Baby owl falls from nest and ends up hypothermic. Now there’s a happy reunion in Oregon
Days after a nestling great horned owl fell from its Oregon nest, it got a happy reunion with its family, which included a feast.
After stumbling upon the owlet on March 20, the people who found it reached out to Sunriver Nature Center, Think Wild, a nonprofit wildlife hospital and conservation center, said in a March 25 Facebook post.
The center sent a wildlife curator to pick up the nestling, who then brought the owlet to the nonprofit’s hospital.
When the nestling arrived for care, the nonprofit said it “had some slight bruising and was hypothermic.”
The nonprofit said its staff worked to stabilize the owlet’s temperature using an incubator and treated its bruising.
Video shared by the nonprofit shows one of the staff members feeding the fluffy nestling while cloaking their hand with a plush owl.
Staff agreed the owlet would have the best chance of survival back in the wild with its parents.
The nonprofit said it worked with Sunriver Nature Center to place the owlet back in its nest, where the “adult owls had been observed continuing to visit the nest.”
“The nestling was placed back into the nest where they were reunited with a sibling, both parents, and a large pile of rodents to feast upon,” the nonprofit said.
With “baby season” in full swing throughout Oregon, the nonprofit urged that others “keep an eye out for baby animals, but check with experts before you approach wildlife,” adding that the nonprofit’s wildlife hotline can be reached at 541-241-8680.
The great horned owl is the most commonly found owl in the state, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“It is a large, stocky, powerful owl with large yellow eyes and distinctive feather tufts or ‘ears’ above the eyes,” the department said.
This story was originally published March 26, 2024 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Baby owl falls from nest and ends up hypothermic. Now there’s a happy reunion in Oregon."
