From South Africa Wildlife Rescue Center

Every year, many Barn Owl babies arrive, ranging from newly hatched little pink jobbies (and occasionally even eggs that we incubate) to fully feathered fledglings who have discovered the joys of flying… but have landed up in trouble of some sort.

Calli arrived from Cullinan last week looking less like a magnificent owl and more like a prehistoric pterodactyl that has accidentally wandered into the 21 st century.

Her eyes were still completely sealed, her ears also sealed, and her head and neck were still on the losing end in the negotiation with gravity.

At this stage, their appearance is… well… an acquired appreciation!

But give them a little time and these bizarre looking little souls undergo one of the most remarkable transformations in the bird world.

Leanne Hezlett has spent the past week nurturing Calli, meticulously providing the right nutritional balance, the right portions and the right feeding intervals, and adjusting everything as she rockets through those early stages of growth.

And rockets is not an exaggeration.

Barn Owl babies grow at an astonishing rate.

Over the next couple of months, this tiny, wrinkly, pink pterodactyl will gradually disappear beneath a magnificent coat of feathers.

Her eyes and ears are already open, and her neck has finally agree to support her head.

She’ll become curious… Then cheeky… Then increasingly convinced that she knows everything.

In two months, Calli will be a fully feathered, self feeding fledgling Barn Owl, ready to face the world with all the confidence of an owl who has absolutely no recollection of ever looking like this.

For now, however, she’s just a tiny pink bundle of potential … and one very busy rehabber’s full time responsibility.

From prehistoric pterodactyl… to magnificent Barn Owl. We can’t wait to watch the transformation.