Chillin' In My Box

Adult Western Screech-Owl at a raptor rehabilitation center. He's sitting in a box posted to a tree in a large flight cage. This bird was successfully released earlier this spring.

When threatened, Western Screech-Owls tend to flatten their feathers into a narrow, broken branch-like shape with their eyes squinted down to slits. If that doesn't work and the perceived threat gets too close, they may fluff their feathers to look as large as possible, or play dead. If you're familiar with "Transformer Owl," the Southern White-faced Owl featured in that Japanese video that went viral, you can picture this. If you're not, go check out Transformer Owl on youtube!

This WESO is just a sleepy bird secure in his box.

Baby WESO