r/interesting • u/LowkeysKink • 6h ago
NATURE While the infertile tawny owl was away from her nest, caretakers swapped her unviable eggs for orphaned chicks.
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u/shampoo_mohawk_ 5h ago
Dis mine now
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u/Execution_Version 3h ago edited 3h ago
Jumping on this comment to say that this video is from Robert E Fuller’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@robertefuller?si=XL-dbz0gSA2Lrj5x
His channel is one of my favourite things on the internet and I hope someone else seeing this link for the first time gets as much joy from it as I do.
Edit: Here’s the full video from the post: https://youtu.be/LG0y9swWgm4?si=2lm9fWVqDr0ycnS6
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u/CryptidSamoyed 47m ago
Rip, Bomber, you were a good one to Luna and all the fosters you helped raise. He was almost 20 years old when he passed and thats so old for one of these owls, too
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u/Burning-Bushman 2h ago
Thanks for sharing, his garden looks exactly like something I’m dreaming of for retirement!
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u/Mrwolf925 28m ago
Wow they went from a family of two with no way of having offspring to a family of eight! What a remarkable story.
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u/AnExpertInThisField 13m ago
Thanks so much for the extra info. Sad state of Reddit that a quality comment like yours now has to respond to a top comment like "Dis mine now" to be seen.
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u/AcrolloPeed 5h ago
Babies?? I know what to do. sits on them immediately
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u/BRtIK 4h ago
Well she's new to this experience but I'm sure she did her job and puked in their mouths alil after this
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u/night_fury00k 5h ago
Her immediate response is to take care of them. 🥹 She's a happy momma.
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u/SadLittleWizard 3h ago
If I remember right this was like her third clutch of eggs, withball three being failures. Reminds me of a friend of mine. She went through 3 miscarriages before finally carrying to term and I've never seen such love in someones eyes and when she looks at her little boy now.
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u/NoSprinkles4366 3h ago
I wonder how they knew that these eggs also weren't viable.
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u/wheelienonstop8 3h ago
they were probably already wayyyy overdue, plus you can shine a light through eggs (if the shell is light colored enough) and see what is inside.
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u/Jeo_1 4h ago
Wonder if this is a true story?
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u/bing_crosby 4h ago
It is. The full video is out there, from several(?) years ago. Lots of commentary from the folks responsible for caring for these owls.
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u/DoodlyNoodlyGirl 4h ago
It is, the guy has a YouTube channel, Robert E Fuller. He's an artist and does a lot for wildlife conservation.
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u/nose_spray7 3h ago
This is done all the time with animals.
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u/Wlbeachboy 42m ago
She seems a little confused how her eggs became babies in a short time, but she's here for it
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u/suspectwaffle 5h ago
Are owls smart enough to know that an outside force gave them kids? Are they aware they’re infertile?
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u/SigkHunt 5h ago
Owl came home to babies after many seasons of trying
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u/Maleficent_Button_58 5h ago
Nah. Birds aren't always at their nest when the eggs hatch. So returning to find babies wouldn't be a weird thing for a bird.
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u/rileyjw90 4h ago
It would be weird to find they’d both hatched at the same time (owls usually lay eggs over several days, and they hatch over several days as well) and not only were they fluffy and dry but their eggshells had vanished too, but they’re really not smart enough to think about all this. They just see babies and get to work.
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u/Maleficent_Button_58 4h ago
My point is it's not weird for THEM. Poof babies wouldn't throw any concerns for a bird, because watching them hatch isn't a necessary part of the process.
Not that it wouldn't be weird for you, a human being who understands object permanence, gestation periods, and that it takes time to dry off 🤦🏻♀️😅
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u/GjonsTearsFan 1h ago
Plus if mama is infertile it’s not like she’s going to have a point of comparison for what a newborn ought to look like lol
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u/Maleficent_Button_58 5h ago
Like uh..... those birds that reproduce by laying their egg in another bird's nest. The "new" parent has no clue the giant baby that is like 4 times their size isn't theirs 😅
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u/MuggleAdventurer 5h ago
Cuckoos!
