WEBVTT - Owl Tinder 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.920 Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeart Radio. I'm your 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:13.720 host of Mini Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.799 evolutionary biology, and today on the show, it's birds in 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:21.560 the News Owls. Well that ends well, we're talking about 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.600 some noteworthy birds, especially owls. This is a very owl 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.000 heavy episode because I like to keep up with the 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:33.360 bird news, because if you birds news, you bird lows. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:39.400 So we will learn about orange owls, what's happening. We 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.400 will also learn about how an owl was at the 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:47.080 center of a fight for the Endangered Species Act. And 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.760 we will in the show with a short sweet kids 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.720 story about robots taking care of birds, which I do love. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.640 Discover this and more as we answer the age question 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:06.120 was the wild Robot just a documentary? Joining me today 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.400 is friend of the show, producer host of the podcast 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:13.400 Rough Stuff as well as shooting threes, Bridget Greenberg. 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:17.360 Look, Hi, it's me. I heard an owl the other 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.679 day at like at like four in the morning, and 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.120 I was very excited, and I woke up my boyfriend, 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.000 who was not as excited as me about hearing an owl. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.080 I am so proud of you, Bridget. I can't even 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:33.120 begin like this is I this is why you're on 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.640 the show. I approved so much. Tell your boyfriend he's wrong. 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:38.200 Yeah. 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.720 This happens with my husband all the time, where I'm like, 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:42.200 did you hear that bird? He's like, what are you 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.720 talking about? And it's like do you have ears? Do 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.360 you not hear the birds? 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:47.880 Like they're all around us? 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:53.080 I cannot. I cannot navigate to save my life. I 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.760 will like go into a building, exit the building, and 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.320 run directly into like either traffic or a wall. Uh. 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:00.720 Sure. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.000 I can never find my way around. I have no 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:03.920 sense of direction. 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.160 The fact that I'm not in a parking garage right 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.079 now looking for my car is amazing. 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.160 No, No, I know, same, same I've I've been. I've 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.440 been stuck in a parking garage just going around and 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.120 around and around for like more times than I care 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:22.720 to admit. Uh. And I I do sometimes have to 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:28.360 be guided like a sort of untrained mongrel uh to 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:33.000 make sure I do not interact dangerously with traffic. So 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.079 you would think that, Okay, my skills of observation are 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.800 not that great. But the thing is, I'm using like 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.400 ninety nine percent of my brain power to like hear 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.160 listen for and observe birds. So every time I got 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.960 your important yeah, I'm like, I'm like Brett, who's my husband? 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.080 Like Brett, there's a cout Did you hear that? That 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:52.960 was a cout? Hey, there was a There's a tit? 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.119 Did you hear that tit? Hey, there was a houseparrow? 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:55.680 Did you hear that? 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.079 They'll guide you. The birds will guide you if you listen. 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:03.840 The birds will guide you, possibly into traffic. But the 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.160 point is it's really important to observe birds at the 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:08.880 expense of any other sort of. 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:10.840 Yeah. 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:15.040 So we're on the same page there, and people have 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:21.040 been observing one particular bird near Lake here on Michigan. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:29.440 People have spotted an uh orange owl. Orange owl just dropped, Yes, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.200 new orange owl. New orange owl is So they have 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.720 spotted a snowy owl that people have named either Rusty 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.200 or Creamsicle. I kind of like creamsicle. Yeah, I'm sort 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.320 of on the I'm voting for creamsicle is the name? 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.000 Yeah, Rusty is like, yeah, cute classic. There are probably 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.920 other birds named Rusty Creamsicle. Creamsicle is it original name? 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.040 Also, if you see this bird, oh wait, I have 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.840 to yeah, I have to give you the images because like, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.600 this is like a bright This is not just kind 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.400 of orange in the sense of. 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:03.080 No, it's not a color. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.480 Yeah, it's like a like how a fox is orange 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.720 or whatever, where it's like, it's a pretty decent foxes 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.160 are a decent orange. But it's like a natural looking orange. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.880 This is bright, synthetic looking orange. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:18.400 Yeah, it's like someone like a toddler started coloring it 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:20.400 with a cran and then forgot. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:27.440 Yep, that is but like precisely, precisely what it looks like, 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:31.839 like a toddler kind of spilled some cran juice. Cran 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:32.920 juice isn't a thing, but. 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:33.640 The grand juice. 