From Wild Care
What a scene! This dramatic display is what WildCare’s Med Staff saw the moment they opened up this Burrowing Owl patient’s enclosure in preparation to give him his daily prescribed medications. He was already on edge after just hearing the impressive vocalizations from his fellow patient and current neighbor, a very feisty Barn Owl, who had also had to come out for meds.
This fancy feather display is a standard defensive response for owls. Fluffing up their feathers instantly makes them look bigger, and by rotating their wings forward and down as they crouch, their side to side movement has the maximum impact! This tiny predator only weighs 150 grams-that’s about half the heft of an average pigeon-so looking big and scary in the face of a perceived threat is particularly vital.
As you can see, this owl was eager to get back out into the wild and out of the bothersome hands of humans! We are glad to report that it wasn’t long after this video was taken that he was cleared for release and is now living in his natural habitat in a colony with other Burrowing Owls.
150 grams??? =O
thats a tiny little fella. so cute.
This is at the smaller range for a Burrowing Owl, but definitely not an outlier. The Screech I got to hold is a smidge shorter and a few grams lighter, but it felt like holding an empty soda can.
Even decently midsize owls like a Tawny or a Barn Owl only weigh in at about 500g / 1 pound. Flight isn’t easy, and they give up a lot of protective mass to do it. The balance is so tight that articles pop up every so often that a bird will eat too much and not be able to fly until it’s done digesting!