Great Horned Owl...Info ....anyone.

[Rob Redtail]

Hi, A young lad next door but one has a great horned owl not sure if it's an American or a Canadian or a cross, it's a 9 year old female, a non inprint, and before he got her she had been on a perch at a falconry centre for 5 years and was never touched ( handled) unfortunately she will sometimes fly to the fist for her food in the aviary but not out on the lawn and he is finding it difficult to judge her flying weight as she reacts differently day to day at the same weight even. He is getting getting different advise from different people and he is again today going to drop her weight as she showed no interest in food when taken out of the aviary although i feel that at 2lb 15oz she may already be a little low , but i do not know much about owls in that respect so DOES ANYONE have any thoughts on this please....R'gards Rob.

[Hawkmaster]

Has he trained anything before?

[Debbie]

Has he trained anything before?

I would say by the opening statement the answer is a 100% NO.

Hi Rob,

Firstly you stated that the bird has been perch kept for 5 years and never handled in that time on a very personal note and rant some centre's really do need a very massive slap to say the very least :evil:

Your friend needs to firstly get the bird to fly to the fist every single time with out fail build the trust between them to 100%. When that trust is built up then small short trips out into the garden building up the trust again this could take a while but the reward is worth it.

She has had 5 years of sorry no other word for it but gross neglect. Culture shock or what :( Your friend needs to try and undo that and basically retrain her.

You said that she flies to the fist sometimes - so dropping her weight really will not do much. But then I am of the mentality of flying a bird at top weight not at hungry but this takes more time which I feel is well spent.

GHO's are really sassy and smart and she will come round with trust, time and training the 3 T's :)

Tell him good luck and well done for saving that bird from a very sad existance.

Debbs

[Rob Redtail]

Well he's got a barn owl that he's trained and flies well on a creance but that was a youngster when he got it so thats a differant story, He's had this Great horned for about 18 months and it has taken must be 9 months to get it used to a glove , but it has no problem with a cuff it is well manned to him and allows him to do anything to her ( she sits on his arm and leans against his chest and plays with the zip tag on his jacket,) Pecks me big time if i try to get to close. it seems to me as if when she's out in the open she loses all her confidence, she'll step up to the fist but she won't fly to the fist , not even as far as she will in the aviary, but i agree i think she's to low at 2lb 15oz and i have just phoned him and said to bring her up to about 3lb 2oz for the size of her i think it would be more of an appropriate weight.... what do you think???.... i saw him call her to the fist in the aviary today for her food and she hits hard and true no problem there it's just outside also i think because of maybe abuse or neglect in the past she's got problems in the cranium ????...R'gards Rob.

[Debbie]

He's had this Great horned for about 18 months and it has taken must be 9 months to get it used to a glove , but it has no problem with a cuff it is well manned to him and allows him to do anything to her

Hi Rob,

Well with abit more info it sounds like he is happy to put the time in and has so far and does know more of what he is doing than on my first impressions.

I just think its a time thing. Had an aquaintance now whose a friend spent 7 years housebound it took just over 2 years to get her out side in the sense where she did not collapse on the floor with fright. Comfort zones are a wonderful although very limiting thing.

Really need an awful lot more info as to exaclty what he has done with her and more importantly how he has done it with regards to getting her outside.

Debbs

[Rob Redtail]

Well Debs , Apparently the 5 years before he got this bird it sat on a bow perch in a mews (a converted barn ) along with quite a few other species of birds of prey and because no one could handle it it was just left , and it never went outside in 5 years, when i said cuff i meant a slip on cuff of the type used by the arabs to carry their falcons so it seems to me it has had a bad experiences with an actual glove .... and when i said a problem in the cranium i meant phychologicaly it's a nutter lol....i have to be careful when talking with this lad as he is only 14 and i don't want to appear as if i'm poking my nose in to his affairs and falling out with his parents i have to try and guide him by suggestion you know how it is it's a bit delicate...R'gards Rob.

[Tyto_Alba]

i have heard that great horned owls are very hard to look after and arevery vicous at times.may i ask has he ever trained the owl before?? or did he just get it from a centre and that was that??
thanks sian

[Rob Redtail]

Hi, He saved this bird from a very sad existance at a centre and now there has been a development, the bird is now flying to the fist for food in the aviary but is still a little reluctant to fly out in the open but is definately getting better,...R'gards Rob.

[IAmTheWeasel]

Well, as for the flying to the fist thing, I would drop the weight until the owl is responding to the fist at a good rate and then it's weight can be raised. I am guessing that this is going to be a pet bird and not a falconry bird, so the weight issue should not come into play like it would for a hunting bird. With this said, I would be hesitant to drop the weight any more if this is truly a female.....The weight you quoted is much more like a male GHO and if it is a female, then she is drasticly too low which could also explain why it resists coming to the glove. Can you feel the keel? Is it prominently sticking out more than a 1/2 inch? The bird could of become anemic due to being kept too low for too long. Have a seasoned falconer or vet look at the bird and have him/her determine what the state of the bird is.
Since you mentioned that the bird will fly indoors, but not out, I will make a guess that this IS a male GHO and it is plain and simple, too fat still. The reason for this assumtion is that it will go for food in a comfortable area, while it will not when it is taken to a spot that has too many new visual stems. This tells me that the bird is obviously not pressed for food that much as it is not singling out the food over the surroundings. I would still have an expert check this bird out before anything else is done such as dropping the weight.
Just my two cents,
Weasel

[Jason-Knott]

hi, all well i taken on a beo and i got told that it is a she and the man that i got her of breed them and she is one of the babys but he kept her for a year and said that she is tame
just becouse he patted its head but i know most owls dont like it so i do not do it!!!! i am just trying to get her to come to the fist but with know look? i am just trying to undo what this man has done with her for a year and it is very hard to do but i am getting there slowly and i dont mind that as she will be a good beo one day!!! the think is that she dose'nt like the glove at all she hiss at me and it is hard to get hold of her so i can man her but when i do she will now sit on the glove all day if i want her to but it toch me weeks to do that?? so i am going to drop her weight down to see if i can get her to come to me? at the momment she is 2lb.6oz.5/8 but can you help me out a bit to see if there is somethink that i could be doing? thank all.jay

[Himiko]

Rob: Can I suggest you PM "Saker-Clive" a member of this forum. He successfully went through a very similar challenge with a GHO (there are no American or Canadian GHO they all are simply GHO). He will I'm sure join this thread and at least mentor the lad by distance until the boy can get a closer mentor. Sounds like an imprint at some level and overwhelmed by outside because it hasn't dealt with it for that time.

Because it is challenging for you to handle the bird can you teach the boy with your RT or Harris (not sure what you presently have) what that bird's keel feels like and then he can check the owls. If the owl is laid on its back in his arm (like a baby) they normally become very docile and you may well be able to check the bird. Nice trick to know about owls.

I have to work on a GHO myself today so time is short but we keep an eye on this thread.

Bill