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:35.240 That is kind of what it looks like. 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:43.400 Yeah, what a stunning bird, very beautiful. Yeah. Creamsicle. Yeah, 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.240 creamsicle is a name one hundred because it's also got 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:47.920 the white mixed in. It's not just as. 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:51.480 Yeah yeah, no, it's it's one hundred percent of creamsicle. Uh, 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.800 perfect name. No notes on that this bird is a singular. 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.000 It's not that this is a new species. This is 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:04.080 a snowy owl, so this is known. And the the 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.880 fact that it looks like it's been stained with a 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.560 highlighter or dipped in sauce has been there's been multiple 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.560 photographs of it, so it's not like a photoshop hooks 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.800 or something of that nature. So it is definitely a 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.000 bird that exists who is orange, and we don't really 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:28.960 know why. So it's not like it's not like, oh yes, 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.600 oh yes, we know this is this owl has uh 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:33.640 orangeitis that. 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.040 You know, are like a variety of snowy owl that 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:38.920 is orange. 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.880 No, no, no, no no. Researchers are like, no, this 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:47.919 is not this is not normal, and so there have 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:53.080 been a variety of theories as to what is going on. Obviously, 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:58.600 someone could have possibly captured a snowy owl, dyed it 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:05.680 and then release it as a prank, which seems somewhat 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:12.200 unlikely in my opinion. I not I don't put it. 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.359 It's not it's not a good prank. It's not that 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:17.240 I don't put it past people. I you know, as 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.000 much as I love humanity, we got some stinkers, We 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:22.320 got some stinkers, and we got some perverts. So I 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.160 would believe a person would do this. It's that I 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.919 think it's that I doubt the person who would want 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:34.000 to die an owl orange would have the capacity to 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.120 do it. You know what I mean, like a pigeon, 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.920 Sure you can't. You can catch a pigeon. So like 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.080 people have caught pigeons and like done weird things to pigeons, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.280 like glued little hats to their heads, which I disapprove of. 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.880 Don't do that. If a pigeon wants to wear a hat, 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:49.599 it'll wear a hat. 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.520 You don't. If you glue it will find a hat. Yeah, 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.320 they're around enough trash, I'll find a hat. 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.480 And honestly, like pigeon fashion is so far advanced from 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:02.279 human fact, like pigeons who wear bread around their necks 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.720 or bagels around their necks. Like, pigeon fashion is beyond us. 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.280 Yeah we're not ready for that runway walk. 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:14.360 No, no, exactly, So leave the pigeons alone. But yeah, 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.760 like I would, I would believe this was a prank 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.440 if it was a pigeon because people are weird. But 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.800 a snowy owl, I don't see how someone would catch it. 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:28.880 I mean it's possible, but it just seems it seems 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:33.800 like an odd thing to do. Uh, it's not done 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.680 by researchers, right, because there are like bird conservation projects 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:38.960 and stuff, but there's nothing right. 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.440 There are other ways to tag bird. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.560 There used to be I think, like a few decades ago, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.600 there used to be some things where they would use 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.080 paint to track birds. But that was a long long 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.960 time ago. We don't do that anymore. It's banding birds now. 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:55.080 Radios or banding birds no longer using paint to track 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:56.560 migratory birds. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.520 So that's that's a lot of paints. I would imagine. Yeah, 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.600 I would imagine they just like kind of give a 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.880 stripe when they did it, not try to. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.880 Yeah, they didn't dunk. They didn't dunk the bird into 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.440 sort of the that little package of seasoning that comes 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:13.480 in with Kraft. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.240 Mad and cheese. Yeah, yeah, exactly. 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.800 So uh yeah, So various researchers have various theories. So 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:28.520 one is by Michigan State University bird coloration expert Kevin McGraw, 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:33.160 who thinks it's possible the owl has a mutation resulting 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:38.440 from environmental factors such as pollution. So that's theory number one, 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:42.400 that this bird is an orange mutant. Huh. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:48.640 Sad for the reason, but cool turnout like that if 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.800 we get more orange owls, that's pretty cool, but you know, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.800 for bad reasons ultimately net zero. 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.080 Yeah, I don't want the lesson to be let's let's 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.080 keep oranging our owls like. 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.280 No, no, it's a net negative for sure, but cool. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:07.480 But that's that's a theory, right, that is not there 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.000 has been no evidence of that, other than the fact 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:17.680 there's an orange owl going around. Auburn University ornithologist Jeffrey 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.040 Hill believes it is not a mutation. He thinks that 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.760 it the pattern of coloration seems to be a die 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:31.000 that was applied. But again the question is why and 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.680 who and how and what? 