Possibly not born free

[Ann Eldridge via Canberrabirds <>]

Just a little note to verify the very varied diet of the beautiful Barking Owls at the National Zoo & Aquarium!  They are fed day old chicks, mice pinkies, quail, rabbit leg, chicken drumstick, mealworms, lamb heart & chicken liver. Some days multiple feeds or one feed, sometimes chopped or whole so as you see a good variety. Rocco & Ruby are 11 years old & have been at the zoo since very young babies, it is an absolute pleasure to be walking around & to hear them call.  I am a volunteer at the zoo & have been for 12 years and am also one of the photographers there.  It has been an absolute privilege to be able to spend so much time with the birds & animals there & I know how well & loved they are looked after by the staff & volunteers.

If you get an opportunity to do an encounter with the owls you will love it especially if you are a photographer.

Ann Eldridge

On Sun, 28 Jul 2024 at 11:00, Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:

Alberta, thank you for that information, and your evocative memory of the sneeze of the owl.  The mice I saw being fed to the owls were pink and hairless, which might raise a subject that would take us deep into the technical side of  dietary management for the Barking Owl. I have another snap from my zoo visit, not good for focus, but I present it unedited except for some adjustment of texture and clarity.  An A. Raven has seized the tail of a thylacine.  Its motive is a matter for speculation, but perhaps the sight of this presumed extinct marsupial in A. Raven heartland stirred a Jungian memory of the time that the raven’s ancestors fed on thylacine remains in mainland Australia.

 

Geoffrey  

 

From: Alberta Hayes <>
Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2024 9:33 PM
To: Geoffrey Dabb <>
Cc: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Possibly not born free

 

Hi chatline and Geoffrey, 

 

The Barking Owls in question have been there for many years now. If memory serves, they were hand-raised after something happened with their nest. For one of my birthdays, a friend of mine who was a keeper had me and my grandmother accompany her at feeding time with the owls when they were still new to the zoo and quite young. I had the ignoble experience of having one sneeze while trying to swallow half a mouse while I was hand-feeding it - quite the splattery and visceral memory! 

 

Kind regards, 

Alberta. 

 

On Thu, 25 Jul 2024 at 11:14, Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:

At the zoo yesterday, while gathering snaps for a non-bird project, I heard clear and repeated wook-wooks above the traffic and general zoo noise.  These were from a pair of captive Barking Owls. i was told by zoo staff that this kind of excited daytime calling happened at feeding time or in response to nearby construction noise.  It was just possible to get some kind of snap of the feeding through the fine mesh of the large and well-vegetated enclosure. Many will have firm views on the confining of owls, or indeed of any animals, but if you want to familiarise yourself at close range with the sound of male and female Barking Owls this would be one place to go, provided you have additional interests that would justify the price of admission.  Owl-calling time was about 1.20 pm.

.

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