Talons of Power

Our fascination with Barn Owls have been evident these past couple of weeks after our discovery of little Barn Owl chicks abandoned by their mother, in a Tree Lodge Room.  We have been hand-raising these magical creatures in an effort to keep them alive and rehabilitate them to become the self-sufficient birds of prey they ought to be.  One of our goals of keeping these birds around is for educational purposes. We want to educate people on the instincts and habits of these birds and why they are so valuable in eco-systems.  One of the many interesting things that we have noticed about these beautiful birds is their powerful talons (claws).

 The talons have an immense strength, and it is used to crush the skull of their prey.  We have definitively seen the evidence of this in our Barn Owls.  They grab the food out of our hands with their talons sometimes instead of their beaks.  Then they start bashing the food onto the ground continuously.  They stomp their feet and start hissing revealing their aggressive nature when there is food involved.

 They also use these talons to fight off enemies. When noticing a threat, they start stomping their feet and hiss to try and intimidate the enemy. They also stand up straight and ‘puff’ out their feathers to appear larger in size for intimidation purposes. It is a captivating process to witness. When finally eating their prey, they tear off chunks by clasping to the prey with their talons while the beak pulls and tears.  These pieces then gets swallowed whole because of their lack of teeth. The food is broken down by powerful stomach fluids.  They later regurgitate the indigestible pieces such as bone and fur in a similar way as a cat would get rid of ‘hair/fur balls’.

 It is interesting to know that prey is believed to be killed by mostly the bashing against the floor as well as suffocation from the strong clench of the talons rather than the peck of the beak.

 On your next visit to Ubizane, be sure to ask our Lodge Managers to view these magnificent birds!