I know a pressing question for all of us lately has been - do owlets wear onesies? And if so, should we start knitting them.
I do not have an answer to the first part of that pressing question, but I do know the answer to the second. There will be no owlets this year so you can put the knitting needles down.
At the time they appeared, I thought these two, Mr. And Mrs. Snacks were a committed couple, who had come to survey my owl box open house. You can read about the start of this adventure and learn more about how they appeared and got their names over here.
In a nutshell (or owl pellet in this case) what happened is, in early spring I got an owl in my owl box, then I got a different owl, then the two of them were in there together, then they came and went periodically over a few weeks and then the grey one disappeared entirely, presumably finding a mate.
The red owl? The red owl is still here.
It seems to stay in my owl box for about half of the week. Sometimes for a few days in a row, sometimes every other day. There's no predicting when the owl will arrive but when they do they spend a lot of time at the bottom of the box.
I often don't even know that they're there until just before dusk when they pop out to get ready to go hunting.
Something interesting I've discovered is that if an owl is in the box, at some point in the day there will be screaming birds in the branches voicing their displeasure. This is especially true at dusk.
Blue Jays, cardinals and other birds get as close as they can to the box and scream and scream. If I'm in the kitchen and I hear screaming, I know my now nameless owl, is at home and safe.
You may notice I'm using a lot of ambiguous pronouns. That's because as of now I really have absolutely no idea if this red owl is a male or a female.
One thing I do know is that the red owl is definitely not a Mrs. Snacks any longer. This red headed owl is independent, living the single life, eating out at night and avoiding socialization all day.
If this owl had an Instagram account it would post nothing, comment on nothing, like nothing, but look at everything.
This gender fluid feather-ball needs a new name that better reflects them. And we're taking suggestions.
Facts
They are an owl.
They are single.
They are red/orange.
They are male or female.
They are a conundrum.
They do not hoot so much as whinney like a horse.
Put the knitting needles down and pick the baby names book up. Go!
I think you hit the perfect name in your Facts list. The owl is Conundrum, to be shortened to Conan or Connie if they ever enters a relationship that reveals their gender. Whichever they are, they are very pretty/handsome.
I think your owl should be named Gingersnap.
She/he looks like a “ginger”, and is single, so smart and snappy.
Maybe next year she’ll(?) settle down.