Chaco Owl (Strix chacoensis)

'Newton' was hatched in 2007. He was a new addition to the centre for 2008. He has already been trained to fly at outside displays and in schools and we will continue to use him for this. After being here for a only few days we could already see he will be one of our special characters.

In the wild

Origin: Northern parts of Argentina and parts of Paraguay (Name Chaco comes from a province within Argentina).

Diet: Small mammals, birds and other small vertebrates, insects and arthropods.

Habitat: Semi-open, generally found in dry landscapes with thorny bushes in hilly areas. Often in areas with giant cacti and small groups of trees.

Nocturnal species with activity usually beginning at dusk. During day normally roosts in dense bushes or trees.

The Chaco Owl used to be a sub-species of the Rufous-legged Owl (Strix rufipes) but recent studies have seperated them into a species.