The owl's belly is white spotted gray. Notice the shirt that Tony Blake wears onstage, as he produces Merlin, the owl. It is equally white spotted gray, in the same exact pattern as the owl's belly... for a reason.
In this second part of the TV show, the revamping of the series, Tony owns an owl as a pet, kept at his penthouse home at the Magic Castle. It has dramatic 'eyebrow' feathers. It is a Malaysian Eagle-owl. This breed is also known as the Barred Eagle-Owl. The one used in this production was called "Merlin". There was only one used.
This title kicks off the second half of the season, featuring a new producer (Paul Playdon), new opening credits, and a change of cast with Keene Curtis' theatrical and quirky Max Pomeroy being replaced by Joe Sirola's cantankerous and ostentatious Dominick. Tony Blake no longer lives in his jet but now rents the penthouse suite at the Magic Castle, in the Hollywood hills.
The bad guys helicopter is a rather rare Fairchild-Hiller FH1100 which is commonly mistaken for a Bell 206 JetRanger.
Distinguishing features are the higher mounted tail rotor and the more curved exhaust ports. There were only 253 built.
At the gate to her father's estate, Janet quotes "Give up hope, all ye who enter here". In Dante's Inferno the message carved above the gates of Hell is generally translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here".