This Week at Liberty

It’s an age-old adage that we learn in school; mammals are mammals because they have fur/hair, have live births, and nurse their young with milk, whereas birds have feathers, lay eggs, and have lightweight hollow bones. It’s quite a difference, indeed, but it gets a lot more nitty gritty than that. Let’s break it all down, from fertilization to the hatch, using a great horned owl as our subject:

• This is how we meet your mom; yes, great horned owls (like most raptors) are monogamous and try and find the same mate every year! They start in late fall and early winter, and that familiar, deep “hoot” is what you’ll hear. The high hoot is the female; low hoot is the male. They will also bow to each other, rub bills, as well as share food
• These fierce raptors do not make their own nests, they either overtake nests available to them or find a “scrape” in the ground/cliff to nest; the female will often pluck her chest (known as a “brood patch”) to help incubate her eggs once lain
• Once copulation happens, the female can lay 1-4 eggs with each being several days apart; the incubation period is between 30-37 days, with the female remaining on the eggs while her partner hunts and brings back food
• “Pipping” aka the chick breaking through the shell, this process can take anywhere from 24-48 hours (usually less than 24); the hatchling inside has a sharp, white end on their beak called an “egg tooth” to help them break through the hard shell; much like human babies, they are a little wet looking, and after a day or two, dry off and appear “fluffy”
• For the next 42 days, the nestlings will grow with all the food coming from mom and dad; once at their fledgling stage, they’ll be adapted to fly but not necessarily on their own (in fact they might hang around mom and dad a while longer before they get the hang of things)

If you’re wondering why I’m going on and on about how eggs work…well, that’s because we had one hatch here not so long ago! The truth is, I’m only teasing this story (Laura H. has a lot more coming) but the simple one is…we were lucky enough to rescue several great horned owl eggs from a precarious situation. After spending a few days in a brooder, we placed them beneath one of our own broody moms aka Snickers, and after a few days there, one of the chicks began to hatch! Unfortunately for this little guy, he didn’t quite make it out of his shell; Dr. Lamb was able to assist in getting that last bit of shell off before he spent a day in a brooder being fed mouse mush (which is exactly how it sounds) before being placed back out with Snickers who is diligently taking care of her new babe.

Like I said, there’s A LOT more to this story; I promise you’ll get all of it when the time is right. For now, we’re happy to have helped this little guy come into the world, and happier with momma Snickers for doing her momma thing!

By: Acacia Parker | Public Outreach Coordinator