When Huntington, an eastern screech owl, was younger, his feet became caught in a fence. That could have been the end of the little guy, but he was rescued. Last year, he came to live in Wiscasset at the Chewonki Foundation.

On July 6, Huntington was at work, along with some of Chewonki’s other resident owls, educating the public about those nocturnal birds of prey who can turn their heads most of the way around. He was blinking and winking. That can be part of owl courtship, but Huntington’s handler, Traveling Natural History Programs Director Keith Crowley, joked that he doubted the owl was trying to court him.

Crowley walked around the room with Huntington, showing the bird to the group of about two-dozen people at the presentation.

He won’t be sent back into the wild; he wouldn’t survive. On the plus side, he should live much longer than he naturally would have if he’d never met up with that fence. Owls as small as the eastern screech have a lot of predators and do well to live five years. In captivity, Huntington could last about two decades.

A hazard-free life has agreed with Olivia. Weighing in at a healthy 5 pounds, the great horned owl is probably about 24 or 25 years old, Crowley said. That makes her the oldest owl at Chewonki, although determining the exact age of owls can be difficult because they don’t have teeth.

Olivia was hit by a car in Virginia and has been at Chewonki since 1992.

Varia is also believed to have been hit by a car. The accident permanently injured the barred owl’s left wing. An owl’s bones are lighter and weaker than a human’s, so damage is more likely to be permanent, Crowley said as he showed the 1.5-pound bird to the afternoon’s visitors.

In the wild, an owl’s mind is always working. Timing and awareness can mean the difference between eating or not, or getting eaten or not. Although Chewonki’s owls don’t really have to worry about such things, the people who take care of them find ways to keep the birds’ minds stimulated. One owl had a great time finding his dead mice inside the pages of a phone book.

That did leave a mess to clean up, but the enjoyment the owl got from it was worth it, Crowley said.

Among the interesting owl facts Crowley shared, they have about twice as many neck bones as we do. Those help turn their heads 270 degrees, or three-quarters of the way around. That’s important, because owls can’t move their eyes around like we can. Having to turn their entire bodies to see things could scare off their prey. They are also aided by their ears’ uneven heights, to help them pinpoint the source of a sound.

Owls can crush an animal’s bones in their feet. Long-eared owls puff out when they’re scared, making them look bigger. And short-eared owls will drag one wing, as if injured, to draw a predator away from a nest.

Another free presentation on owls is planned at Chewonki, 485 Chewonki Neck Rd. in Wiscasset, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 2 p.m. The program is free; donations are encouraged.