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Advice on Oriental Scops owl (1 Viewer)

BrownShrike

New member
Greetings all

I'm recently new and I apologize in advance if this thread is in the wrong section.

I would kindly like to ask for advice on an Oriental Scops Owl that was given to me. Not to mention, I saved this poor little bird's life. I live in Northeast Thailand about an hour away from Laos surrounded by lots of forests, jungles, ponds and open grassland. Lately with the change of season, our 'winter visiting' birds have been appearing in large groups which is a beautiful thing to watch from a firsthand perspective. As with the change of season, it's also rice harvesting season so the local villagers and farmers are out daily.

The change of season has also brought many dangers to the winter visiting birds as well as the local birds. Farmers have put out unbelievably large amounts of mist nets as to protect their crops and as to trap certain birds for consumption. So many birds are killed daily to sadly say, all kinds of birds. Birds that are no use to farmers are left in the mist nets to die from the agonizing sun.

I recently visited a neighbor who had trapped an owl in the mist net the night before. Local people believe that owls bring bad spirits and bad luck so therefore kill these birds. Thais are very serious about superstitious beliefs, more so in the Northeast of Thailand. Fearing for the owl's life, I kindly asked for the bird.

There are Wildlife rehab centers that claim to take care of certain animals but I highly doubt they truly keep their word. It leaves me to care for this owl for the time being or at least when the tremendous amount of mist nets get taken down. With raptor season just around the corner, bird trappers will be out again in the forests trapping birds of prey.

It hasn't been too difficult caring for this owl except the part where I have to force feed him. I have been feeding him pieces of raw chicken supplemented with calcium. I am aware he requires pinky mice and possibly day old chicks but finding them is difficult here. I have placed an order and the delivery will be expected til next week.

Any advice given will be appreciated on caring for this beautiful bird. I have him in a small cage for the time being, I also keep other birds so I don't want the owl frightening my other birds. Soon I will move him to an aviary or have him in a more spacious area.
 

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My my, what a beauty!

I think you can contact Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. They seem to offer a good quality rescue service, but I am not sure what area they cover. They also have a programme in Lao PDR.
 
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