SS15/2 rukun tetangga secretary Michael Sundram showing the empty owl nest at the SS15/2 field .
WHERE did the owls that were brought in to control the rat population go?
That is the question being asked by Subang Jaya residents who are still trying to catch a glimpse of the pair of barn owls released last month.
Observations made by SS15 residents and StarMetro recently revealed that the owls are no longer in their specially designed nest box.
SS15/2 Rukun Tetangga secretary Michael Sundram, who lives right opposite the owl nest box, said he had not seen the owls the day after they were released.
“People come by and ask me all the time about the owls and some even wait here for hours.
“I feel sad sometimes because people come here with so much excitement and I do not want to tell them that the owls are not there
“A few weeks ago, a resident spotted one of the owls at Subang Ria park, but the owls never came back here to the box,” he said.
Dead rats which were to be fed to the owls was recently cleaned up by residents as the owls did not eat the rats.
He lamented that the freshly killed rats fed to the owls on the day of the launch, were left uneaten.
“They tried to feed the owls with rats but the birds did not eat them.
“It started to smell so bad that I personally had to remove the dead rats, three days later.
“I think the owls need to be looked after properly and they need more training to get used to the box,” he added.
USM barn owl project researcher Prof Abu Hassan explained that the whole process was a test of time.
“From our records, the owls take about one month to get used to their nest.
In the padi field, they will occupy the nest box during breeding season when the female starts producing eggs.
Abu Hassan said that although the owls underwent the six-month conditioning programme to help them get comfortable with the man-made nests, being in an urban setting is an important variable to consider.
“During the training programme, we just make sure they are familiar with the shape, colour and design of our artificial nest boxes.
“This is to make sure when we release them in the field, they are ready to breed and they will come back to the nest during breeding season.
“It is too early to say the owls will not return. From our records, the owls ‘fully’ occupied the nest box that we provided for one month after the release date.
“Normally they would just perch on a tree.
“It is common behaviour for barn owls. They will make sure the nest is secure first before they occupy it during the breeding season,” he added.
Taking the owls’ three-week absence into account, Abu Hassan said it was possible that the nocturnal birds “chose to stay elsewhere”.
“In the case where they didn’t use the nest box we installed in the field where we released them, then perhaps they chose to stay in another area.
“We will introduce another pair. This is not a waste because the home range of owls is about 50ha.”
“Working with animals requires patience. It is not an easy job to work with these intelligent birds.
“From our experience, sometimes we have to apply several methods to make sure the owls that we release in new areas establish their breeding population.
“Sometimes method A works with pair A but it doesn’t work with pair B.
“This is the science of animal behaviour,” he elaborated.
Still showing no sign of return since the day after the launch, it is understood that the first pair of owls were not fitted with any tracking device.
Barn owl project coordinator for USM, Teoh Teik Hoong explained that the tracking device had yet to arrive from the US prior to the launch last month.
“The radio transmitting devices have not arrived yet.
“When they do, the next pair of owls will be tagged, and we will use antenna devices to trace them if they don’t return.”
“The fact that they did not return to the nest box means that they needed more time to adapt.
“The pair that was brought in only had a few days to settle in after arriving from USM, Penang.
“It is crucial to have an aviary for the owls to rest from the trip and take their time to adjust to the urban environment.
“Only after the aviary is ready can we start planning for the next release of owls.
“Right now, we are still waiting for confirmation from Subang Jaya Municipal Council on whether the aviary at 3C complex is repaired and ready,” he said, adding that 12 more pairs would be brought in and monitored on a weekly basis.
Fortunately, the wait for the aviary is almost over.
MPSJ president Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said the aviary in 3C complex would be prepared for the future batches of owls.
“The aviary will be ready either end of this month or in mid-February.
“More owls will be released early next month,” said Nor Hisham.
