From South Essex Wildlife Hospital

Well it’s official… our young barn owl is now in the ‘weird’ stage of owl development! 🤣

Whilst adult barn owls are undeniably stunning birds, their chicks are not exactly known for a graceful journey to adulthood… Over the past few days, this little face has been furiously trying to escape from the burst pillow that has surrounded it with limited success, but rest assured that it won’t be long until the unruly teenage phase is over! 😅

We have raised this little one since he could comfortably fit in the palm of a hand and it’s taken a lot of work to get him this far. We’re thrilled at how well he has done but, most of all, we’re proud that he still knows he’s an owl.

That may sound a little mad, but the risk of imprinting is high when raising any bird of prey. A combination of strict access control, owl masks for our team (seriously) and a careful feeding schedule have made sure that he REALLY doesn’t like people - something that we hope will be of great help in later life! 🥰