A wildlife rehabilitation center hopes to reunite a baby owl that fell out of its nest with its parents, either by placing it back in the nest or by installing a new one made out of a laundry basket.
The operation, which could happen Thursday or be delayed until later this week because of rain, involves a pair of tree climbers and could be vital to the owl’s survival, wildlife workers said. At approximately 3 weeks old, the nestling great horned owl spotted on the ground Tuesday night can’t fly.
“It needs the safety of the nest for one thing to keep it out of harm’s way and it needs its parents’ care in that nest,” said Suzanne Shoemaker, operator of the Boyds-based Owl Moon Raptor Center.
The center works with two climbers who will attempt to place the owl back in its nest, believed to be in a tree near Rapley Preserve Circle in Potomac.
The owl resting Wednesday at the Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg, via Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg
“They really need parental care. They don’t do well with people raising them because they need to learn how to hunt,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker said a volunteer for the center found what could be the nest tree Wednesday. In case there isn’t a nest in the tree, the climbers will bring a laundry basket full of sticks and wire that the Owl Moon Raptor Center outfitted this week. Shoemaker said the center conducts about 10 of these re-nesting operations a year with different varieties of owls and hawks.
Katherine Zenzano, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Animals Services and Adoption Center, said a county Animal Services officer responded to Rapley Preserve Circle Tuesday night after a call from a woman walking her dog who spotted the owl sitting on the ground.
An officer with the county’s Animal Services division found the owl, which Zenzano said is believed to have fallen out of a nest in a nearby tree about 30 to 35 feet above ground.
“It was a little difficult to tell if the bird was injured or if it had fallen out of the nest. There were some heavy winds that night,” Zenzano said.
The owl was taken to the Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg, where Executive Director Jim Monsma said it was checked for injuries but none were found.
“We gave it a good meal, warmed it up in the incubator and gave it some fluids,” Monsma said. “It doesn’t even have feathers. It’s totally dependent on the care of its parents and there’s no way the parents could’ve got it back into its nest.”
Shoemaker said that if the climbers can’t find the original nest, it likely came down with the baby owl. She said workers can't know for sure whether it's male or female, but that it's likely female based on its size and weight.
“Somehow, they usually manage to land safely,” Shoemaker said.
In that case, the climbers will hang the new nest. Shoemaker said that in the past, the owl’s parents have typically returned to the new nest.
“It needs its parents and we hope its parents will resume care in that nest,” Shoemaker said.
