Every March we ‘catch-up’ our Owls for a thorough health-check. This involves checking each bird’s plumage, beak, talons and body condition. We treat for ‘ecto’ (external) and ‘endo’ (internal) parasites (mites and worms), trim talons, and ‘cope’ (file) long beaks if necessary. The Owls obviously don’t relish the idea of being caught and treated, but they seem to remember the annual occurrence and, other than some mild protestations they let us get on with it!
At the end of last year we re-homed our Magellan Owl to another Collection. That has left us with three remaining Owls – the pair of Eurasian Eagle Owls (Amber and Marzipan) and Snowy the male Snowy Owl (we’ve tried pairing him with a female but he’s a confirmed bachelor who apparently sees any newcomer as an unwelcome intruder!) All three remaining birds are, by all accounts, fit and healthy! I was relieved that this morning Amber was her usual friendly self – swooping to the front of the aviary and ‘hooting’ her greeting - she seems to have forgiven me for being part of yesterday’s events!
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