Important Discovery

This is Sanders, another ambassador owl, doing her best impression of a solar panel. When relaxed and presented with a sunbeam, burrowing owls will soak up the rays by laying flat and sometimes even spreading the wings to absorb more heat.


Spotting a sunbeam in the corner of our interpretive centre, I decided to find out if George loved sunbeams as much as the next burrowing owl.

After setting George down in the middle of a hearty sunbeam, this is how he immediately reacted.



Let's take a close up.


Oh dear, I disturbed his reverie.



This deserves some video. LOOK AT HIS TINY TAIL!

I think this was an important day for George. Sunbeams are awesome.

Age: 20 days old
Mass: 126 grams

With a side of mouse, please.

If I planned on posting this video, I would have put smarter looking books on the shelf.

In the wild, the male does most of the hunting while the female broods the young and does most of the feeding. Once the owlets are a bit bigger, the female will start to hunt close to the nest, mostly picking up insects like grasshoppers.

In unrelated news, George opened his eyes today!!

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

SBOIC Communications Team

Age: 9 days old
Mass: 57 grams

George still needs help staying warm and I found that sometimes he just likes to lean into my hand. Many baby birds probably sit like this because they huddle with their siblings to share body heat. Me, I've learned to type with one hanfsdd.

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

First Day Out

Age: 7 days old
Mass: 42 grams

June 11th was George's first day out of the nest, in the great big human world. At this age, he can't stay warm without his mother's body heat, or in this case, my body heat. Little George spent most of his first day tucked in a cozy pouch, and kept under my shirt.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Big Plans

Age: 1 day old
Mass: Unknown

SBOIC introduces our newest ambassador owl, George. Or maybe Georgina! We won't know if the new owl is a male or female until we do a blood test, and the little owlet needs to be bigger before we can take a feather or blood sample.

George is only one day old in this photo, and will remain with his mom (Zeus) and his dad (Gale) for another five days before he becomes Saskatchewan's next star.

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.