New arrivals at Kincraig ruffle a few feathers

THE HIGHLAND Wildlife Park has notched up a first with a fluffy new arrival.

The snowy owl chick hatched in early June and has just made its public bow at the popular attraction by Kincraig.

Known as an owlet, the young snowy owl chick is the pride and joy of mum Hedwig and dad Heinrich.

A dark grey at first, male snowy owls become pure white but females always keep some dark markings.

Keepers will not know the sex of the new little owlet for at least another few weeks.

Already though, the fluffy youngster has been making a few attempts at spreading its wings.

Mr Douglas Richardson, Animal Collection Manager at the Highland Wildlife Park, said: "Snowy owls are known for their graceful, silent flight, but our little owlet is definitely still learning.

"Its first few flights have been a bit haphazard – their prey would definitely hear it coming – however we’re sure he or she will soon be as competent as mum and dad.

"This little owlet is a very special bird as it’s the first one to be reared in the history of the Highland Wildlife Park.

"He, or she, has been growing at a great rate of knots, and is actually almost the same size as mum and dad although it still looks very much like a chick because of its colouring."

Two capercaillie chicks which hatched on June 3 have also just been given their debut.

The species is native to Scotland, as well as being found in Spain, central Europe, Scandinavia and across Russia to northern Asia.

The biggest species of grouse in the world, the males weigh twice as much as the females when fully grown and have the nickname the ‘horse of the woods’.

Mr Richardson said: "We’ve recently reunited the family group at the Highland Wildlife Park. Male capercaillies are notoriously aggressive, so the female had her own adjoining enclosure to incubate the eggs and start the chicks off. "However, they’re all happily back together now and doing well.

"The birth of these two chicks is fantastic as capercaillie numbers have reduced drastically over the past few years, so much so that they are one of the most endangered species in the UK, and capercaillie is particularly delicate and hard to breed."

Snowy owl facts:

• Unlike most other owls, Snowy owls are active during the day.

• Although not rare globally, Snowy owls are very rare visitors to the UK with the odd visitor to the western and northern isles. The last time the species bred in the wild in the UK was in the Shetlands in 1975.

• Snowy owls start to fly at around two months old.

• Males and females have an average wingspan of four to five feet.

Capercaillie facts:

• Male birds are blackish grey in colour and females are a reddish brown.

• Capercaillies thrive in natural pinewoods, where they feed on conifer needles, seeds and forest fruits.

• Males are twice the size of the females; they weigh up to 4kg, can be 86cm high and have a wingspan of 125cm.

• Capercaillie became extinct in the UK in 1785 and was reintroduced in 1837.

• The current population may be as low 1,200 birds with most of them living in Badenoch and Strathspey.

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