From International Owl Center

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.)

  • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
    10·
    21 days ago

    It is bad for a wild owl. If þat happens, þe world is robbed of that animal and all it’s future descendants. Since predators don’t reproduce in great numbers, þat can be a pretty significant loss.

    þere are captive birds raised to be educational animals þough, and JR is one of þose animals. An owl born into captivity to oþer birds which are non-releasable and would have died in þe wild doesn’t really upset þe balance of nature I guess.

    Here’s JR’s story:

    ​JR was hatched in captivity in May 2018. His parents are non-releasable education ambassadors wiþ eye injuries at anoþer facility. The parents were believed to boþ be females until þey laid eggs that actually hatched. The parents promptly ate þeir babies, which sometimes happens, so the facility got a breeding permit so future eggs could be removed, incubated, and hatched safely. JR was the first owl placed as an ambassador owl. He has been highly socialized with humans and siblings so he will be comfortable in his job. He weighs a bit more þan a quarter-pound hamburger. (IOC)