Injured owl hit by car found on Virginia road. 703 days later, it’s back in the skies
One great horned owl’s road to recovery was a long one — 703 days, to be exact, according to a Virginia wildlife organization. But now, it’s returned to the wild.
The injured owl, which was hit by a car, spent nearly two years rehabilitating and regrowing its feathers, according to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. The center’s Facebook post said the owl was under staff care for 734 days, but an employee told McClatchy News it was actually 703 days.
The bird’s healing journey officially ended when it flew back into the wild Jan. 10 — released by the same volunteer who rescued it about two years prior, the organization’s front desk supervisor Michael Adkins told McClatchy in an email.
“We’re so happy to see it back home,” the organization wrote on Facebook.
The owl was found in the middle of the road by someone in the area, who then reported the incident to the wildlife center, Adkins said. It was likely struck by a passing car while trying to hunt, he said.
The center’s veterinary team found a wide variety of issues with the owl, Adkins said, such as a right eye injury, blunt force trauma to its head and face, blood in its mouth and scraping on its cere — the membrane on top of the owl’s beak.
One of the most concerning injuries on the owl was the harm done to its feathers, which prevented it from flying silently, according to the center.
Silent flight is crucial to the survival of owls to make sure its prey can’t hear it flying at night while it hunts, according to the Audubon Society. “Comb-like serrations” on the edge of owls’ feathers allow the bird to cut through the air without making a sound, the organization said.
Noisy feathers, on the other hand, could mean starving to death, according to WildCare, an organization that provides wildlife with medical care in California.
Noting all of the problems, the wildlife rescuers brought in the owl — which was not named as part of the center’s effort to not anthropomorphize its animals — for its treatment Feb. 6, 2022. It was the organization’s 91st patient of 2022, Adkins said.
As a way to mend the damaged feathers, the Wildlife Center of Virginia said it attempted imping, which is when feathers from another bird are transplanted onto the injured bird. To imp, a treatment team glues the feathers onto the bases of the old feathers, according to the center.
The center’s attempt at imping was unsuccessful.
Imping is already a difficult process, Adkins said, but for owls, it’s even more complex. The feather placements would need to be incredibly exact to ensure the owl could fly silently and hunt at night, he said.
“It is much more challenging compared to, say, a hawk species that primarily uses its keen eyesight for daylight hunting,” Adkins said.
Imping on owls also requires “precise matches between recipient and donor birds,” Adkins said.
Without successful feather transplants, the center was left with one option: letting the owl regrow its feathers by molting.
That process was a long one, Adkins said, and it kept the owl in their care for a while. Great horned owls in particular molt once a year, according to WildCare.
The day-to-day care as the owl molted involved a lot of stress management, Adkins said. This was to ensure the bird was recovering properly, so rehabilitation staff checked how much food the owl would eat and kept an up-to-date record of its weight, he added.
They also made sure to test how well the owl was able to fly, as that was one of the biggest factors preventing it from going back into the wild, Adkins said. Once their assessment showed the owl was flying silently, it was time for its big return back home.
The owl was released back to the area it was originally found, near Crozet in Albemarle County, which is about 85 miles northwest of Richmond.
This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Injured owl hit by car found on Virginia road. 703 days later, it’s back in the skies."
