Spotted eagle owls ringed for released into the wild from Boksburg

Two spotted eagle owls are going through an EcoSolutions release programme at La Como Estate, in Parkhaven.

Residents of the estate have been feeding the owls daily and monitoring their food intake.

The owls were discovered in June, with one coming from a Johannesburg wildlife vet and the other from the Germiston SPCA.

Residents of the estate who volunteered to be part of the programme have named the two birds Owlsa and Owlaf. The names are borrowed from two characters from the movie Frozen because the birds were discovered on a rather chilly day.

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On July 8, the owls were placed with SAFrings around their legs in preparation for their release into where they belong – the wild.

A brief talk to residents of the estate on the birds and their role in the environment was also part of the afternoon’s festivities.

SAFrings are small, metal bands.

Sara Orchardson, an ecologist from EcoSolutions, led the talk.

“The SAFrings come from the SAFrings database at the Cape Town University in the avion department. They house all the information and we send all the information there,” she explained.

“Basically, the ring has a unique number on it and that ring will say where the owl was ringed, who ringed the owl if it’s an adult or juvenile and the date of ringing.

“If we come across these owls again, we will see that they come from La Como. It helps when people come across ringed owls: some may be compromised and they could be taken to the vet or something. So we do get nice information from that.

“There was a spotted eagle owl breeding in a release box in Deinfern. She had a ring on. We caught her, took her down, we looked at the ring number and she was released eight years prior to that at an estate 2km down the road.

“So it’s very interesting information and also will help with our release programme, with our release protocols of what’s best practice to get these birds back in the environment to do what they do best, which is catching rats, something that we don’t want to do,” she joked.

“The owls will return to their parents for food, that’s why the post-release is important because we’re playing the role of the surrogate parent. They may not come for a couple of days, but you never know: the one day they may come back just for one piece of food. That’s why post-release is also important. Spotted eagle owls may reach 10 or more years in age. ”

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