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Barred owl moves to Largo nature park
By TOM GERMOND
| Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 |
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| Photo courtesy of the CITY OF LARGO |
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| McGough Nature Park specialist Joel Quattlebaum poses with Matilda, a barred owl, who is the park's newest resident. |
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LARGO – Meet Matilda, the newest resident of the George C. McGough Nature Park.
The park obtained the injured barred owl, which is slightly larger than a foot tall, from the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
The bird was dropped off by Audubon bird of prey specialist Barb Walker, who notified the city that she had taken a barred owl to sanctuary. Matilda was eating fine and the sanctuary was waiting to see if her wing would heal and would ever be able to fly again.
“At best she can just kind of hop from branch to branch,” said city Nature Program Specialist Joel Quattlebaum. “She really has to struggle.”
Because of the injury to her wing, she has a difficult time getting up from the ground to a perch, which was less than 3 feet. Park staff put additional perches in her cage, joking that it is “ADA accessible for owls,” Quattlebaum said.
“The female owl is adult, but it’s anybody’s guess as to how old she is,” Quattlebaum said.
“She’s doing good. She’s eating regularly. Every day she gets two mice or chicks or a rat,” he said.
“We’re trying to mimic her natural diet since she can’t go out and hunt on her own.”
Matilida has been at McGough since October, and staff is trying to get her used to being around people.
The main objective is to “get her on the glove so she can go out to the schools” and other community programs, Quattlebaum said.
Matilda is the sole occupant of the cage that used to be home to J.R., a great horned owl that vanished when somebody cut its cages, either to steal or liberate it in January 2011. The owl had been a popular attraction at the park. The last sighting of J.R. at the park was in October.
“He seems to be doing all right,” Quattlebaum said.
Matilda gets “puffy” upon being approached; it’s a defense mechanism, Quattlebaum said, but she’s hardly aggressive. In fact, she has a “nice temperament,” city officials said.
Barred owls have an average length of about 17 inches and wingspan of about 44 inches. They are native to North America, ranging from Canada to the south tip of Florida. The barred owl is the only native owl with brown eyes and can live up to 23 years in captivity. The name comes from stripes or “bars” on the owl’s tail.
Hopes are that the community will get to know her, just as it had J.R.
“It’s kind of like getting a new partner,” Quattlebaum said, “ ... after something terrible happens.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012
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