An owl chick fell out of the nest. Rescuers sprang into action rebuilding its home
Reuniting the owl family required building a new nest and climbing 30 feet up into a pine tree
- A baby great horned owl fell from its nest after strong winds destroyed its home.
- The Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island contacted A Place Called Hope in Connecticut to assist in reuniting the baby owl with its family.
- The mother owl has since returned to the nest and is caring for her young.
FOSTER, R.I. – The baby owl, just two or three weeks old, was out of the nest and in trouble.
Still a few weeks shy of learning to fly, the young great horned owl was found on the ground after the winds of March destroyed the nest holding the owl, its sibling and parents.
The property owner spotted the fluffy baby and summoned a staffer from the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island, but there was no easy solution to the young raptor's plight.
"The little guy was obviously too small to be out of the nest," said Arianna Mouradjian, director of operations at the clinic.
Sure, the staff member could scoop up the baby and bring it back to the clinic, but young raptors do best being raised by their parents, not humans (See: learning to fly), Mouradjian said.
"If we know the parents are alive and well, we always try to re-nest if possible," Mouradjian said. "It's 100% better for them to be with their parents."
Home tweet home: Rehabilitators rebuild owl nest
The problem is, returning the baby back to its parents would require a 30-foot climb up the pine tree and repairing the broken nest to ensure the baby wouldn't fall out again, so the clinic staff called for help. Across the state line in Connecticut, A Place Called Hope has a team of skilled tree climbers who specialize in returning fallen babies high up into trees and their family nests.
"Without hesitation, they agreed to help us," the clinic recounted in a Facebook post.
Just a day after the bird was found, a team from A Place Called Hope met rescuers from the clinic under the tree that had housed the family of four owls. There was no saving the original nest and − A Place Called Hope had already built a replacement platform nest, then hauled it high in the tree.
The fallen baby was placed in the new nest, as was its sibling, which had somehow managed to stay in the tree. As the humans worked, they noticed a pair of adult owls keeping their distance but also watching.
"I think both parents were in the woods nearby," Mouradjian said. "Once the young were back in the nest, [the rescuers] waited for about an hour. They saw the mother return to the nest."
The property owner has since seen "both parents attending to the nest, ensuring their babies are safe and cared for." Soon, Mouradjian said, the baby owls will start hopping along tree branches as they build up to following their parents in flight.