Who says they got a big mouth?

[JohnK and Sheri]

I received a call from a neighbor telling me that her cats had caught this baby screech owl and hurt it's eye. She didn't know what to do with it so I ended up taking it to a raptor rehab place, about 100 miles away. If this bird wasn't injured I would have been tempted to keep it, it was like a living stuffed animal, and very tame. To give an idea of how tiny it is, it's perch is a sugar mold made into tealite candle holder.
It was quieter than it's name implies, didn't do anything but "clack" it's beak at me a couple times, when woken from it's naps. It was able to fly and flew across the room a couple times, it was totally silent, eerrie even.
Sheri


http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/5825/2657921020048587895S600x600Q85.jpg (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2657921020048587895goeiTL)

http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/4737/2289936760048587895S600x600Q85.jpg (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2289936760048587895THAnxn)

[Jesus_the_only_way]

Very cool. I want one!
Tom

[George Fergusson]

Nice Sheri!

[MapMan]

Tiny. I wonder when they develop their ears? - I thought that unlike the Barred Owls, Screech Owls have prominent ears. In addition to Barred, we get a lot of Great Horned Owls around here. I know what you are saying when their silent flight is eerie. One flew about a foot over my shoulder when I was on my way down to the stable last year. Almost had a coronary... Check this out for feather structure:

http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Feathers

MM

Oh, I found a picture of a juvenile Screech here - look, no ears!

http://www.owlpages.com/image.php?image=species-Megascops-asio-5

[JohnK and Sheri]

Maybe they don't have ears so they don't have to hear themselves SCREECH?

Seriously, thanks for the link. I looked for a picture for a while because I wasn't sure if it was a baby screech or something else when I first got it. Didn't know for sure until confirmed by the raptor place.

We had a Great Horned Owl show up in our driveway a few years back. We figured it had been caught in a trap. One of it's legs had been really mangled, and one of it's wings was broken. It was being mobbed by crows, even though it could not fly. It's injuries were more than a couple of weeks old, according to the expert into whose hands we delivered her. Her wing was beyond repair, but they saved her and she is now making the educational rounds.
Even on the verge of starvation and with badly infected wounds, she was one impressive creature!
Sheri

[ScadsOBees]

Cool! Cute little bugger. Hope it survives! I'd hate to be the worker that has to regurgitate mice to feed it!!! (just kidding, I think that they don't need that by that age!)

It reminds me of when I was younger. Waiting for the bus we noticed a bird next to the road. It too was a screech owl! Too cool! I picked it up, and it scampered up my arm onto my shoulder. After school we brought it to the nature center (where they get quite a few of them). It had been hit by a car and had a broken beek. I don't know if it survived or not.

Rick

[MapMan]

Sheri -

Where did you bring the bird - Raptor Education Group, Inc. in Antigo? Or is there another facility closer to your area?

MM

[JohnK and Sheri]

It reminds me of when I was younger. Waiting for the bus we noticed a bird next to the road. It too was a screech owl! Too cool! I picked it up, and it scampered up my arm onto my shoulder.
Rick

Rick, you know how cute and tame they are then. Hope yours survived, that sounds like a serious injury. I have heard it is possible to build prosthetic beaks.....


Sheri -
Where did you bring the bird - Raptor Education Group, Inc. in Antigo? Or is there another facility closer to your area?
MM

Yes, that is where I took it.
I transported it in a small animal plastic travel cage covered with a towel. It slept the entire way up there, about a two hour drive. When we got there I took it out of the cage and put the cage in the corner of the room about 10 feet from the vet's table. After about 5 minutes of being checked out, having antibiotics put in the eye, on a couple small puncture wounds and down it's throat it had had enough. With one quick move it broke loose and flew across the room and scampered back into the cage. We humans tend to underestimate bird intelligence and awareness, but it knew exactly where it's "home" was, the only secure place, in it's little eyes.
I really hated to leave it, but I know it is in good hands.
Sheri