Dogs alerted a resident in Biggar Street to a rustling in the hedge alongside her property on Friday and upon investigating, a young spotted owl was discovered.
Kavish Ramcharan, the SPCA Inspector, was called and knew exactly who to phone – Dee Owen, the “Bird Lady” – who did not hesitate to adopt the hungry youngster!
Spotted e owls are indigenous to our area. Latin name Bubo africanus, the spotted ea is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle owls. Its height is 45cm and its weight is from 480 to 850g. It has a 100cm to 140 cm wingspan.

Behaviour: They make their nest on the ground and have been known to nest on window ledges of buildings.

Food: Its prey consists of small mammals, birds, insects, frogs, and reptiles. It often swallows quite large prey whole, with much head-jerking, and if the object is really challenging, pausing and resting with the mouth full.
Breeding: They mate for life.They are able to breed at around one year of age. Breeding begins in July continuing to the first weeks of February. The female lays two to four eggs and does the incubation, leaving the nest only to eat what the male has brought food. The incubation period lasts approximately 32 days. The young owls can fly at around seven weeks of age. Five weeks later, the young owls leave the nest.