04-05-2025
We're owl in this together: Electric company helps renest healed birds
When Tamarack Wildlife Center (TWC) got not one but two calls about owlets falling out of nests and injuring themselves within the span of a couple of weeks, it hatched a plan to rehabilitate and renest the youngsters.
Great Horned Owls have the earliest hatching period, but the early bird doesn't always get the worm — sometimes, it gets a fracture. The first owl was admitted in early March after falling from its nest in Cambridge Springs and fracturing its wing. Although the cause is unknown, TWC said the severe storms might have played a part.
The second owl was admitted in early April and was a week younger than the first. It fell from its nest in Kennerdell and also fractured a wing.
The two owlets were housed together for company and wore matching wing splints until it was time to re-enter the wild, about 6 weeks later.
'It's not unusual for us to treat orphaned or injured young wildlife,' said Carol Holmgren, TWC executive director and licensed wildlife rehabilitator. 'It's less common for us to be able to treat a young animal with an injury such as a fracture and help it get healthy in time to be able to reunite it with its family because there's a specific window of time during which we can reunite.'
Only one other time in Holmgren's 20 years at TWC has she been able to rehabilitate a bird with a fracture and reunite it with family, and that was a bald eagle chick. Fortunately for TWC staff, Great Horned Owls spend the longest period with their parents of any owl species. However, young animals often learn by observing and imitating their caregivers, so it's important for them to be around their species.
'The other thing that made both of these renestings possible is both of the parents remained in parenting mode,' Holmgren said.
The property owner of the Cambridge Springs nest confirmed that there was still another chick in the nest, so the birds were still in parenting mode. Great Horned Owls will tend to any young in their vicinity, so placing both owlets with the one's family would not be an issue.
The owlets endured about four weeks of physical therapy and splinting to ensure their bones were strong and full range of motion had returned, then it was time to go home.
'We wanted to erect a nest basket,' Holmgren explained. 'The age that we were returning these owls is one they would benefit from being able to rest in a nest and very shortly, they'd be ready to branch out.'
'Branching,' Holmgren explained, is when a bird hops out of the nest to perch and flap its wings for a while before returning to the nest for a nap.
Given the typography of the tree, though, TWC needed a little help. A little bird told the Northwestern Rural Electric Cooperative (NREC), and they willingly joined the project with their bucket truck.
On a warm day, Gary Lilly and Camden Mattocks of NREC secured an artificial nest basket in the Cambridge Springs tree.
'Partnering with NREC made me very excited and grateful,' Holmgren said. 'We can do greater good when we work together than by ourselves.'
TWC does not receive state or federal funding, so it relies on community partners to lend a hand.
The birds were returned to the family at 5 and 6 weeks old and will now be a family of three owlets, which is common for the Great Horned Owl species. By 9 weeks, the owlets are expected to be following their parents around and flying.
