In 2016, a group of three young Great Horned Owl chicks found their way to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Illinois. The goal of wildlife rehab is full recovery and release of animals back into the wild. When the three owl chicks were developed enough to start flight training and strengthening, they were placed into a large flight area. The rehabbers quickly noticed that one of the birds was behaving differently than the others, showing unnatural comfort around its human caretakers. With more observation, they realized this particular owlet was human-imprinted. This means that at some point in its young life, it was exposed to people to an extent that the owl became mentally connected to humans as its own kind. This owl is our Zari.
Once a bird becomes a human-imprint, it cannot learn otherwise. Imprinted birds will seek out people for food, socialization, or even as a mate. Once it was determined that Zari was imprinted, she was removed from the rehab facility and found a home at Anderson Humane Society in northern Illinois. There, she started working with trainers to become an ambassador in their education department. Training raptors can take time, especially for owls because they are more focused and active during the nighttime hours. With great patience and through choice-based training techniques, Zari began to learn the skills needed to be an ambassador.
By 2022, the Raptors of Schlitz Audubon program was searching for a Great Horned Owl to add to our feathered family. Our staff discovered that the Anderson Humane Society’s education department was closing, and they needed to find new homes for their ambassadors. After thorough discussion, they decided to entrust us with the care of Zari. Once she arrived, it was clear that she was a very smart owl. Her previous training helped her transition, and our raptor staff quickly got to work on building upon her existing foundation of skills.
The personality that she revealed to us in those first few weeks has blossomed since her arrival. One required aspect of our raptor care is offering daily enrichment to every bird. Methods for enhancing an animal’s experience while they’re in the care of humans include providing items to manipulate, environmental stimuli, and food foraging challenges. We quickly discovered that Zari excels at them all. Waiting in anticipation each day for her enrichment, she sometimes gets to the items before handlers have time to put them down. Cardboard boxes filled with shredded newspapers don’t stand a chance! By the following day, her enclosure is covered in destroyed paper products while she sits proudly above on her tree perch.
The role of a Great Horned Owl ambassador at Schiltz Audubon is invaluable. As one of the most encountered raptors in our state, many guests will share stories of a Great Horned Owl experience in their neighborhood or while camping. Their low and distinctive ‘hoo hoo hoo’ hooting can be heard throughout urban and rural areas. With their dark brown and amber coloration, they blend in well but also have little to no hesitation sitting atop a house roof for all to see.
Nicknamed the ‘Tigers of the Sky’, Great Horned Owls are apex predators with their position at the top of the food chain and hunt for a variety of prey species. They are also regarded as the strongest owls in North America with a grip strength of up to 500 psi. To compare this to a human, if you clench your fist as hard as possible, a Great Horned Owl can squeeze 5-6 times harder than you!
Zari excels in her role as an ambassador with the Raptors of Schlitz Audubon. She travels around the community to educate a large range of audiences, from preschool students to retirement community residents. She confidently enters spaces from modest classrooms to large public events like the Wisconsin State Fair, all while offering everyone she meets a close encounter with one of Wisconsin’s fiercest and most beautiful hunters. With her help, audiences learn about owls in their own backyards: what they eat, where they nest, and what threats they face in the wild. She impresses audiences with stunning stoicism while strengthening their connection to nature and wildlife.
When she’s not out in the community or shredding her enrichment items, you can see Zari at periodic Raptor Encounters or Raptor Saturdays at the Center.
