WhisperBarn Owl
Tyto alba
Whisper was transferred to the Avian Reconditioning Center from another local teaching facility in April 2009 when she was 6 years old. She was having trouble adjusting to her previous surroundings and her trainers thought she might be more comfortable at a smaller facility. Once she has settled in, we will begin training exercises so that Whisper will be able to provide flight demonstrations for visitors.
Although Whisper is an indigenous Florida species, she was captive-bred under special permits as an education bird. Allowed to remain with her parents in a natural environment for several weeks after hatching, Whisper has retained her inherent wild instincts and has a good sense of what being a Barn Owl is all about.
Whisper loves to be outdoors and seems quite content in her new living quarters that we refer to as the "summer house." This structure has a weathering roof, but is enclosed on three sides with a PVC-coated mesh that allows Whisper a virtually unobstructed, panoramic view of the natural world surrounding her. Her large enclosure has a water pond for bathing and a box that she can hide in. Even though she is nocturnal, Whisper will often perch contentedly atop the box during the day seemingly "taking it all in." When she gets tired, she snuggles down inside the box, pulls one leg up to her chest and settles down to sleep.
Like most owls, Whisper prefers a diet of rodents. Our resident owls are not given live prey; we purchase frozen mice which we thaw on a daily basis. As an enrichment exercise, her mice are "hidden" inside a roly-poly, plastic, tube-like container. As soon as dinner arrives, Whisper pounces, grasps the tube firmly in one foot and, without any hesitation, retrieves the tasty morsel which she tosses in the air and swallows whole, head first. She greedily devours her first helping, but occasionally the second mouseÕs tail will hang out the corner of her beak, spaghetti-style, for several seconds before she gulps it down.
Although Whisper dozes throughout the day, she becomes quite animated with nightfall. On a starry, moonlit night, her silhouette is visible to us as she experiences and reacts to many things our human eyes do not have the capacity to discern.
Whisper can be sponsored through the Adopt-a-Bird program.
Call 407-461-1056 or e-mail info@adoptabird.org for details
on how you can make Whisper a part of your family!
