Yeah, that was my reaction when LWR received a downy great horned owl (GHO) on January 28. And not a hatchling, either—this guy was about a month old! A quick call to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab confirmed my initial reaction that it was too early for downy babes—the earliest he’d seen downy GHOs prior to this was mid-February. Add to that the fact that the January intake was 8—higher than January intakes for the previous two years, and it looks like my suspicion that 2013 is gonna be a hellacious year might be right!
Here’s a helpful hint with any downed and downy raptor—chances are, the parents are nearby and are feeding the baby on the ground. The person who found this grounded baby was very lucky that the adult GHOs didn’t attack her as she picked this fellow up, as GHOs are known to be especially aggressive in defending their nests and young. Obviously, if the grounded baby shows signs of distress or is in imminent danger, by all means take action. But observe the situation for a while first, and you’re likely to see one or both of the parents providing food.
Luckily for this downy-butt, he wasn’t injured; vet Richie Hatcher of Smalley’s Animal Hospital loved examining those stubby wings full of blood feathers, though—we see GHOs this young only once or twice a year!
Here’s a helpful hint with any downed and downy raptor—chances are, the parents are nearby and are feeding the baby on the ground. The person who found this grounded baby was very lucky that the adult GHOs didn’t attack her as she picked this fellow up, as GHOs are known to be especially aggressive in defending their nests and young. Obviously, if the grounded baby shows signs of distress or is in imminent danger, by all means take action. But observe the situation for a while first, and you’re likely to see one or both of the parents providing food.
Luckily for this downy-butt, he wasn’t injured; vet Richie Hatcher of Smalley’s Animal Hospital loved examining those stubby wings full of blood feathers, though—we see GHOs this young only once or twice a year!
Thanks to Richie Hatcher for snapping this photo!
At each feeding, this little fellow engaged in such typical downy GHO behavior that it was laughable. First, he sat and stared blankly—this is apparently a skill they master early, as adults are also excellent at the blank stare.
Then he fell face-first into a nap, legs stretched out behind him and downy butt wiggling with each breath…
Then he bowed up his stubby little wings in threat when I started to feed him…
And then we were back to the blank stare!
The little downy-butt is now with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends, thanks to volunteers Laurie Jackson and Amy Rodgers, who transported for us. He was joined on the trip by both the gunshot red tails, who were ready for flight conditioning before release. You saw the success story on the female in the last update; we were able to celebrate another success story with the male. Below is his original x-ray.
This is his x-ray from Jan. 23:
And his final paranoid glare as I was getting him ready for transfer:
LWR also received a HBC barred owl in late January. The rescuer saw the owl bounce off the vehicle in front of him and stopped to capture the concussed and wounded bird. Sadly, his wing was broken too near the joint to ever heal properly—see the x-rays below—so we euthanized.
Closeup of shoulder fracture--barred owl
The gray squirrels have hit a shy phase now; below is the only halfway decent shot I’ve managed in the past two weeks. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, as they’re getting closer to release, I’ll be able to snag a few more good shots of the stubborn little rascals.
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