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Henry, a captive-bred European Barn Owl, was
"chamber-raised" by his parents until the age of 5
weeks old. Chamber-raised means a hatchling remains in
the "chamber" or "nest" with its parents and without
any human interaction until it is removed for
training. Spending the first few weeks of his life
with his natural parents enabled Henry to "know" that
he is a Barn Owl and allowed him to learn many normal
Barn Owl behaviors. For the next 5 weeks, his care was
provided by specialized handlers who began to
"socialize" Henry with humans to prepare him for his
future "job" as an education ambassador.
ARC had been seeking a rehabilitated Barn Owl
capable of flight for over a year. With no suitable
candidates available, ARC decided to purchase a
captive-bred bird. Special adaptations like serrated
primary feathers and legs feathered all the way to the
toes allow them to fly silently and ARC feels it is
important to include flight demonstrations with this
interesting species in our education programs.
European Barn Owls are very similar to the Common Barn
Owl indigenous to the U.S. with the European species
being a bit smaller and having a shorter tail.
By the age of 10 weeks, Henry was ready to travel
to his new home here at ARC. Because the summer
temperatures in Florida prohibited him from traveling
by air, ARC's certified vet tech, Carol, flew to St.
Louis and drove Henry home-over 1,000 miles! Henry
quickly settled in at ARC and is now quite comfortable
in his new surroundings. He enjoys being outside on
the porch and will often hop down and wiggle his way
between the fronds of huge staghorn fern near his
perch to nap.
In the wild, Barn Owls perch high up in barns and
other similar structures so it's no surprise that
Henry inquisitively searches the rafters of the
open-air education pavilion for a suitable perch.
Henry is well mannered when on the falconer's glove
and allows his handlers to gently lift the feathers
behind his facial disk to show his large ears.
Although found on every continent except
Antarctica, Barn Owls are elusive and rarely seen in
the wild making Henry very popular with birding
enthusiasts and the general public as well. Barn Owls
are also called the "Valentine" or "Sweetheart" owl
because of their heart-shaped face. Henry's darling
face and sweet manner have earned him the
well-deserved nickname of "Sir Henry the Heart Throb."
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