New Baby in the house!

I was just leaving work today when I checked in at another office (to drop off a lost dog that had adopted me, farting terribly under my desk for an entire hour) - only to find a paper box with two baby barn owls in! One is small-chicken size, downy and soft yellow. The other one is tiny, merely a hatchling that fits in my hand.

And the small one was icy cold! I've got a grandpa that raises birds, so I know a little bit about it. I immediately grabbed the tiny one and stuck it between my palms, blowing gently to get warm air around it. Within minutes my hands were cold, it was that freezing. But pretty soon it started to give forth the tiniest of barn-owl screeches as it warmed up. "He" warmed up? No clue of gender, but he's a he now.

I offered to bring him home while the local Biology teacher took the bigger one to try get it back near the nest - on the ground. There's no way this little one would survive, so I brought him home to see if I could help.

Of course, it was initially panic stations! Had to use my "Skype a friend" option to see if there was any helpful wisdom from a guy who seriously knows birds. What does one feed a tiny barn owl with no feathers and an alien face (pics tomorrow!) that's screeching non-stop? Fortunately I had some chicken livers in the freezer, that the dogs would have had sometime or other. I defrosted a few, chopped them up really small, hauled out the tweezers and started feeding.

It seems to be working! It's gulped down about 4 (or more) tablespoons of chicken liver bits, and is still going. It must have been very very hungry to start with.

Now he's got a nest on a hot water bottle, wrapped in towels. He's still screeching now and then, but seems a whole lot happier - settled down and "sleeping" (can't tell - he's so young his eyes aren't open). He seems happier when his head is being gently stroked and I'm talking in tiny whistling noises to him. I guess another living thing helps instead of just an inanimate hot water bottle.

I'll keep shovelling in the chicken whenever he seems to want it and we'll see how things go. I could be in for a rather rough night. This is an owl after all, and we all know when owls prefer to be awake...

I guess it will be "bring a bird to work" day tomorrow! And for the forseable future.

::update::
In the past few hours I've learnt quite a bit about baby barn owls. I know that to get him to open his considerably-big mouth (no worry about choking on those little bits of chicken!) I need to tap the side of his beak with the tweezers - something hard enough to imitate his parent's beak - and then the food gets gulped down. He can also eat his body weight in food each night. I've learnt that he can sleep and "chirp" constantly at the same time - and that chirping should not be equated with hunger. That light hand weight equivalent to a parent bird over him shuts him up. I've found out that they are birds that like to "wander" the nest and are very curious. And that between egg-laying and fledging it's around 3 months. I have no clue how old this one is, but he's definitely under 3 week, as he's not at the stage where the parents could leave him unsheltered. I also found out that having such a huge sibling is very normal, and that said huge sibling could have eaten him up if there was a food shortage. Lucky I got to him first! :-) But I've also realized I need to call in an expert for him - to get him acclimatized to living in the wild (should he actually survive my care) - or he'll forever be dependent on humans for food.

I've had a good look at his face and although he's tiny, the barn owl heart-shape is there already! First white feathers are coming in on his body too, though he's mostly nude. Although his eyes are closed, he's exploring his surrounds and moving around. Definitely feeling better than earlier.

Amazing how much education one small living thing can bring your way!