Like many movie stars, Oden and Scooter prefer the nightlife. But the camera adored this pair, even if they were a little sleepy, when John James APP Center Assistant Director Carrie Barron brought them to New York City recently.
Both birds are non-releasable and live at the in Pennsylvania. Oden, a Great Horned Owl, was trained for falconry and is too used to humans to live in the wild; Scooter, an Eastern Screech Owl, lost an eye when a car struck her, so she can't hunt.
In the first of our three new Owloween videos (above), Barron introduces the birds to National APP’s Christine Lin, discusses their behavior, and outlines some of the threats owls face in the wild. Just like Halloween itself, episode one is the perfect mix of sweetness (there's an owl love story) and gore (Scooter straight-up decapitating a mouse).
Episode 2
In episode two, Barron explains what owl pellets are (spoiler: barf) and shows Lin how to dissect one. Should we be worried about how much fun these two have playing with regurgitated mouse skeletons? Nah—it’s Owloween. Let's get creepy.
Episode 3
Our final episode is all about the tricks owls use to catch their treats. Barron explains how huge eyes and misaligned ears help Oden and his ilk hunt, and she shows Lin how owl anatomy helps them they fly in silence. “Ninjas of the night,” Barron calls them.
Owloween might be over, but for more owl goodness throughout the year, be sure to follow our , where we regularly host live videos featuring APP experts and, of course, all kinds of birds.
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