Oscar the Great-horned Owl

[Ondskemannen]

Staring contest, GO!

[Quikquik98]

Is the yellow part of his eye's membrane or is it just patches of yellow feathers that look like eyes?

[1burdladee]

@Quikquik98 Those are his eyes.

[TheEchechech]

ECH ECH ECH!

[sabrinastar2005]

I watching you

[SwiftCracker]

It looks like it's taxidermised, but it is still alive.

[infectedkoozer]

Omg he WONT blink. its creepy but beautifull

[baddogonline]

Oscar the grouch! That's too funny... :)

[Madhatter757]

I love owls but man that guy looked pissed lol

[daemonxblaze]

lol Oscar the grouch

[surfing636]

His tuffs (horns) are up, mouth open, and hissing! Oscar's not happy to see you, but most Owls are aggressive when you enter their space.

[daemonxblaze]

@surfing636 lol Oscar the grouch

[ntheAttic]

funny how Oscar doesnt take his eyes off you.

[sanyo51]

thats so cool hes like i see you to..lol

[ProBasketball19]

that face is so .... epic =D

[Satsujin1]

He.Never.BLINKS! O_O

[Drelion957]

Steady-cam head

[sanoj92]

I actually found that uncomfortable/creepy..

[manchesterUFan08]

He's very alert, when you first turned on the video i thought it was a stuffed owl until i saw it moving lol.

[Xardian116]

He looking through my soul!!! @-@;

[suzyjonas]

its watching you O_O

[kurtyoafc]

he's watching you

[xIntoThePitx]

Holy shit it's Jack Nicholson!!

[MasterJericho85]

@xIntoThePitx HAA HAHAHA HAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! That was a good one!

[363Magi]

@xIntoThePitx I think you might be right. ._.

[2678728]

owls are really....they got big eyes and on top of it they follow u with them, making them look scary

[Jalmerk]

serious owl is serious

[Lorenalight22]

lol he is saying, dont mess whit me man.!!

[paerarru]

You lookin' at me!? Eh!? You lookin' at me!?

;)

[2678728]

@paerarru this killed me XD

[TheWiggler1234]

... Orly?

[mrmanown]

hahahah!

[SuperJigles]

@TheWiggler1234 no -.-

[gathimest]

Do you want to hear what I said again?

Yes -=-

Yes

[tayishere202]

So pretty

[ragamuffinkid2]

poor thing, he looks totally freaked....but he is a handsome devil ;)

[Mazryonh]

You'd think his mouth would get dry from all the hissing he's doing.

[JoeDaPokemonMasta1]

For some reason, I only want to say "Hello, Oscar." :)

[Mazryonh]

He'll his at you, but I don't think he means it. He's likely just angry that he can't fly anymore.

[JoeDaPokemonMasta1]

Yeah. I'd be too, to all of a sudden be deprived of your freedom because of an accident...

[1burdladee]

You are right diffferent birds have different personalities. I saw the vid you suggested. We also have a Barred Owl who does seem to enjoy that kind of attention. But like it says in their info para gragh it can be dangerous. We stress in our educational programs that these are still wild birds and should not be treated as pets. Like the birds some rehabbers and educators have different personalities and methods of dealing with their birds. Thanks for your interest.

[Mazryonh]

Is that him hissing? Is he still unused to human company?

[1burdladee]

Yes that is him hissing. Great-Horned owls can be extremely nasty but he is very used to us being around him. We can actually touch him on the head and chest with no gloves on with no fear of being bitten or taloned. He's just grouchy.

[Mazryonh]

I see. Will he bite strangers? That wouldn't make him a good educational bird, right?

I guess it's unavoidable that when a species has hollow bones, broken ones are much more difficult to fix. How old is he?

[1burdladee]

Actually he is a very good program bird. We do not allow people to touch the birds as they do retain quite a bit of their wildness even though they have adapted to captivity. We are not sure of his age as he came to us already as an adult. We have actually had success in releasing birds that have suffered broken bones as long as they have properly healed.

[Mazryonh]

I see. I learned from another bird expert though that unlike solid-boned animals, you can't break and re-set the broken bones of avians.

Why couldn't his wings heal properly? If he lets you touch him, does he mind petting from you?

[1burdladee]

That is true about trying to reset a broken bone in a bird. His injury was very close to the shoulder and probably resulted in some nerve damage as he does not have full extension of his left wing. He does alllow us to touch him but I really wouldn"t call it petting. We have dogs and cats for that.

[Mazryonh]

Thanks, but the videos I've seen here seem to show an enormous variety amongst birds that find themselves in human company, imprinted or not.

If you search for the terms "owl cuddling" (without the quotes) you'll find an odd video of a rescued bird who actually likes cuddling. Very strange.

I've also seen imprinted owls who don't seem to like the company of humans other than the ones who raised them. I guess their personalities are as variable as ours are.