Owl Moon Raptor festival: These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds...

FunkyL Loc: MD

These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds and Owl Moon brings some of theirs - some are tame because they were not able to be returned to the wild, and a few that have recovered sufficiently to be released on the day of the festival. The little grey one is a native screech owl, and the big guy is "Milo", a tame Milky Eagle Owl.

(Download)

Wasabi

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Nice photos of those beautiful owls!! I see the one is being petted, were they allowing people to put on a glove and hold them as well?

Dodie

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Excellent shots of a worthy event!

FunkyL Loc: MD

luvmypets wrote:

Nice photos of those beautiful owls!! I see the one is being petted, were they allowing people to put on a glove and hold them as well?

Dodie

No, only the owners/handlers were holding them. Petting came with cautionary words about keeping hands away from owl faces, and the handlers kept a close watch. Apparently owls bite hard! I only saw 2 birds being touched by the audience. Milo seemed used to it. There was an even larger Eurasian Eagle Owl that some folks were allowed to touch. His handler made sure he was not crowded too much by his admirers.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

FunkyL wrote:

These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds and Owl Moon brings some of theirs - some are tame because they were not able to be returned to the wild, and a few that have recovered sufficiently to be released on the day of the festival. The little grey one is a native screech owl, and the big guy is "Milo", a tame Milky Eagle Owl.

WOWEEE 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

FunkyL wrote:

No, only the owners/handlers were holding them. Petting came with cautionary words about keeping hands away from owl faces, and the handlers kept a close watch. Apparently owls bite hard! I only saw 2 birds being touched by the audience. Milo seemed used to it. There was an even larger Eurasian Eagle Owl that some folks were allowed to touch. His handler made sure he was not crowded too much by his admirers.

Thank you for answering my question! It's nice when people get to really interact with nature.

I have 2 parrots and 2 macaws and those bites are bad enough; a bite from a bird whose beak is meant for tearing flesh would not be pleasant.

Dodie

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

FunkyL wrote:

These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds and Owl Moon brings some of theirs - some are tame because they were not able to be returned to the wild, and a few that have recovered sufficiently to be released on the day of the festival. The little grey one is a native screech owl, and the big guy is "Milo", a tame Milky Eagle Owl.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Great set.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

FunkyL wrote:

These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds and Owl Moon brings some of theirs - some are tame because they were not able to be returned to the wild, and a few that have recovered sufficiently to be released on the day of the festival. The little grey one is a native screech owl, and the big guy is "Milo", a tame Milky Eagle Owl.

Nice shots

Bubalola Loc: Big Apple, NY

FunkyL wrote:

These 2 handsome guys were at the festival to drum up support for the raptor rehab work Owl Moon does here in Maryland. Licensed falconers bring their birds and Owl Moon brings some of theirs - some are tame because they were not able to be returned to the wild, and a few that have recovered sufficiently to be released on the day of the festival. The little grey one is a native screech owl, and the big guy is "Milo", a tame Milky Eagle Owl.