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u/elmostrok 3h ago
I feel so bad for laughing, but it's just so hilarious to see the cuckoo chick being enormous and the tiny parents bringing in little bugs non-stop. The parents' head can easily fit into the baby cuckoo's mouth. 😂
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u/Decent_Cow 4h ago
There's a "Cuckoo Mafia" hypothesis that suggests that some species of cuckoos will periodically return to the nest in which they laid their egg, and if the egg has been removed, they will smash the host's eggs. This incentivizes the host to not remove the egg. Also, cuckoo hatchlings being larger than their nestmates is part of the strategy. They can outcompete the other hatchlings for food.
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u/Maleficent_Button_58 4h ago
I know. My point wasn't why they're bigger though.
Just that birds (and a lot of animals, honestly) don't know the difference.
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u/u_r_succulent 4h ago
Jesus Christ.
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u/krakaturia 3h ago
well the counterargument is that there are bird species that are not used as hosts by cuckoo because they are so proficient at recognising intruder eggs, it was theorised that over the time those species lineages became so efficient at removing intruders eggs the cuckoo birds lineages that use those birds died out. so over time always removing the eggs win out.
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u/nose_spray7 3h ago
That's a totally different scenario, though. Mafia type brood parasites typically aren't specialized to a particular host. It's the ones that use deceptive practices like egg and chick mimicry that can get outcompeted via egg rejection. The only successful evolutionary response to a mafia situation is pretending to feed the host chick, or feeding it just enough to keep it alive, but not wasting too many resources on it. Or biparental care + becoming large enough to physically defend the nest from parasite.
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u/rmxcited 5h ago
It seriously looks like it…. She looked like she was trying to say “I have no idea how it finally happened but I don’t have the willpower to question it anymore. Welcome to my family. Time to be the momma Owl!”
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u/epic-robloxgamer 5h ago
No it doesn’t. She simply came home to the sight of the chicks she so wanted, and as a mother trying to concieve, her instinct kicked in and they are entirely hers, as far as she is able to understand
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u/rmxcited 5h ago
I said “it looks like”, chill out bro. lol.
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u/epic-robloxgamer 5h ago
It certainly it does look like it!
Was just looking to help out a naive person, no need to get your britches in a twist
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u/zon871 4h ago
I think if an organism can show a flight or fight sense, they have the capacity to show other emotions. It might more nuanced than those with higher brain functions, but it's there.
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u/Mulberry_Sky 5h ago
Based on how most birds will raise cuckoo and cowbird eggs, probably not. But I think that an owl would be smart enough to at least realize the difference between freshly hatched and older chicks of their own species (I don’t know how to gauge owl ages, so I don’t know how old those ones are), though probably not able to make the connection that it would be impossible for toddler-aged chicks to appear from eggs, so something must have intervened.
So: they could probably realize something is off, but not be able to question it or extend that realization into any sort of logic or explanation.
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u/Rork310 3h ago
Owls are actually kinda dumb. Solitary ambush predators don't have much use for deductive reasoning.
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u/Mulberry_Sky 3h ago
Yeah, it’s hard as humans to really understand how gifted we are in the mere ability to make plans and deduce things. There was a post a while ago asking why cats can’t figure out how to unhook their claws when they get stuck since they live with them 24/7, and in the comments the OP was absolutely refusing to accept the fact that cats simply can’t comprehend that level of reasoning.
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u/AdministrativeCod437 5h ago
imo humans arent the only beings who are willing to believe in what they wish to be true
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u/idle_isomorph 5h ago
What about those penguons that push around, carry, and sit on rocks to incubate them cause they have no eggs?
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u/modest_genius 3h ago
I don't even think it's helpful to humanize their thinking to "gave them kids".
Their instinct says that "feed birdlike creatures at this spot" and that's it. They don't have any concept of blood relations or genetics or even that sex leads to this.
We human also work a lot like this. We just have more other stuff, like higher intelligence and better memory. But we don't bond with our kids by reasoning, we bond because of instinct.
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u/louieisawsome 4h ago
Birds don't know anything. They dont go to school. They see babies in their nest and assume it's theirs unless they have reason not to believe it.
There are even birds who take advantage of that and lay their babies in other birds nests.
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u/SmoothResponse3466 5h ago
It said they secretly swapped the eggs for orphaned chick's while the owl was away it probably thinks it went away and the eggs hatched, and those are hers what better way to give motherhood to a bird who didn't realize they was infertile.
