Meet our newest wildlife ambassadors
Posted by Devin Manky July 13, 2019
baby owls
Over the last couple of months here at Grouse Mountain we've had a couple new additions to our Wildlife Ambassador team. Since late April we've been hand raising a young Barred Owl here at the Refuge (see the photo beside here) - he came to us from the Northern Spotted Owl Reintroduction Program where Barred Owls are helping researchers learn the best way to raise and release the highly endangered Spotted Owls. Then in June we received a young Great-horned Owl from a centre in Ontario where she was hand raised.
Both owls are entering our ambassador program as part of our educational programs here at Grouse Mountain. Each year over 25,000 school children visit Grouse Mountain to learn about wildlife and endangered flora and fauna. As part of these visits a wildlife ambassador meets with them to talk about their specific species and about the plight of certain endangered owl species.
We also do talks for our general mountain guests each day where we educate about the owls and about the work being done to save endangered species like the Northern Spotted Owl.
Please see below for more info about our two members and some photos. We are currently holding a naming contest to find them the right monikers! You can visit: https://www.grousemountain.com/owls/owl-ambassador-naming-contest if you have some good naming suggestions for us!
Barred Owl
This is the new male Barred Owl (Strix varia). He came to Grouse Mountain on April 25th, 2019, from the Northern Spotted Owl Captive Breeding Program in Langley, BC. after being hatched on April 10th, 2019.
Barred Owls are a forest owl that can also nest in parks and urban areas. They are not typically shy around humans. Each year several Barred Owl chicks are raised at the Spotted Owl facility to help researches determine the best techniques for the rearing of the highly endangered Spotted Owls. Incubation times, hatching techniques, parenting methods are all important steps that the Barred Owls help us learn because of their close genetic relationship with the Spotted Owl. The Barred Owls as a species are very robust and have been expanding their range across North America in the last 100 years.
Great-horned Owl
New female Great-horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). She came to Grouse Mountain from the Canadian Raptor Conservancy in Ontario after being hatched in March 2019.
Great-horned Owls are impressive sized owls who imprint well and make for great ambassadors. These owls are a native species that lives and breeds on top of Grouse Mountain. They can be found in forests and open farmland nesting in stick nests and open snags. You can listen for their low but resounding hooting call that sounds like "Who's Awake? Me Too!"
Owl Discovery lunch
If you are interested in meeting our Wildlife Ambassador Owls we are pleased to announce the start of our interpretive Owl Discovery Lunch program. This exciting opportunity will run Monday through Wednesday each week at Grouse Mountain.
You will get a private meet and greet with some of our owl ambassadors and learn more about them and their species from our Wildlife Ranger team.
After meeting the owls you will have a catered buffet lunch and our wildlife guide will stay to answer your questions and tell you more about our programs.
Visit: https://www.grousemountain.com/owls/owl-discovery-lunch for more information or to book your session!
