Owl "Avatar" is bigger, I had to make him a new car seat. We were doing errands yesterday and when we came to a stop light, I looked over, and there was a man and wife looking at Avatar. You could read his lips as he said:
"Look honey, that is a ****ing Owl over there!"
I looked at him and said:
" Yes, that is a ****ing Owl!"
I will let you fill in the blanks! This is what he saw.
-Ken Lockwood, Eagle Valley Raptor Center
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Avatar is still growing, and I am anxiously awaiting more photos! Whenever a new picture is taken of him, I will post it along with the story behind it. So to watch Avatar's progress, keep checking back.
--Gwendolyn Fiyr