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:42.760 Yeah, what I mean? I like I people are weird, 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.720 they really are. So I'm being like, this is my bird, 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.160 and I want to know it's my bird. But owl 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:51.080 seem hard to. 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:53.440 Like. 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:58.079 I I've had enough like trouble, trying to trama, housecats, nails. 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.120 I can't imagine trying to die an entire owl. 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.760 I've often thought about how one would go about dying 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.360 an entire owl. I've given a lot of thought of it, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.599 about it, a lot of thoughts to it. But I 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.160 would imagine be quite difficult. And owls are essentially the 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:20.680 cats of the sky. Yeah they don't, they really do. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.480 They don't want to be dyed. Uh, And so it's 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.200 not like. It's not like an eery PoTA where the 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.720 owls are just gonna like fly around and deliver you 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:35.520 mail and let you do weird wizard stuff to it. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.760 It's not gonna like that, and it's gonna use its 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:40.600 big clause on you. 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:45.240 Yeah. Every time I've seen an owl at like a 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.840 zoo or some sort of bird. 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.600 Show, bird show isn't the word that you're looking for. 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:56.439 But all right, yeah, but you know you know bird 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:59.320 with bird Yeah, bird show, bird shop. 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.359 You're right, I apologize, I apologize. It is called bird show. 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.280 Bird show. This is bird show. 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:06.959 Uh. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.600 Yeah. They do have the vibe of cats of like 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:11.760 gaze upon me, do not come near me? 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:17.360 Yes, but gaze, Yeah, you make gaze. The last theory 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.840 is the one that I believe in. This is the 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.640 explanation that really does it for me. Uh. A third 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:28.920 bird expert, doctor Scott Whedenschnall. Also he has the best name, 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.320 so I gotta go with him. He's the co founder 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.040 of Project Snowstorm, a snowy owl research group. He told 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.360 The New York Times New York Times is how do 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.920 you say that? New York Times is James Krugnall Knolly 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:46.640 New York Times is James Krignolly. The most likely explanation 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.560 is that it was the icing fluid at an airport, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:56.000 since some formulations are that red orange color. Oh, I 0:11:56.040 --> 0:12:00.600 think he. I think that's what happens. That feels them 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:02.560 right that like doesn't me. 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.360 That that kind of feels like the Okham's razor. Uh. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.040 The simplest answer is the best. Uh, this alog it's 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:11.800 got spilt on. 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.200 Right exactly, Like when I look at this al, I'm like, yeah, 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.520 that guy could have gotten blitzed with a diceer sprayer 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:23.079 and uh, also like it there's like kind of it 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.240 explains the kind of tied eye pattern, the pattern, right yeah. 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:31.640 And also like there there's like some white feathers above 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:33.599 the orange ones, and it's like, yeah, it could have 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.520 also molted some of the other feathers and so that's 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.640 why some of them look like pristine and other ones 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.160 are sort of like have this color spread on it. 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.520 So I think this, I think this guy got blested 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:49.000 with with plane juice. Oh no, yeah. 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.960 I mean and that also his his his face in 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.400 the in the first one is like, yeah. 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:59.280 I get me, Yeah, he's he's a this this is 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.680 a this is a bird that now has a vendetta 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.959 against planes, which does worry me. Yeah, yeah, I think 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:07.480 we should be concerned about that. 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.040 We should watch out for this bird. If you're in 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.400 if you see creamsicle, you see creamsicle out your window 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.840 and you're flying it does it does seem like it 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.360 just takes one, you know these days, it just takes one. 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:30.040 Yeah, so yeah, Creamsicle. Creamsicles revenge hopefully won't happen, but yeah, 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:36.080 poor Creamsicle. Also, if you are in the Michigan Lake 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:41.480 here on area, uh, do not snitch on creamsicle. I can't. 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.480 I can't emphasize this enough. Don't be a snitch. If 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:49.000 you see creamsicle. Feel free to take a photo marvel 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:55.000 at creamsicles beauty and orange appearance, but do not post 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:58.120 online where you see creamsicle. If you take a photo 0:13:58.120 --> 0:13:59.680 and you want to share it online, scrub it of 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:04.840 any I identifying information. Because people do not want this 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:08.319 owl to be harassed. This owl is like a bird celebrity. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.160 It's like it's like bird Scarlet jo It's like bird 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.240 Scarlet Johansson. I think I saw recently this post about 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.079 like Scarlet Johansson doesn't like to take photos with fans 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.280 because she it's like kind of an invasion of her privacy. