From The Raptor Center
Take a good look because these little ones are masters of disguise in the wild!
When we got the call about a nest cavity that was discovered in a grounded tree, we found seven Northern saw-whet owl (NSWO) babies inside. A NSWO mother will have an average family size of five to six hatchlings so seven was quite unuSual. All seven were brought to TRC’s hospital where staff was able to save all but one sibling.
While their silhouettes look similar to that of adult NSWOS, juveniles have a distinctly different plumage. They sport a cinnamon belly, an unspotted brown back, and a white “V” between the eyes. Despite the difference in coloration and patterning, these juveniles are no easier to spot than adults in the wild.
Thankfully, these remaining six siblings came away from the experience generally unscathed. They spent 13 days under the care of our expert hospital staff who worked to get each owl’s weight up to about 100 grams (give or take a few). For context, that’s about the same weight as one stick of butter.
Juvenile NSWOS generally leave the nest around 27 to 34 days after hatching. Northern saw-whet owls are incredibly skilled hunting machines. All six have been successfully released back to the wild to begin their second chances at life.
I recently learned that dreaming of/seeing owls is apparently a sign of alien abduction according to some people. So it’s kinda funny to think of it the other way.
They’re all excited to migrate, then wham!, caught in a net, only to be man handled, tagged, and measured by strange creatures with bright lights, and then just as randomly, be dropped back where you were to carry on like nothing ever happened. Very alien abduction to me!
I keep meaning to rewatch The Fourth Kind, as I remember that movie having owl imagery in it, like all the creepy “the owls aren’t what they seem” stuff from Twin Peaks. That’s another alien abduction movie.
Some cultures supposedly see owls as bad ones and kill them on sight, so thinking they’re aliens and not messing with them seems preferable.