It had already been a long day, that Sunday after Christmas. I’d had two calls before this one, the first of which took care of itself when the hawk that had flown into a window, flew off when it came to its senses. The second call didn’t have such a good outcome.
It was a barn owl that had been found on the side of a road the night before, more than likely the result of a collision with a car. She was in bad shape, not standing and with extreme head trauma, recognizable from the non-responsive pupil in one of her eyes and the bruising and swelling in one of her ears. She was thin and dehydrated, but luckily did not appear to have any wing or leg injuries. As usual, my heart went out to her and silently I vowed I’d do everything I could for this beautiful creature. Karen Koskey and I examined and hydrated her before taking her to the “ICU,” aka: Laurel and Eric Gunderson’s house, for round-the-clock care.
I had just gotten back home when I received my next call, this time for a “baby owl,” found alongside Brunswick Road. Knowing there are no baby owls at this time of year, and from the description of the owl over the phone, I assured the caller that it was probably a Northern pygmy owl, about 4-1/2 inches tall fully grown. He was shocked to hear this tiny owl was an adult. It’s funny how many people, when they see a small bird, assume it’s a baby. Baby raptors look nothing like their parents and by the time they do, they’re the same size as the parents and don’t look like babies anymore!
Anyway, I arrived at the apartment complex and was met by the man who had called me. Following him upstairs, I walked into an apartment full of people (he’d invited the neighbors to see the owl, as well). That’s when I saw him in a small box in the middle of the table, while people sat around talking and taking pictures of him. Taking all this in, I could immediately tell the poor little bird was showing obvious signs of distress, so I gently put the lid on the box to shield him from the bright light and all the people. As quickly as I could, I took down the information I needed and drove over to Laurel & Eric’s, since it was closer than the clinic, so that I could examine him more closely.
We could find nothing obviously wrong with this darling little owl, other than the fact he was not nearly as active or fierce as he should be. He was in good body weight and not dehydrated, so we put him in a carrier in a quiet back room to recuperate from his ordeal.
We then turned our attention to the barn owl that we’d brought in earlier. We were almost afraid what we’d find when we opened the box, and were very pleasantly surprised to find her standing! Granted, she was leaning against the inside of the box, but she was upright, which was more than she had been a few hours earlier when she was first brought in. Things seemed to be looking up for this beautiful bird, but she still had a long way to go.
While working on these two owls, I received 2 more rescue calls, one of which was a turkey vulture that Kristin Rodriguez, one of our songbird rehabbers, was bringing in, after she found it by the side of a road. I’ve been on call on Sundays for almost 3 years and have never had 5 calls!
Epilogue: The little pygmy owl was happily released on New Year’s Eve, as was the turkey vulture that had come in that same day. The beautiful barn owl continues to improve slowly, and as soon as she starts eating on her own, she will join the other two from that day, flying free in the skies once again.
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