Leucism is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin.
Hello! I have met Luna in person and he is a beautiful boy who deserves all the love ever.
Please consider donating to thePeace River Wildlife Center, where Luna lives. They are a non-profit animal rehabilitation center with nearly two hundred permanent residents – birds and other animals who are unable to be re-released into the wild – and they admit about two thousand animal patients a year!
I’d highly recommend visiting if you find yourself in southwest Florida! There are so many good birds. So many.
In honor of orphan season (as we anxiously await the first arrival, any day/hour/second), I’ve decided to re-post an entry from a few years ago:
Below I have listed some of the common species in our area, as well as identifying characteristics.
Great horned owls (February-March)
Yellow eyes, dark beak, tan feathers
Barred owls (March-April)
Dark eyes, yellow beak, gray fuzz
Barn owls (any time of year)
Dark eyes, white beak, heart-shaped facial disk, very aggressive
Eastern screech owls (April-May)
Yellow eyes, greenish-grey beak, very small, “banding” pattern on feathers may be noticeable
Cooper’s hawks (May-June)
Bluish to lemon yellow eyes, very short beak compared to Buteos, greenish cere, long toe #3
Broad-winged hawks (July-August)
Brown eyes, yellow or greenish cere, smaller feet than red-shouldered hawks
Red-shouldered hawks (April-June)
Grey to tan eyes, longer beak than accipitors, yellow cere, very noisy, tend to lay down when stressed
Red-tailed hawk (May-June)
Grayish to tan eyes, greenish or bluish cere, large feet
American kestrels (June-July)
Dark eyes, falcon tooth, pink face, long toes, very tiny
Black vulture (March-August)
Long faces, buff-colored down
Turkey vulture (May-August)
Long faces, white down
Here is a THROWBACK post from a few years ago – we no longer call it “Orphan Season” because there are very few true orphans, we like to refer to it as “Nestling Season”.
There is so many things wrong with this I don’t even know where to start
This is what I meant in that post about media influencing people–I hope that poor owl gets surrendered to the appropriate authorities and I hope her dumb ass stays away from animals forever
–mod Nick
her name is vegan hippie dont expect intelligence outta her
I’m a dipshit. what exactly is wrong here besides the leather strap thingy?
She has a “pet” owl, and she’s advertising on social media how to “care” for it, which is dangerous ( and more then likely is incorrect information) because other idiots with no clue are going to want an owl for a pet because it’s “exotic”
(There’s actually nothing wrong with the strap, which is called a jess. It allows for handlers to keep control of a bird, and you’ll often usually see it in falconry.)
No the big issue is that, normal (untrained or uneducated in wildlife or animal science) people shouldn’t have wildlife as pets. There’s this trend of people buying “exotic” wildlife, for the aesthetic but are completely unequipped to properly care or house these animals.
There’s a reason wildlife should only ever be kept in specialised facilities, taken care of by highly trained professionals.
It also raises the question of how she brought the owl in the first place. They aren’t extactly sold in pet shops or given away to normal people wanting a pet. I can almost guarantee that that owl was unethically sourced.
It’s also illegal in certain countries for private individuals to keep native owls asa pets. Only trained and licensed individuals are allowed to keep wildlife like this but only for the purpose of rehabilitation, as part of a breeding program, or for educational purposes.
And her username just makes it worse. Funny that vegans want to claim they care more about animals then everyone else, yet they continue to contribute to animal abuse with shit like this.
Also, having the owl perch on her shoulder like that is just *asking* to lose an eye or have the bird clench its feet and drive those talons to the bone.
Here is a picture of me being stupid with a tame screech owl. (seriously, this was fucking dumb on my part and I was chanting “don’t clench your toooooes” the entire time)
If pointy birb had decided to flex those feet, those talons would have gone all the way in my flesh. Look at how large they are even on this small a bird. Now imagine how big they are on a barn owl. We’re talking about 4 times as long, and much, much thicker.
Great point!
I don’t have much experience with birds (unless the bird is 6 feet tall and flightless), let alone with handling raptors.
Basics of owning an owl:
1: own a zoo or wildlife sanctuary
2: DON’T show it off as “look at my cute awesome pet lol :D”
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