These adorable fluffy owl chicks look like they're having a hoot

These adorable fluffy owl chicks look like they're having a hoot

These fluffy owl chicks look like they're having a hoot - with one opening its beak right up to cool down in the summer heat.The three chicks are from different climates, ranging from the Arctic to the tropics, and are only a few weeks old.With its beak wide open, a snowy owl aged two weeks old looks like it's making a racket - but the bird, suited to Arctic conditions, is trying to cool down, similar to a dog panting.It will be another six weeks before the chick can fly, and it has a less calm temperament than its companions, a rare band-bellied owl sitting beside it, and a tropical screech owl which is the smallest of the three.The band-bellied owl, aged five weeks, is only the second to be bred in the UK, and has markings similar to a raccoon.And the oldest of the chicks is also the smallest - a tropical screech owl, aged seven weeks, which has already reached its full size.The birds, born at the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, West Lothian, have been growing steadily on a diet of chicks, rats and mice.Ornithologist Rod Angus, 60, said: "We bred the first band-bellied owl in the UK last year and this is the second, we're very chuffed with that bird."It looks a bit like a raccoon but it'll change colour and not look anything like that."The snowy owl breeds mainly in the high Arctic."Fetlar in Shetland is the only place in the British Isles they've been known to breed."It'll fly at seven to eight weeks old."It's got its mouth open because it's too hot."They lose heat by gaping, like a dog panting and hanging its tongue out."Snowy owls find Scotland too hot because they're used to breeding in the Arctic."The tropical screech owl is also from South America."The three birds are from two opposite weather extremes."With different species they've got different temperaments."Some are calm and others are highly strung."The tropical screech owl is quite placid and the band-bellied is calm as well."But the snowy owl is quite edgy - they're ferocious hunters in the wild."

These fluffy owl chicks look like they're having a hoot - with one opening its beak right up to cool down in the summer heat.The three chicks are from different climates, ranging from the Arctic to the tropics, and are only a few weeks old.With its beak wide open, a snowy owl aged two weeks old looks like it's making a racket - but the bird, suited to Arctic conditions, is trying to cool down, similar to a dog panting.It will be another six weeks before the chick can fly, and it has a less calm temperament than its companions, a rare band-bellied owl sitting beside it, and a tropical screech owl which is the smallest of the three.The band-bellied owl, aged five weeks, is only the second to be bred in the UK, and has markings similar to a raccoon.And the oldest of the chicks is also the smallest - a tropical screech owl, aged seven weeks, which has already reached its full size.The birds, born at the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, West Lothian, have been growing steadily on a diet of chicks, rats and mice.Ornithologist Rod Angus, 60, said: "We bred the first band-bellied owl in the UK last year and this is the second, we're very chuffed with that bird."It looks a bit like a raccoon but it'll change colour and not look anything like that."The snowy owl breeds mainly in the high Arctic."Fetlar in Shetland is the only place in the British Isles they've been known to breed."It'll fly at seven to eight weeks old."It's got its mouth open because it's too hot."They lose heat by gaping, like a dog panting and hanging its tongue out."Snowy owls find Scotland too hot because they're used to breeding in the Arctic."The tropical screech owl is also from South America."The three birds are from two opposite weather extremes."With different species they've got different temperaments."Some are calm and others are highly strung."The tropical screech owl is quite placid and the band-bellied is calm as well."But the snowy owl is quite edgy - they're ferocious hunters in the wild."