LWR’s first baby for 2019 is a late nestling/early brancher great horned owl. She’s more a late nester than early brancher, as she’s not too interested in trying to perch at the moment. But she’s definitely female. This gal’s already, at approximately half-grown, as large as the full-grown adult male great horned who came in earlier in the week—got feet like gunboats, she does!
The tree her nest was in was cut down by loggers. They said they normally try to look for nests but saw nothing until this gal bounced on the ground as the tree came down. Given that she did fall from the tree, I took her in for X-rays, as well, and hers were clear—no fractures.
The tree her nest was in was cut down by loggers. They said they normally try to look for nests but saw nothing until this gal bounced on the ground as the tree came down. Given that she did fall from the tree, I took her in for X-rays, as well, and hers were clear—no fractures.
In the second video above, she was highly peeved that I was handling her to change the paper in her box—oh, the indignity!
The adult male great horned who came in a couple of days before she did has a right wing fracture, right in the joint. It’s “hidden” in the joint so well that an initial intake exam left me convinced he was merely stunned, but when I tested him in the raptor flight, he couldn’t gain altitude. I suspected then we might have a coracoid fracture, as one of the signs is inability to gain altitude. His x-rays at Smalley’s, however, showed a broken elbow with early signs of callusing. The joint may freeze as it heals, but vet Peggy Hobby and I agreed it was worth giving the bird time to heal and see how it plays out. You can compare the circled areas on the right and left wing X-rays below to see the difference in the uninjured and fractured joints.
The adult male great horned who came in a couple of days before she did has a right wing fracture, right in the joint. It’s “hidden” in the joint so well that an initial intake exam left me convinced he was merely stunned, but when I tested him in the raptor flight, he couldn’t gain altitude. I suspected then we might have a coracoid fracture, as one of the signs is inability to gain altitude. His x-rays at Smalley’s, however, showed a broken elbow with early signs of callusing. The joint may freeze as it heals, but vet Peggy Hobby and I agreed it was worth giving the bird time to heal and see how it plays out. You can compare the circled areas on the right and left wing X-rays below to see the difference in the uninjured and fractured joints.
Yeah, the walls of the crate look nasty--it's stains. After a while, all the "Poop-off" in the world won't get rid of the stains...
The red tail whose release was delayed by inclement weather finally got his chance at freedom and wasted no time taking advantage of it.
The same day the adult male great horned came in, an adult male barred also came in as a window-strike victim. He’d just been stunned and had no fractures—again, he was flight tested after overnight observation, and then released. He didn’t hang around long enough for post-release photos.
As an aside here, first, don’t worry, the house he flew over is empty. I generally don’t release near populated areas if it’s avoidable. Second, ideally, adult birds should be released back into their established territory, but when birds come in from “somewhere on the interstate” or other…ummm…less than locatable territories, rehabbers do the next best thing and find a suitable location for release.
And in a massive KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS rant, this adult male cardinal was “presented” to an outdoor cat’s owners by the cat. He has no tail feathers, the few feathers left on his wings are broken, his right shoulder is a bloody mess, and there's probably a shoulder fracture under that bloody mess. Believe it or not, he’s alert, active and eating, so he’ll head to Smalley’s tomorrow for X-rays to see just how bad the damage to his shoulder is. Fortunately, it’s early yet in the season, so it’s not likely he has a mate on eggs or babies in the nest. All this could have been avoided if the cat had been INDOORS.
And in a massive KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS rant, this adult male cardinal was “presented” to an outdoor cat’s owners by the cat. He has no tail feathers, the few feathers left on his wings are broken, his right shoulder is a bloody mess, and there's probably a shoulder fracture under that bloody mess. Believe it or not, he’s alert, active and eating, so he’ll head to Smalley’s tomorrow for X-rays to see just how bad the damage to his shoulder is. Fortunately, it’s early yet in the season, so it’s not likely he has a mate on eggs or babies in the nest. All this could have been avoided if the cat had been INDOORS.
The long-shot barred and screech continue to heal; fingers crossed they’ll both be releasable. I still have serious doubts about the barred, but we’ll see.
And just this morning, a caller reported that he’d had an owl fly into his open passenger-side truck window as he was driving last night—how weird is that? He said he heard a strange noise and thought something had come loose on his truck, but when he got home and picked up his coat, there was an owl on it. He put the bird in a box for the night and attempted release this morning, but it was no go, so he called LWR. We now have a second red-phase screech who appears to be a smallish female and who may have a wing fracture. She will also need X-rays tomorrow.
RSS Feed
