Following a few heartbreaks, the first Snowy owlet to survive at World of Owls is now thriving.
Founder Mike Gibb said the baby girl is the only one left of a batch of four hatchlings after the rest sadly died.
Their breed was made famous by the Harry Potter films as Harry's owl Hedwig was a Snowy and are irregular winter visitors to Northern Ireland.
Now 10 days old, this fluffy little white owlet needs a name and the World of Owls boss is giving the public the chance to choose it.
He told Belfast Live the little owl “is 10 days old and needs a name”.
“The winning name gets to sponsor the little one for a year or more, gets a sponsorship pack and free entry to meet her.
“We are going to put her into our education package so she will be going round schools and things like that,” he added.
“Her mum was used in a couple of movies but I am not allowed to say which ones.”
All of the 80 animals World of Owls now home are “rescues”.
“We are not a breeding centre but sometimes if there’s a species or owl that would be endangered and we had a pair and they did breed we would let them go ahead with it,” he continued.
Mike said they have three fully grown Snowies in the same aviary - two females named Cassie and Sassie (short for Sasquatch) and a male called Bramley.
As a result four eggs were fertilised and hatched earlier this month - but sadly just one of the chicks survived.
Mike added: “Most owls will lay between one and four eggs once a year but Snowy Owls can lay up to 16 or 17 if there is plenty of food about.
“We hit the mark this year, four hatched out.
“We brought them home and were trying to look after them in the incubator and it went off in a storm. We went in the next morning and two were gone.
“It was heartbreaking.
“Then we came home and another one hatched out.
“We have still got that wee one and she is doing great. She is growing healthily and is eating me out of house and home.
“This was the last one hatched which is usually the weaker egg - but she survived.”
The charity, which welcomed visitors before lockdown and also relies on charity donations, has opened its doors again so the public will soon be able to see their newest addition.
Mike explained: “We are a charity and we do rely on people coming to visit us to stay open and keep the animals alive.
In relation to Covid-19 precautions, he said: “We’ve got a pamphlet when people come in with instructions on it.
“We are asking people to bring their own hand sanitiser. We will not being doing and holding and touching and close up photographs, things like that.
“There will be social distancing and a one way system. We are very strictly governed and very strictly licenced.”
Send your suggestions for the owlet's name to World of Owls, Randalstown on Facebook.
The charity is also welcoming donations to help build her an aviary.
