Soon after the center opened Thursday morning a good Samaritan arrived with a nestling owlet he had picked up from an local area cemetery. The bird was on the ground and he though that it might be injured or stranded because it could not yet fly. The bird was examined and found to be a healthy young Great Horned Owlet.

WCC Operations Manager Deb Sheaffer and volunteer Mandy Simms took the owlet back to the cemetery to place it in a branch in a nearby tree. On arrival they went to the area the owlet was found and spotted another Great Horned Owlet on a tree stump. As the owlet siblings were being reunited on a branch one of the parents started calling from a nearby tree. The parent Great Horned Owl watched and called from about 30 yards as the two owlets clung side by side to the branch. The parent was still calling as the human visitors left.

Young owlets leave the nest before they can fly and explore nearby branches. It’s a normal and critical stage from them to go through, but a strong wind or a missed branch can bring them to the ground.  If you find a baby bird on the ground the best thing to do is leave it alone or place it in the branches of a nearby tree.  Read more about what you should do when you find a Baby Bird Here.

Spring is our busiest season in the Wildlife Care Center, please help us in our efforts by donating now.  Every year the Wildlife Care Center cares for over 3,000 injured and orphaned native wildlife and answers 15,000 wildlife related phone calls from people like you.  A donation of $50 pays for food necessary to raise an orphaned owl to release back into the wild.  Help an orphaned animal today!  Donate