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Overview:
A chatty snowy owl and an ambitious northern hawk owl are the latest feathered recruits in Cascades Raptor Center’s avian ambassador program.
They’re still learning to fly, but two baby owls will soon take on big roles at Cascades Raptor Center.
A northern hawk owl and snowy owl, both born in June, have joined the wildlife center as future avian ambassadors, staff announced Friday, Aug. 1. The fledglings are the newest additions to a flock of more than 30 resident raptors used in the center’s educational programming on birds of prey.
Neither species is native to the Pacific Northwest, but the new birds will help broaden the sanctuary’s representation of ecosystems, the center says. Before they can appear in public, the pair — who have not yet been named — must grow and learn the basics.
Cascades Raptor Center Chief Operating Officer Kit Lacy told Lookout Eugene-Springfield that the owlets currently live in specialized habitats inside the center’s resident care building, where they spend their days eating a “huge amount” of food to support their development, especially the growth of flight feathers on their wings and tails.
They are also beginning to learn targeting, or moving to a designated location like a scale, perch or a trainer’s glove.
“Our training team’s productivity may have decreased slightly because of all the attention that we want to give these young owls,” Lacy said.
Snowy Owl
The snowy owl was born into a conservation breeding program in Buffalo, New York. A staff member drove the male owl across the country to his new home in Oregon, according to his bio page on the center’s website.
He is a “big talker,” vocalizing constantly when he sees training staff and even while sleeping, though at a lower frequency, Lacy said.
She added that he is also learning to use his feet, which raptors rely on for hunting, by pouncing on his baby blanket and gripping it between his toes.
Though snowy owls are native to Arctic regions, Lacy said they’re occasionally spotted in the Willamette Valley during irruptions — irregular mass movements of snowy owls from their breeding grounds, usually spurred by successful breeding seasons.
“We haven’t had one here in Oregon for maybe a decade,” she said.
She added that the snowy owl’s presence in the ambassador program will highlight the effects of Arctic climate change, including extreme temperature swings.
Northern Hawk Owl
The northern hawk owl was born into a conservation breeding program in Spokane, Washington. Staff shepherded her to Eugene when she was 1 month old, per her bio page.
Lacy said she is developing much faster than the snowy owl, despite being two weeks younger, and has been able to hop to some of the highest perches in her enclosure.
Even when she’s tired, the owl maintains balance on tiny branches, Lacy said.
“She looks like she’s just a little caterpillar sleeping on her belly on these perches up high,” Lacy said. “It’s pretty cute stuff.”
Her species is largely found in boreal forests in Canada and Alaska, ecosystems that recycle a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere. Unlike many owl species, northern hawk owls tend to hunt in the daytime.
Seeing the new birds
Avian enthusiasts may need to be patient — the owls won’t appear in the center’s adult bird exhibit spaces for a while, as they’re still learning to fly and acclimate to human presence.
But to mark their arrival, the center has launched a “baby shower” campaign running Aug. 1-18. Donors will be entered to win a private encounter with the new birds.
The owls will also make appearances at Brunch With the Birds, a bird meet-and-greet event hosted on Sunday, Aug. 10, and Sunday, Aug. 17, that costs $50 per person.
All proceeds for raptor center events go back to feeding avian ambassadors and helping the birds that the center rehabilitates in its wildlife hospital, Lacy said.
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