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.400 And it's like, yeah, that completely makes sense, scargo. I'm 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.080 one hundred percent on her side. Like she's probably out 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.800 some stalkers, so she doesn't want photos taken. That makes sense. 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.200 Creamsicle is the Scarlet Johansson of owls. 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.600 And and yeah it's beautiful. 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.320 Yeah, like if you know where she is, No you don't, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:43.040 No you don't, No you don't. 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:49.320 Yeah, I yeah. I feel like owls are very you know, solitary, 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:51.760 and like their silence too. I'm sure they don't want 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:58.120 swarms of people around them. No, no, they aren't knowing them. Yeah, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.720 and oh, you know, it's already been through so much. 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.200 It was so exciting to see an orange owl and 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.120 then I was like, oh, yeah, it got hit with plane. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:10.160 The good news that the good news is that the 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:16.240 sort of Michigan Wildlife Conservation group has said that the 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.880 owl appears to be in good health. So great, Creamsicle 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.880 seems fine. I keep saying the owl. We don't actually 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:27.240 know the owl sex Uh, I'm calling her her because 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:33.200 she's beautiful, but could could easily be a meal. But yeah, 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.400 so it's doesn't probably not, probably does not care. It's like, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.480 is that mouse? Is that tasty mouse? No, don't care. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:42.600 Yeah, so that's its priority. 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.640 Taste mouse, kill the mouse. No, all right, creamsicle seems 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:47.400 to be doing fine. 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:48.280 That's good. 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.640 Probably got pribe, got blasted with the plain juice. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:54.920 Yeah. Oh, it's got a cool as as long as 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.680 it's healthy. It's got a cool it's got a cool die. 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.240 It's gotta it's got you know, try something out. It's 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:03.920 got cool vibes. We saw her across the room and 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.880 we thought you had cool vibes. So but keep it 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:08.720 across the room. Don't harass this owl. 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.440 Yeah, don't stry anymore playing juice on owls. That seems 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:12.800 not good. 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.840 That's right. The airport, the local, the Michigan Airport refused 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:17.880 to comment on the story. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.640 So they're like, yeah, yeah, we know. 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.000 Owl owl Tinder just dropped, bridget. I know you're like, 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.280 if you're worried about owls finding love, worry no longer. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.800 Owl tinder is here, thank god. So Western burrowing owls 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:39.720 are literally the cutest owl in existence. 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.000 They are those are are those? Well? No, not Western? 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:47.600 I was thinking of the hoot owls from the Carl 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.720 Hyason book. They were in Florida. Those are those are 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.880 that's deep Florida. Lord, that's a he's a Florida author. Okay, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.040 there was a whole book called in a movie called 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:57.560 Hoot about burrowing owls. 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.440 Yeah, well, burrowing owls are all gonna be cute though, 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.560 no matter where they are. These ones are Western burrowing 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.680 owls found in California, and they are adorable. They are 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.080 terrestrial owls, which means that I mean they can fly, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:14.880 but they burrow. They spend their time in burrows. They 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.800 most spend most of their time on the ground hunting, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.919 and they are I think the cutest owl in existence. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.520 Sometimes they lie on their tom tums just to like 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.720 get that, like sunbathe. They're small owls. They're brown with 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.800 these big yellow eyes. They only weigh about five ounces. 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.040 They're truly a handheld owl. 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:38.959 Yeah, they're little, tiny birds. 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:43.720 They're owl many and they're super cute. They have this 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.040 perpetual look of either shock, deep a fence, or plane stupidity. 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.439 Usually there's like a trio of them staring at the camera. 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.359 One of them looks angry, one of them looks shocked, 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.560 and the other one looks deeply stupid. I don't know 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.800 how they always manage to get the three three owls 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:05.600 in a band. Yeah formation I I will have pictures 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.520 of it in the show notes. But I highly recommend 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:14.040 just googling burrowing owls. They're very silly. Anyways, these little 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.800 dumb dumbs need our help finding love. Uh. This is 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:22.240 an article in Geo by Kate Ferby, which is the 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:27.000 perfect name name to be writing about the burrowing owls, which, yeah, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.080 they are ferbie like they are ferbies, they're real furbies. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:36.879 So apparently these owls are Their populations have been declining 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:41.040 in the San Francisco Bay Area, and one of the 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:45.560 problems with population decline, especially when it comes to urbanization 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:50.119 or suburbanization suburban crawl, is that you are kind of 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.840 making these genetic bottlenecks, and so genetic diversity goes down 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:58.320 in the overall health of the species declines. So owl 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:05.320 conservationists have created uh basically owl Love Island. So they 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.600 it's a it's a camp for owls where they go 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.359 as juveniles and it's to like they check on their health. 