Disclaimer: We were invited to this event and received our Owleez interactive owl free of charge, but words and pictures are mine. This post contains affiliate links, see more information here.
I love owls – and have done since I was a child when I had a rather alarming and sizeable collection of models and pictures in my bedroom. I can’t tell you what happened to most of them, but I still have the odd nod to them round the house (even though my husband mocks me for it).
We were (OK, I was) really excited to score an invitation to the Imperial Bird of Prey Academy in Billericay with youtuber Rosie McClelland, to meet some owls and find out why they make pretty rubbish pets, and why an Owleez owl is a much better option!
Imperial Bird of Prey Academy
Our morning at the Imperial Bird of Prey Academy got off to a flying start. The 21-year-old director, Faith, introduced us to the smallest resident, Newton, a cute little grey-and-white Tengmalm’s Owl and told us all about owls, how she took care of her owls by feeding them, flying them and caring for them every day.
Next we were introduced to the Academy’s largest resident, a Great Grey Owl named Allomere.
Finally, we went outside where it had just stopped raining just in time to fly Mystic the Barn Owl.
We spent the rest of the day at Barleylands Farm Park where the Imperial Bird of Prey Academy is situated – but my oldest just wanted to go and play with her new Owleez, which was gifted to her as a thank you for attending!
What is an Owleez?
Owleez are new interactive toy owls from Spin Master toys. They’ll chat, their head will move and they will even sing to you!
A little bit like Hatchimals, the Owleez’ eyes change colour depending on how they’re feeling. They have touch sensors on their head, forehead and belly (when in their nest) and motion sensors and you can make them happy by responding to them.
You can make them sing by moving them from side to side, and they come with berries that you can ‘feed’ to your Owleez by placing the berries below their beak when they are hungry.
However they are quite different to Hatchimals in that Owleez can fly!
When you first get your new Owleez out of the box, they’ll be pretty nervous and will need a lot of encouragement to fly.
The more you play with them, the more ‘confident’ they get and the easier it will be to get them to fly!
How do you get an Owleez to fly?
When the eyes of the Owleez owl are white, whoosh them in the air like they’re flying and they’ll go ‘Weeeeeee!’. After a few more seconds of doing this, a trumpet will sound and their eyes will flash rainbow colours.
Place them on the nest, and they will prepare for take off.
If they refuse to fly, you’ll hear a sad sound – try again, making sure they are charged up first.
If they do want to fly, their head and body will separate and the propellers inside will start to spin really fast. Make sure you keep fingers well away (although they’re only plastic so won’t cause bodily harm, I don’t imagine it’s nice!).
When their propellers have reached full speed, the Owleez owl will detach from the nest and take off!
Once they fly they take off for a few seconds; up to ten although we only achieved this a handful of times, with it more often crashing earlier. It’s quite noisy so be prepared! Make sure they’re not too near walls and furniture although they are built to withstand knocks and falls.
When they fall, they’ll have red eyes which means they’re sad, so pick them up and stroke them until they’re happy which might take 30 seconds or so – their body will close up again after a while and soon you will be able to persuade them to try again!
Here is a totally un-profesh video of our Owleez flying (and crashing, and then being happy again)!
(She wants to be a YouTube star. I have neither the patience, the equipment nor a tidy space in my home so I’m afraid that this is the most I will indulge her).
The Owleez have rechargeable batteries.
Place them in their nest and plug the USB into a computer or USB charger while they are turned off. While their eyes flash red they are charging; they will stay green once fully charged.
If your child would love a pet owl, perhaps encourage them to have an Owleez instead! We love playing with ours.
How much and where to buy
With an RRP of £49.99, Owleez are recommended for children aged 6+. They’re available in pink, white and blue and you can buy them in large toy stores and online, via Amazon below.