Two rare brown wood owl chicks have fledged at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po, Hong Kong. Big win for local conservation. Chicks,still in downy white feathers,were seen peeking from their nest tucked among ferns in garden's mature forest.
For weeks,breeding program stayed under wraps,letting young owls grow undisturbed. Their mother kept watch from a nearby tree by day and hunted at night, farm said in a social media update.
“We have been observing them for several weeks,and two healthy and lively chicks successfully fledged in May!”
The brown wood owl is one of largest native owl species here. This species has been slowly spreading into Hong Kong from southern China for past two decades. Shows need for habitat conservation in cities.
The fledging of these chicks is a hopeful sign for species' future. Needs forests to survive. Farm's work feeds into larger efforts to protect and boost numbers of these remarkable birds…
