From World Center for Birds of Prey

Full grown already? Say it ain’t so! At only 8 weeks old our brand new Barn Owl, Salix, has officially fledged! A fledgling is a young bird that has grown their feathers and is learning to fly! In the wild, Salix would still be dependent on parental care at this stage and begin to hone their hunting skills. In captivity, Salix will also begin to hone in their skills, but for their role as an education ambassador. We are transitioning them into a new phase of training where we will focus on cooperative care like cleaning, weighing, and crating, and move into mentally and physically stimulating activities like flight demonstrations! As you can see, flying doesn’t always start out very graceful, but Salix is demonstrating how most birds experiment with flight through scaling trees, testing out their wings, and starting with short distances! We can’t wait to see what share their journey with you al!