JR the Eastern Screech-Owl has lost virtually all of his head feathers at once, as often happens for his species. It allows you to see all the new feathers growing in, and you can look into his ear holes and see the dark thing inside, which is the side of his eyeball.
He is very itchy right now, so as a human imprint he wants us to scratch his head a lot (he would normally do this with his mate). His bill was also in serious need of trimming, so we just snipped the tip off and bit by bit, during the head rubs, we were able to file the sides of the tip (the photos were before the filing was finished.)
that’s fascinating! do they ever have problems with stuff getting… inside of there? i couldn’t imagine having something stuck literally behind my eyeball 😅
I don’t think I’ve ever actually come across anything where there was an ear issue, now that you mention it. I will have to look into it, as I’m sure there has to be ways to get ear infections. Being raptors though, they do most activities feet first instead of face first, so that possibly helps prevent a lot of situations that could cause trouble.
Some owls just have feathers over the openings, but some have skin flaps as well. Scientists haven’t come to any consensus on why some have the flaps and some don’t.
That seems really vulnerable. Also, sneech owl.
It is one of the most candid owl photos I’ve come across. It shows a lot of very important but delicate features, from the ears to the eyes, and the tiny little pin feathers growing back in.
I love the one little whispy forehead feather too!
Sneetch Owl
<3 made my day! Thanks so much!