7 News Belize

A Barn Owl In Collet!
posted (July 23, 2014)

When you think of spectacular and mysterious birds like the barn owl you'd probably think they would be most at home in the wild, but this evening we found that barn owls like the concrete jungle just fine. Why is that? Well, it is because this owl's favourite meal is rats and small rodents – and this city has no shortage of those.

But things went wrong for one of these barn owls a month and half ago who was found snagged on a pipe clamp. Caretaker Allison Jenkins found the injured bird and called the Belize Audubon Society whch then contacted the Bird Sanctuary & Rehabilitation Center. When we spoke to Allison today, he told us how he became attached to the owl:

Allison Jenkins - Caretaker
"First, it wasn't much my concern but the second day the longer you look into the face of the owl, you see a sympathy that he has and that is what really got to me the second day. I received a call about 3 weeks after, surprisingly, telling me the bird that I had called him about is in good health and is doing well in recovery and they started keeping me in touch with it and there we are."

Robin Schaffer
"So what's the rehabilitation process been like?"

Celeshia Guy - Manager Belize Bird Rescue
"So the rehabilitation process has been a long journey but it has resulted in a really smooth end. So she came in very lethargic and she was very dehydrated also and when she came in we had to do initial care, we had to stabilize her and give her medication and a lot of fluids and then she transitioned really well."

Robin Schaffer
"What's their role in Belize City?"

Celeshia Guy
"Barn owls are really extremely important to the eco-system. They are predators, they're birds of prey so in the wild they hunt rats and mice and in Belize City they basically clean up the environment. So in a day, one owl can eat up to two mice or two rats for the day and if they have a family they can eat up to 10 mice or rats per day which is over 3,000 rats per year. So they are very very good pest control. With barn owls there are many superstitions and a lot of myths and a lot of people tend to believe that barn owls are a bird of death and if you hear a barn owl screeching in your area or over your house somebody in your house is going to die; But with everything there are a lot of myths a lot of beliefs and there is another belief that if a barn own is seen in your area and you hear it screeching and somebody to end up dying there is another belief that this owl actually takes the spirit to the heavens of that body. They're really really not dangerous, nothing to be fearful about so if we leave them alone, they will do just fine in the environment."

So how do we coexist with these animals? Well, we simply need to not bother them – and they'll be fine feasting on the city's many rats. This particular rescued bird was tagged with a metal band so it could be identified.

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