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.200 They ban them. They do like genetic tests and blood 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.919 tests and then like for the winter period because a 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.480 lot of the juveniles are it's still the population in 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.480 this area is still somewhat fragile. So they keep the 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:26.880 juveniles there over winter in this big bird sanctuary so 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:31.080 that they're they're grow up nice and healthy. And then 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:37.040 they play uh like match maker for these birds. 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:37.760 Uh. 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:41.119 But they they do it by finding like the least 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.720 in bread match for them. So one of the problems 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.960 when you have a declining population is if the birds 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.399 mate with someone like their cousin, it's not great. Yeah, 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.119 So they're trying, they're trying to get these birds to stop, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:20:00.280 uh stop doing incests, some doing in so they they 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:05.160 find they find a bird that's like very genetically distant 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.200 from the other bird, pair them up. And when they're 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.080 like when they are in adults and they are released 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:16.439 from bird love camp. Uh they uh just it's like 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.960 you will ask like, okay, how do you like have 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.760 birds get married? What do you mean like these you're 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.320 matching these birds like they're birds. 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:24.840 What do you do? 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.240 Yeah, you throw both of them in a hole. 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:31.680 So yeah, that will do it. 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:35.560 That'll do. So they they find burrows for these birds 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.560 because they they they like like they either make them 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.200 or find the burrow and they will take them the pair. 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:45.639 The match set that there's like you are this is this? 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.480 This match pair is the most genetically diverse birds. They're 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.440 the least related. You're not cousins, so congratulations. They stick 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.399 them in the hole, and the birds are like cool 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.960 with it, Like they they're just like okay, because again 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:04.480 at this point, the yeah, hey you're you live in 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:05.040 hole too. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.399 We have so much in common. Yeah, what else do 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:08.800 you need? This? 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:09.520 Nice? 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:10.200 Is it? 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:13.680 The you're the bird of my dreams. You're also in home. 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:15.000 I'm in hole. You're in hole. 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:17.160 It's a nice hole. You want to stay in this hole? 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:20.760 Fore, yeah, let's just stay in hole together. So like 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.600 it seems to work because again because it's like uh 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.640 it is they're out in wild, in the wild at 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.959 this point, they can do whatever they want. But they're 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:33.000 pretty happy usually with this match. And they're not always 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.439 like one hundred percent monogamous, but they tend to be 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.200 like they might have like some breeding seasons where they 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.359 go and they like kind of get a hall pass. 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:44.000 They explore and explore a little bit. It's like an 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.520 open marriage. But like they they they. 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:51.040 In hole for so long a hole Yeah, it's like 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:53.200 it's like like I met someone. 0:21:55.760 --> 0:22:01.600 I met someone today who also lives in hole. Right, crazy, right, 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:07.840 So yeah, they seem to be happy with the matches, 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:12.480 and apparently this is working like surprisingly well. By diversifying 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:17.080 their DNA. They this has resulted in their telomeres doubling 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:20.880 in length, which is really good news for the owl population. Again, 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.960 telomeres are sort of like, it's like this, on the 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:27.880 end of your your DNA, you have like this strand 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:32.160 of proteins that don't necessarily do anything, but it's kind 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:33.520 of like you know how I get on the end 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.479 of your zipper. You have that like long metal thingy 0:22:37.760 --> 0:22:40.120 that like stops the zipper from just like coming off. 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:44.040 That's what a telomere is. Essentially, It's like a strand 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:49.359 of proteins that prevents the the things that like run 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:55.240 around run along the DNA, copying the DNA called like enzymes, 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:59.080 from basically messing up once it gets to the end 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.600 of it. And so the shorter the telomere, the more 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:06.720 uh basically the shorter the lifespan of the organism, because 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:08.920 then you start getting more more and more airs, chance 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.919 of cancer, chance of airs that is uh, incompatible with 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.000 staying alive and so longer telomeres are generally good for 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:21.880 an animal and uh so yeah, by this this bird 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:27.560 love Island is creating healthier birds by increasing the bird diversity. 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:33.240 Hey, it's working. Love Island never works. I love that. 0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:41.280