Escape from Owlcatraz

Yesterday I took a journey with Malcolm to Shannon, which is about an hour to an hour and a half north of Wellington. The goal was to get some footage of owls for his documentary. The destination was a place called Owlcatraz.

Warning: The following contains heaps of educational information

We arrived, and after standing around for a little while and being entertained by Joey the Cockatoo and his antics, we headed down into the owl pen. The owners of Owlcatraz have spent mostly their entire life studying owls and have given these owls a safe environment to live in.

So we entered the pen to capture some footage of the Southern Boobook Owl (also called the Ruru by the Māori, and the Morepork for the sound it makes). There were about 6 owls in the pen, which was an octagon that simulated the natural environment of the Boobook, with trees and mist and timed lights.

We spotted one Morepork on a branch about chest height, so we turned on our red-gelled lights and began to film. The little guy instantly woke up and was absolutely intrigued by the light. He turned his head from side to side, and was entranced by the camera for the first couple minutes, staring straight into the lens with his wide eyes. The Morepork wasn't more than 8-10 inches in height when his head was tucked into his body, and he was very cooperative.



Since the lights were on a timer, they turned off at one point. This is supposed to simulate dusk, so once the light drops below a certain brightness level, it means that it's time to wake up and start feeding. Instantly the owl began to stir more, getting ready to fly away. But the owner overrode the lights and turned them up a bit more. It was interesting to see the effect, as the owl relaxed right away, and went back to a calm state.

So we began to talk to the owner while we were filming, and he told us a bit about the Morepork. It is a nocturnal owl, that hunts in complete darkness unlike other owls which hunt at dusk and dawn. It is able to see heat traces of prey, and has the advantage over animals that rely on sight during the night.

The Ruru is a great symbol of luck in Māori society, and when going into battle, if a Ruru was spotted flying the opposite direction of the soldiers, they would retreat. If flying with the soldiers, they would go into battle with the blessing of the Ruru.

At one point the owner told us how many people had wanted to do exactly what we were doing. Video and still cameras are not allowed in the pen because many people are very unintelligent and turn the flash on to photograph the owls. Because their eyes are SO sensitive to light, this literally blinds the owls for months. If done in the wild, it can kill them, as they obviously rely on their sight for hunting. People have done it before and he has to take the birds in and feed and nurture them until they regain their sight, and they are never able to fully recover. He said tears stream down their face because of how much pain their eyes are in.

While the adult Morepork is nocturnal, the young prefer light, and often sleep in a more lit section of the pen. Often times in the wild this causes problems, because they are active during the day. They often times mistake hawks for their mothers, fly to them, and are killed.

The owl sleeps on one foot because that way it magnifies any movement in the tree they are sleeping in by 100 times. It allows them to sense any bugs such as wetas that are scampering around. When the owl is sleeping, they barely have their eyes open but are completely aware of any presence around them. A trick that we were shown is that if you take a stick and lightly push against the feet of the owl while they are sleeping, it will move to the stick while remaining asleep in order to maintain balance. This apparently can be done with any owl, even those in the wild. Very cool.



After about twenty minutes we had to leave because another group was arriving, but not before we walked the perimeter of the pen and saw the young owls flying around. The whole experience was very cool, and it was incredible to have the unique opportunity to film and photograph such rare and beautiful birds.