2 rare owl chicks born in Hong Kong breeding success

Two rare brown wood owls have been bred at a botanic garden in Hong Kong, with the two chicks growing their flight feathers last month.

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po kept the breeding programme under wraps for weeks, allowing the chicks to grow undisturbed before announcing it.

The chicks, still downy white, were seen peering curiously from their nest among ferns in the farm’s mature forest. Their mother kept watch from a nearby tree during the day and foraged for food at night, the farm said in a social media post.

“We have been observing them for several weeks, and two healthy and lively chicks successfully fledged in May!” the post read.

According to the farm, the brown wood owl is one of the largest owl species in Hong Kong. The forest-dependent bird naturally arrived in the city from elsewhere in southern China within the past two decades.

The brown wood owl is a large nocturnal raptor, measuring about 39cm to 55cm (15.3 inches to 21.6 inches) in length, with a wingspan of 125cm to 167cm.

It has a deep brown upper body with white scapular stripes, large dark eyes, a facial disc with dark margins and pale brownish underparts densely marked with fine dark bars.