How long does it normally take to mount an owl or other bird?
I was told 10 hours of work which would mean most taxidermists are not making much money on bird mounts.
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I have mounted excellent screech owls in about 4 hours, but a great horned owl will take about 8 or more hours depending on fat, molt, damage, etc.
Good commercial out the door work can be accomplished in anywhere from 4 to 6 hours by a competent taxi. The most detailed and accurate work sometimes takes 10 to 20 hours worth of work.
An owl is really no different than any other bird, you just have to be careful and not impale yourself on those talons.. it can be painful. The eyeset should be paid close attention to as well as ear placement.
As far as bird taxidermy goes... the big bucks just aren't there.. You'd have to be assembly lined and be working on three to four birds a day if you seriously planned to get rich off of it. Of course that takes the fun out of it if you ask me. I guess that is why I settled for the cut in pay..
Jon
thoughts on the subject. I agree that it depends on the specie. It also depends on the method used and how one counts the time spent. Skinning a bird can take from 10 min to an hour or more depending on the bird (eg a turkey takes longer to skin than a pheasant) and proficiency of the person skinning. Some folks soak their skins for a while - some longer than others. Some wrap their manikins and others use manufactured ones - wrapping takes longer, some folks tumble the skins, some exclusively use a blow dryer - tumbling first saves time and so forth. Almost every part of the process has variations and personal choices. The faster one can produce a product, the more money one can potentially make. Too fast can produce an inferior product as can cutting corners on important issues like degreasing and injecting just to save time. From beginning to end (end meaning positioned on the form and drying)averages 6 hours for me on mallard/pheasant sized birds Then there is grooming that takes place in small increments over a few days. And, then there is the painting - which is done after the feet have dryed (if you did not use artificial feet that were already painted) - all together these can add another hour or two depending on how detailed you want to get. 10 hours on a goose or turkey is not an unreasonable amount of time from my vantage point. One makes money by chargeing for their work. Turkeys cost more to mount than pheasants and so forth. Unfortunately, Taxidermists have historically under charged for their work - Another part of the package is habitat - which also adds some time - even if it is a piece of drift wood. One has to find it, clean it, prepare it for the bird, and so forth. Or so it seems to me
I am not full time, so i work on a bird over the course of three days (lunch break and night). Day one i skin, day two i flesh and wash, third day that night i degrease, tumble, blow dry, inject feet, paint feet and bill, find right driftwood, mount, and groom. Total time......about 5 to 6 hours for a mallard sized bird. But steadily getting faster and better since this is my fourth season with over 100 birds under my belt now. And as stated before, competition birds start at 10 hours and go up.