What will happen to Rusty and Iris's young?
In 2013 we let Rusty and Iris raise their three owlets to be completely wild, with only the minimum human interaction necessary. The owlets were released to the wild in the fall after developing their adult territorial hoots, wearing transmitters so we could track their dispersal.
In 2014 we let Rusty and Iris raise their owlets until 2 weeks of age. Then we hand-reared them to become education ambassador owls with a lot of human attention and interaction. We compared their vocal development to the development of the parent-reared owlets to see if it was similar or different due to rearing methods. They have now been transferred over to education permits and will work for the International Owl Center doing educational programs in person. Having them in long-term captivity will allow us to track their voices over their lifetime to see if their territorial hoots are stable or change over time.
In 2017 Rusty and Iris raised two owlets, Sequoia and Sheldon. They were with their parents until fall, and then were separated into their own flight pen. They will be placed in long-term captivity, most likely at another facility.
Because Rusty only has one eye with compromised vision that is declining, raising young in 2017 was very stressful for him. For the sake of his well-being we will not be raising any more owlets. Rusty and Iris will become empty-nesters and although Iris will be allowed to lay eggs, they will be replaced with replica eggs so she can fulfill her psychological urge to incubate without giving Rusty the trouble of dealing with hyperactive owlets that could accidentally cause him to lose his precious limited vision. In the meantime we can still do research on incubation breaks and flight feather molt.
In 2014 we let Rusty and Iris raise their owlets until 2 weeks of age. Then we hand-reared them to become education ambassador owls with a lot of human attention and interaction. We compared their vocal development to the development of the parent-reared owlets to see if it was similar or different due to rearing methods. They have now been transferred over to education permits and will work for the International Owl Center doing educational programs in person. Having them in long-term captivity will allow us to track their voices over their lifetime to see if their territorial hoots are stable or change over time.
In 2017 Rusty and Iris raised two owlets, Sequoia and Sheldon. They were with their parents until fall, and then were separated into their own flight pen. They will be placed in long-term captivity, most likely at another facility.
Because Rusty only has one eye with compromised vision that is declining, raising young in 2017 was very stressful for him. For the sake of his well-being we will not be raising any more owlets. Rusty and Iris will become empty-nesters and although Iris will be allowed to lay eggs, they will be replaced with replica eggs so she can fulfill her psychological urge to incubate without giving Rusty the trouble of dealing with hyperactive owlets that could accidentally cause him to lose his precious limited vision. In the meantime we can still do research on incubation breaks and flight feather molt.
