It poses a big risk to the owls. While there is some concern that pet-store mice may pass pathogens or parasites to wild owls, the biggest reason not to feed wild owls is how quickly they can become habituated to humans. Many northern species of owls have little natural fear of people to begin with, and feeding them can quickly cause them to associate humans and food. This can bring them dangerously close to people who may harm them, especially when they leave their wintering grounds and begin migrating back north.
Project SNOWstorm's team of wildlife veterinarians and pathologists found that, of the Snowy Owls they examined, a third of all trauma deaths were known to have been caused by vehicle collisions, and vehicles were the suspected cause for many more.
And regardless of species, most of the owls brought to wildlife rehabilitators have suffered vehicle-collision injuries. Writer and researcher Scott Weidensaul is the author of more than two dozen books on natural history. Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk. Our email newsletter shares the latest programs and initiatives.
By Scott Weidensaul December 16, I believe the answer to both questions, though, is an emphatic no. A Barn Owl will usually swallow small prey items whole.
It is much better to provide small food items for Barn Owls rather than small parts of larger animals such as pieces of meat. Items such as slugs, worms and insects are not suitable, but the occasional small bird or frog may be eaten.
Almost anything your cat brings in can be given provided that no rat or mouse poisons have been used nearby. This includes:. This is a serious illness which can easily be transmitted to humans. For this reason, it is especially important to avoid contact with the urine of wild rats.
The most common food items given to Barn Owls are dead day-old cockerels which are a by-product of the poultry industry. They are economically priced, readily available, convenient to use and provide a high protein, low fat diet, with good levels of vitamins and calcium. Chicks do contain yolk and can become rather messy, however, the routine de-yolking of chicks dramatically reduces the levels of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and E and is not recommended. Always ensure the chicks were gassed with carbon dioxide, not with chloroform ether or carbon tretrachloride.
Also be careful with home freezing of fresh chicks; slow freezing can allow bacteria to reach dangerous levels. Most pet shops that cater for reptile-keeping sell smaller quantities. Domestic rats can often be purchased frozen from pet shops and their nutritional value is excellent. Domestic mice are also easily obtainable and are very similar to rats nutritionally. While they both make suitable foods for Barn Owls, rats and mice cost around 10 times as much as day-old chicks.
Providing that you give Barn Owls a diet of chicks with occasional small mammals there is no need to give any supplements. If for some reason only dead mice or perhaps quail are given for more than a few days , you should use a supplement. S F 50 , Abidec, Adexolin or Vionate are sometimes used and are often available in pet shops. Do not overdo the supplement. If the bones are regurgitated without being bound in fur or feathers, they may obstruct or puncture the oesophagus.
Never use cooked meat, canned pet food or any non-meat food other than certain liquid feeds which may be prescribed by a vet in certain circumstances. Dead day-old poultry chicks and mice are available frozen from many pet shops and must be thoroughly defrosted before use, though not by using a microwave as this can make the bones brittle. Adult Barn Owls, Long-eared Owls or Short-eared Owls should consume approximately 2 chicks or 4 mice per 24 hours; a Tawny Owl should have 3 chicks or 6 mice; and a Little Owl chicks or mice.
A wild owl is unlikely to recognise white mice or yellow chicks as food straight away but grey-brown food items may be eaten more readily. White or yellow-coloured food items should be cut up into pieces and placed on a piece of wood or an upturned bowl in the box close to the owl, preferably with the innards of the food item facing up. Do not put the food in a dish, otherwise a single dropping can easily contaminate all of it.
Prepare the food. If using lean chicken or beef to feed a Barn Owl more than 6 weeks old, the total amount you should prepare for 24 hours is around 70 grams this is about enough to fill two small matchboxes or use 4 average-sized mice. When first feeding a new casualty, you probably will not use more than a few morsels. Make sure the meat is fresh, at room temperature, and not dried.
Cut up into pieces about the size of your thumbnail. If using day-old poultry chicks, discard the yolk sacs and the featherless part of the legs. Cut each chick into 6 pieces of roughly equal size.
Holding the day-old chick above newspaper and using scissors is a practical method. If force-feeding a Little Owl use pieces no bigger than the size of your finger nail. Position the owl. Either ask a helper to hold the owl in a vertical position or wrap the owl , then sit on a stool and place the wrapped owl vertically between your thighs, facing either to the left or right, depending on whether you are left or right handed. To open the beak, calmly bring one hand from behind the owl, just over the head, and take hold of the upper mandible between your thumb and index finger.
Open the beak with the thumbnail of your free hand max 25mm, less for a Little Owl and hold it open with the 2nd or 3rd finger of your beak-holding hand. Feed one piece at a time. Immediately release the beak and with any luck the owl will swallow within roughly a minute. If it does not, gently push the food a little further down the throat and release the beak again. Eventually it should swallow.
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