Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had a number of young Little Owls who have needed our help in the Raptor Hospital. Each one was a newly fledged youngster found starving and unable to fly.
Two Little Owlets found starving but now in our care.
At this time of year, it is typical to get calls about fledglings who are just learning about the big world outside their nest, but usually it’s just that they have maybe left a bit too early before their feathers have grown fully. In all the cases we’ve had in this year, the chicks have been very thin, which suggests that they have been unable to find enough food.
Normally, when chicks leave the nest, the parents will continue to feed them for a little while, bringing them a variety of food. For Little Owls, this should be nice, juicy rodents and small birds to allow the chicks to put on some fat reserves.
Unfortunately, the pellets that have been produced by the Little Owls that have come in have been packed with insects, particularly Isopods such as Woodlice and Pillbugs and beetles. One individual pellet contained the remains of at least 3 Cockchafers or May Bugs, those large, blundering beetles which sound a bit like a low flying plane when they emerge and start flying in May!
Whilst Little Owls are quite happy surviving off invertebrates, these are typically worms. With the dry weather we’ve had recently, this suggests that earthworms and other favourable insects (such as grasshoppers) are in short supply or harder to find. It’s possible that the young Little Owls haven’t quite sussed out how to catch a rodent or bird, which would make a decent meal due to their size, so have been relying on easy pickings.
We also suspect that something may have happened to some of the adult birds, as there have been reports of increased Kestrel activity near where some of the Little Owls were found, and Kestrels will predate on Little Owls, especially when the Kestrels have young of their own to care for.
Thankfully, all of the young Little Owls brought to us have just needed a few good meals, and they will all be released together in one of our Hack pens, so that we can supplementary feed them until they learn to hunt themselves and disperse.