Some time on the scale, everything you ever wanted to know about raptor poop but were afraid to ask, and Lucy plays a game

Being a captive bird of prey at RAPTOR, Inc. is a pretty good life. Free meals, cage set-ups that keep most of the rain and snow out, and my winning personality which trounces in every few days to keep their minds active.

One of my duties as education director is to monitor our birds for signs of poor health:
Talon/beak issues: Captive birds have a limited diet, and talon and beak deformities can be a sign of liver trouble.

Swellings: Example...Lucy's tumor.

Breathing problems: Raspy, labored breathing could be symptoms of aspergillus, a fungal infection, or could be a sign of aspiration.

Bad breath: Really. It's true. Bad breath can be a sign of a crop that cannot completely empty itself. Lucy's breath, though, smells like Skyline Chili. Yet another reason I love her so much

Checking mutes (That's raptor poop, for you non-aficionados):
A healthy bird will shoot out nice, well-defined poop that is a white puddle of liquid (urate) a little pile of fecal matter (the consistency of toothpaste) in the middle and a clear liquid that flushes it from their system (the "pee"). Green or red liquid or solid is to be reported.

Weight fluctuations:
Birds weigh different amounts depending on the time of year or whether they have a full or empty crop. A full crop (say, 20 grams worth of mouse) can dramatically affect the weight of a 150 gram screech owl. Our birds are weighed periodically to track any drastic changes.
The other day, it was a parade of owls on the scale.

The scale is a simple table scale, like one you would weigh mail with, and a modified perch on top:

Storm, our Barn Owl, weighed in at 460 grams. (If you forget how to translate grams into pounds, 453.6 grams equals 1 pound) His attitude says that he thinks he tops off about 275 pounds.
I lift the swivel ( the metal doo-hickey that we use to tether the birds to our hand) so that it is not being added to the weight.



Priscilla our Barred Owl weighed in slightly more that Storm, just about 1 1/4 pounds.
Barred owls look huge, but in reality they are fluffy feather pillows with a stick in the middle.


Big Man Sylvester topped the scales at 1500 grams, or 3.3 pounds. And unlike Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls are all muscle. They are feathered bricks.

Lucy our Peregrine Falcon, as it turns out, has a sense of humor.
Saturday, as I was doing my weekly visual check of all the program birds, I stopped in Lucy's mew. I asked her to step up and checked her wing. All was well there.
I let her step back onto her rock perch, and she leaned forward, turning her head back and forth. I usually hand feed her when I am there, so she was waiting for food to appear in my hand. I picked up a mouse from her feeding block, and offered it to her.
She grabbed it willingly...then leaned forward and let it drop to the ground at my feet. I bent over and picked it up. Offered it to her again, and the same thing happened. I watched her as I did it a third and fourth time, and she was practically leaning into my face, watching me every time I bent to pick up the mouse.
She was playing.

A new program bird for RAPTOR (and for me)!

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Name: Angel (SO 08-23)
Gender: Unknown
Height: 8 inches
Wingspan: 20 inches
Weight: 6 ounces
Date admitted: November 27, 2008
Age at arrival: Adult, unknown
Injury: Right wrist fracture, dislocation
Came from: Lynchburg, Ohio
Story: Found in yard, unable to fly
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We came up with the name Angel (Angelo, if it turns out to be a male...waiting on DNA test) because of a light-colored halo on the back of its head. This was reinforced by the bird's gentle nature, calm attitude and seamless transition from glove to carrier and back again. This may very well be the "perfect" program bird.
That said, screech owls are the "Great Pretenders". They mask pain and stress, and they are also very good at playing dead. Try to hand-feed one, and it may fall over in your hand with its mouth hanging open, hoping you will drop it and leave it alone. :)

My initial observation though is that this will be a good avian ambassador.

An interesting thing I have noticed in some field guides is the description of the different color morphs of screech owls. Most guides list three morphs: Red, gray and brown. Some guides ignore "brown" all together and just describe the red and gray. In my opinion, you could describe a hundred color morphs in screech owls...some are very red or very gray, sure. But there are plenty of screech owls who fall somewhere in between gray and brown, and brown and red.
This bird falls smack dab in the "brown" slot, but we have a rehab SO right now who could be a "red" or a "brown", depending on the way the light falls on it. Some are brown with reddish primaries...some grays are also full of brown....I could go on and on.

One thing that is pretty accurate: Northern screech owls are more likely to be gray and the Southern ones are more likely to be red.
Evolution fascinates me...northern woods are mostly dark hardwoods, while the southern forests are full of pines. Hardwood bark and cavities are...wait for it...brown/gray. The bark of a pine tree is reddish....coincidence? I think not.