We’ve had some interesting colour morphs of Tawny Owls into our Raptor Hospital recently. These birds arrived just before we introduced our new triage protocols for dealing with Raptor Hospital intakes, to protect our staff, volunteers and current birds from the increasing risk of Avian Influenza locally.
Most Tawny Owls we see are gingery brown.
Tawny Owls are usually described as a mottled brown colour, with most of the birds we see being more gingery, possibly due to the prevalence of broadleaved woodlands locally. However, over the past few weeks we’ve had two silvery Tawny Owls admitted, which is quite unusual.
“Jaws” is a beautiful example of a silver morph Tawny Owl
This beautiful silver Tawny Owl came to us after being found beside a road being attacked by crows. She has been aptly named 'Jaws' for the incredible force with which she bites (as felt by the Hospital team!) Sadly she was suffering from impact trauma, which can manifest in neurological symptoms, possibly explaining her jaw clamping ability! Thankfully, after a few days of care she began feeding herself and her symptoms lessened. She was moved to one of our covered outdoor aviaries so we could monitor her for any other injuries, but things are looking good and we hope she will be fit for release soon.
Jaws checking out her new temporary home in our covered outdoor aviaries.
The second silver Tawny Owl was brought in by a member of the public who clipped him with her car. He took quite a knock to the head and presented with a swollen and bloody eye. He was kept quiet for a few days and given eye drops to help sooth his eye. We are continuing to monitor him as severe eye damage like his can take a long time to heal, and could impact on his survival after release. His condition hasn’t worsened so we hope that he is now stable and will slowly start to improve with continued care and treatment.
A second silver Tawny Owl