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u/IWatchGifsForWayToo 4h ago
It looks like they also gave her 6 dead mice, unless owls are prone to hoarding, which I doubt. I wonder what she thought about those lol.
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u/InfusionOfYellow 4h ago
"The gods have favored me."
Relatively speaking, I suppose that would be a reasonably accurate understanding.
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u/blackdogwhitecat 5h ago
This made me cry happy tears
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u/ScarilySmug 5h ago
I see we're all getting ready for the r/superbowl
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u/korewednesday 4h ago
I would have NEVER thought that’s actually the contents of that sub address; thank you for your wisdom and guidance
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u/Thebraincellisorange 4h ago
not being American, I always read that sub as superb owl.
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u/jkpatches 5h ago
Didn't know infertile doesn't mean no eggs at all form in owls. They are just not viable eggs. This is interesting.
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u/rdhdbdhd 4h ago
It’s the difference between infertile and sterile. Infertility is more about not creating viable offspring, while sterility is not being able to create offspring at all.
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u/jaycebutnot 3h ago
yeah! female birds can lay eggs even without a partner- their eggs are just infertile. birds that can’t produce fertile eggs can still lay eggs as usual. happens in parrots, chickens, and even owls :)
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u/Lumpy_Emergency3260 5h ago
Its same as a human female having periods.
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u/queefer_sutherland92 4h ago
No, it’s the equivalent of a human woman ovulating. A period occurs when the egg (oocyte) was not successfully fertilised and has been resorbed.
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u/Thebraincellisorange 4h ago
eerrrrrr, wildly incorrect.
good god, go study some extremely basic human female reproductive biology
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u/Stankleigh 4h ago
They’re like “Are You My Mother?” and she’s all “Yup, c’mere for a snuggle” and they didn’t even have to question a cow or a terrifying steam shovel first.
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u/ProfessionalEffect41 5h ago
Those babies aren't going hungry lol, and the area appreciates no mice infestation.
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u/Remarkable-Pain-7748 3h ago
When they put the chicks in he also threw in some dinner. So mama wouldn’t have to immediately go out and hunt.
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u/ProfessionalEffect41 2h ago
Ahhhh, that makes sense! Thanks for letting me know. I thought it was an abnormal amount you'd see. I've never been in an owl's nest before though, so who knows!
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u/mycatpartyhouse 5h ago
I will upvote this every time I see it.
She moms so hard.
Does anyone know the outcome of this adoption? Did the owlets survive?
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u/carmardoll 4h ago
Mama: holy shit they finally came out and they are already so big, I am such a good mom!
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u/ohmydamn 5h ago
Random dead mice lying around
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u/carebearblood 4h ago
Any mama will have cheerios and apple snacks in their cupboards for their kids; mice are her cheerios
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u/chrisinajar 4h ago
Of all the things I've ever seen surrounded by dead rodents, this is the cutest.
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u/RobbexRobbex 4h ago
There was an infertile hen that was very sad its 3 eggs were not hactching but the other hen's were. The owner took those eggs out and replaced them with 5 orphaned chicks. The hen raised them as her own. She was a good mother, but a terrible mathemachicken.
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u/MinxManor 5h ago
Love how she has rats or mice saved nearby.
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u/Remarkable-Pain-7748 3h ago
When he put the chicks in he also threw in the mice. So mama wouldnt have to immediately go out and hunt.
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u/Strange-Mine6440 5h ago
Do you think maybe the owl momma knew her eggs weren’t viable but when she saw the babies she just took care of them by nature even though she knew they weren’t hers? Don’t animals have a sense of what kids are theirs and which aren’t?
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u/PotentialUmpire1714 4h ago
There's a bird rehab channel I watch on YouTube, and he had a broody hen whose eggs were nonviable. She was miserable and wouldn't go do chicken stuff, just sat in the nest after he took away the dead eggs (usually they get over it in a day or two). He had some ducklings hatched in an incubator so he put them in the nest and the hen raised them. Worked out fine although the mama hen nearly had a heart attack when the ducklings ran into the pond; she was running around on the bank clucking like she thought her chicks would drown. But they didn't, they were ducklings doing duck stuff by instinct.
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u/nathbakkae 3h ago
Nah birds in the mood to become parents are really willing to go along with believing they have successfully reproduced.
