What happened 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 were transferred over to education permits to work for the International Owl Center doing educational programs in person. Rupert didn't enjoy his job that much and was transferred to a breeder in 2018. Having Ruby in long-term captivity will allow us to track her voice over her lifetime to see if her 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 were transferred to a breeder in 2018.
Due to Rusty's declining vision, Rusty and Iris retired in 2018. In early 2022 Rusty went completely blind with no hope of recovery, so he earned his angel's wings. Iris is still livestreamed on our YouTube channel.
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 were transferred over to education permits to work for the International Owl Center doing educational programs in person. Rupert didn't enjoy his job that much and was transferred to a breeder in 2018. Having Ruby in long-term captivity will allow us to track her voice over her lifetime to see if her 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 were transferred to a breeder in 2018.
Due to Rusty's declining vision, Rusty and Iris retired in 2018. In early 2022 Rusty went completely blind with no hope of recovery, so he earned his angel's wings. Iris is still livestreamed on our YouTube channel.
