Making Changes: Part 2 : The Alliance : We are doing this!

If you want to know how the organizing is going, look at the comment section under the blog entry titled: Making Changes.

I vote for the yahoo group that's already been set up. I also think we ought to use the word Barn Owl in our name, because owls can be very different in their behavior. For example: Great Horned owls generally are not attracted to boxes, and many owls will not adapt to anything other than their original habitat.

The American Barn owl IS a specific species - there are many species of Barn Owl - Asian ones, African ones, European ones, etc. If you use "America" to mean "North America" you are fine with using "American" Barn Owl Alliance or Defenders.

I'm partial to Alliance also because it was the 'good' in the good vs. evil of the Star Wars series. The Jedi warriors were the "Alliance", right? We are like the jedi warriors for owls. heh heh.

Since there's a yahoo group already established, let's run with it! A lot of people really hate facebook, myself included. It's just so random and goes off in so many different directions, and it's hard to protect your privacy ..I dunno...I like the yahoo group idea. I've seen it work well for very specific groups with specific goals.

I do think we ought to become a 501(c)3. Any lawyers among us that could put that together without us having to scrape together a big hunk o' money to pay a lawyer?

I also agree that Charlotte ought to be the only one calling Nancy Conney, since she's so busy w/ her many raptors and it's baby season, which is just SLAMMED with injured barn owls, especially in San Diego county. And you ALL KNOW WHY!!

And we are going to change that.

Also, I think for now, our goals are pretty specific: We want to change laws to require adequate boxes for barn owls that are
-Big enough
- have a deep enough entrance so barn owlets don't fall out
- have an adequate branching system included w/ the box
- must be installed in the shade
- must be properly ventilated
- a "log" type structure that mimics a tree, that they can grab onto w/ their talons and "walk" their way back up to the nest while beating their wings - another important pre-flight behavior.

I am so glad he did install a new perch for them to hop to! I haven't seen it. I just can't bring myself to go over there quite yet. Give me a little time and I'll go over and look.

About doing chats: I think that's a great idea, but I would not be up for a 24/7 chat. I mean, I guess someone could put one up but if it's just sitting there all day long, it can easily descend into a recipe sharing chat or a gossip line.

for me, I would like to do more focused chats, that are scheduled, for answering questions and having discussions. Then we'd all know what we wanted to ask or talk about, and we'd know when we were going to gather each week to do so. What do you think of that?

Yes, my blog is copyrighted, but you can quote it like you would any copyrighted material as long as you mention the source of the quote (eg: as Stacey O'Brien states in her blog, "blah blah blah". Like that.)

Here are the links that have been set up so far:

Name: Barn Owl Alliance or Barn Owl Defenders or either of those w/ the word "American" before it.
Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BarnOwlDefenders
Email for a mailing list being assembled: itacri@comcast.net (Itacri, if this is not ok, let me know! I assume it's ok and ran w/ it!)

I think we ought to keep "Barn Owl" In the name, even though other species occasionally do use these boxes, because they are specifically for barn owls. Also, our current mission is specific to Barnies. We may grow into a much bigger organization, who knows? We may end up being THE alliance for owls or something like that.

But for now, I think American Barn Owl Alliance is great! I like Alliance because we are equals, we are allied people from all walks of life with a specific concern and goal, which is to change federal and state laws to require that the above list of features be present in any barn owl box put up, and that those laws be enforced w/ specific systems (permits? Penalties? Fines? - if you mess with a barn owl in any OTHER way, for example, I think it's a mandatory $25,000 fine and 6 months in jail. Why is it then ok to lure them to your property only for them to work so hard to raise babies that are doomed from the beginning?)

As I alluded to above, American Barn Owls are a specific species, different from the barn owls on other continents.

But I'm not the queen of this, so if you want to be Barn Owl Defenders, or whatever, that's fine. I just think we ought to stick to the one thing for now.

After we've succeeded with this and the laws and enforcement are in place for the barn owl box situation, we could work on the rodent poison issue. I was in Rite Aid today and saw a whole shelf of rodent poison. It made me sick to think about all that poison, in all these stores across our country, being put out into the wild for our brother and sisters in the wild to consume. Scary! But that's a different battle.