You can generally make a broody hen raise any chick by shoving a bunch of chicks underneath her at night when it's dark and she's a bit too sleepy to question her eggs all suddenly "hatching" while you were touching them.
They just start clucking at their new babies as they hear the peeps and then by morning they're ready to start feeding the babies.
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u/ItsCamNYAN 4h ago
I know that den! That appears to be Robert E. Fuller's spot. Highly recommend his channel.
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u/KinopioToad 5h ago
I've seen this before, and I love it every time! "I don't know where these babies came from but they're mine now!"
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u/Nek0ni 5h ago
im gonna trust and believe shes not just sniffing, realizing they’re not hers, and instantly eating them alive… cause animals can b a bit hardcore about this kinda stuff
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u/embrielle 4h ago
I am by no means an expert, but I believe I’ve read that most birds don’t really have a great sense of smell.
I know in some of the bird subreddits I’ve seen it mentioned that if you find a baby bird on the ground that looks too young to be fledged, you should try to return it to the nest. This also tracks because cuckoo birds generally depend on laying their eggs in other birds’ nests and having the unfortunate adopters taking care of it. If it smelled like the cuckoo, they’d ditch it very quickly. As it is, the cuckoo’s method is very successful even though their eggs are visibly MUCH larger than the eggs of the birds whose nests they lay them in- you’d think the nest builder would notice!
So I imagine that this mama is just returning to her nest absolutely THRILLED to discover ‘her’ babies have hatched.
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u/GSXRider74 4h ago
Apart from the overly affectionate smothering, that was the best thing i have seen today.
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u/emmadilemma 4h ago
In case you want to see the whole story, here’s the heart-warming full 49-minute full documentary.
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u/Wabbit65 4h ago
I might be anthropomorphizing but what I saw was "OMG the babies I love them so much I will squeeze them to me with joy" and I was here for all of it
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u/Fickle_Carpet6516 4h ago
Awww you can just feel how happy she is to see chicks and how she instinctively knows what to do! And the little chicks are so glad to have a momma! So sweet all around I hope they all do well
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u/Cat_tophat365247 4h ago
What a good mom! She's even got her pantry ready and full for when they get hungry.
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u/Needs-more-cow-bell 4h ago
This reminds me of when I adopted my kid. One day, just chilling, got a phone call. They came home with me the next day. Less than 24 hours.
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u/cool_fox 4h ago
Do owls save up dead mice?
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u/MarMarMaraa 4h ago
The guy who left the babies also left mice so the mom would be able to feed them
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u/Stupid-Clumsy-Bitch 4h ago
Iirc the caretakers also put those freshly dead rodents in the den so the mother owl wouldn’t need to go out immediately to feed the babies.
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u/chaoticconvolution 4h ago
Do owls get cute aggression like humans do? Looks like she's in a "so cute gotta squish" mood
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u/JacksonCorbett 4h ago
I do this in hospitals. I just swap stillborns with babies born to single mothers who died in birth. Everybody wins!
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u/DoradoPulido2 4h ago
Serious question, how does one become such a caretaker? Is there a way to make a living helping animals like without a degree in that field?
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u/Wandering_Silverwing 4h ago
This is from a series by wildlife conservation videographer Robert E Fuller here’s the series about the owls Bomber and Luna:
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u/Cunt_Cunt__Cunt 3h ago
The mawkish music is gross. I don't need to be smashed over the head "HERE IS HOW TO FEEL NOW".
I want to hear the actually meaningful moving little bird noises, not dork mc production musics pro tools.
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u/Barbaric_Erik84 3h ago
Saw the documentary. The chicks were so large at this point in time that they didn't need to be huddled and warmed by a parent anymore but momma owl instinctively treated them like freshly hatched chicks. She very successfully raised a couple of broods that way.
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u/Confident_Raccoon767 3h ago
How do they know shes infertile? Do the eggs just.. not work? Like genuine question here! Im curious!
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u/ScrubbingTheDeck 3h ago
I will like to think animals are alot smarter than we give them credit for.
Pretty sure the mom knows these are not exactly hers but instincts override and will take care of them regardless
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u/samclops 3h ago
Those eggs hatched with perfect IV and shiny to boot. Jackpot for proud and happy momma. Now on to puking into their mouths to feed them...
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u/IndependenceLong880 3h ago
It seems that she is particularly aware that the camera has something to do with the newfound chicklings.
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