We probably ought to do one battle at at time, eh?

By the way, I am happy that Carlos has put something up for those poor babies to hop to. They have half a chance now! Thank God!

I'm very excited that people have taken the ball and run with it! This is AMAZING! I never dreamed in a million years about anything like this happening! It's beyond my wildest hopes and it's just awesome! We CAN make a difference! People have been doing that for decades and now it's our turn! We're educating ourselves, learning, contacting experts..this is being well thought out. I'm so proud of everyone!

--------------------- Answers to questions about the current behavior of the owlets --------------

A commenter asked about why the babies are grabbing the pellets on the floor of the box - they are trying to do the behavior where they grab onto a branch with all their might and beat their wings to build strength in their wings that will be needed for them to fly. That box also seems a little too small for them to really beat their wings properly, but that issue has been around for eons w/ too small hollow trees, etc. so I think they'll still adapt.

The same commenter also asked about the hops the babies are taking. That is the preflight behavior! Those hops will then extend (when the owlets are ready) to the new perch Carlos installed. See, without that perch, there would have been nowhere to hop to, and they would have eventually fallen to the ground instead.

About the feathering: The feather is formed within a shaft made of keratin, which is a waxy substance that we have in our hair and fingernails. The new feather being formed is a living thing w/ blood and nerves in it. As it becomes complete, the blood and nerves recede and the part of the shaft that can be pulled off becomes very white. The owl grooms and pulls of the white waxy stuff, and out blooms a perfect feather. The shaft recedes, so the tips of the feathers come out first, going down, until the base is finally finished and it's all feather and no shaft.

When there are too many of the flight feathers still in the shafts (they're called "pinfeathers" at this point), there isn't enough lift to fly, but the babies need this time to build muscle in their newly developed wings. Remember when they were just nubs? So they are doing exercises to make muscle across their chest and into their wings, and grooming their feathers daily as they emerge from the shafts.

This is one of the most exciting times - watching the owlets as they hop and branch. The expressions on their faces through all this are priceless! They can move the tiny muscles in their faces, which is why they can be so expressive! And their curiosity grows daily, so you see all the head gyrations as they become fascinated with every little thing in their world. They are truly coming into their own, and their individual personalities are bursting forth. It's such a joy to watch this process, which is why I was so motivated to try to get it so that we could all see the wonderful event unfolding in the way that it should! It's SUCH a treat!

So I encourage you all to enjoy the show and not deprive yourselves of it just because I've been banned or you've been banned. We can still watch the video feed, which is what we care about and can continue to learn from. If we're going to become advocates for owls, it behooves all of us to continue to watch, so as to educate ourselves not just with book knowledge but with observational understanding. All of us can become naturalists, and it's often naturalists, rather than biologists, who have made some of the most important positive changes in our country (look at how Roosevelt worked to establish the national parks, for example).

If you are told that a baby "just flew away on its own" and it disappears, do NOT BELIEVE IT! They do NOT just fly off. They MUST go through this branching phase for awhile before they can fly. You'll be able to watch their progress from straight hopping, to hopping w/ some lift, to some crazy flights w/ a terrified expression on their face and their talons held out in front of them, to watching them figure out how to use their wings to brake and hover, and then to actually fly accurately and pounce on a branch w/ confidence and make a solid landing.

Landing is a big issue for them.

So, if a baby disappears and you're told her just 'flew away' and he didn't go through those phases, know that he probably fell and injured himself land call Nancy and see what can be done! Now that there's a new place to land, I think they will probably (I say PROBABLY) will manage. The only thing missing now is something for them to use to climb up. Again, putting astroturf on one of the ladder supports might work since the supporting legs are slanted... Here's hoping! :-)

It looks to me like you were effective when you pointed out problems on the Owlivia and Molly sites! I'm told that both sites have added perches!

You are to all be congratulated for your first triumph as the alliance!



YAY, US!

Stacey :-)