Young Screech Owls

   Screech owls are often received because a nest has been disrupted or because the nestlings are pushed out of their tree cavity early.  A family of five or six young can be too large for many hollow trees.  Storms with heavy winds sometimes take down the old hollow trees that house these birds.  Any of these situations can put the young owls in difficult circumstances.  If possible, we leave them with the parents, however, in some situations, they need our care. 

                      They do best when housed  with others of their own species.

   Learning to hunt crickets, moths, and other small prey species is critical to their survival.  This stage takes place in a large flight cage where they also build up flight muscles in preperation for release.

                      Look closely; a second owl is hiding just above the platform.  

   These screech owls were released at Little Swamp Sanctuary in August, when night flying insects were abundant.  We could hear their trills for many nights following the release.  Sometimes, one of the adult owls from our cages would answer.  Other times, a wild screech owl would trill from the woods.

Nestling Kestrel

   Young raptors that are turned in for rehabilitation require a unique system that allows the youngster to identfy with its own species, learn the correct language and behavior, and learn to hunt the typical prey species of its kind.  It will need to know its enemies and fear them.  Often the most likely enemy is humans, which poses an interesting problem when raising a young bird to be wild. 

Here, she has her head tucked under her wing and is sleeping.

   This kestrel was entirely covered with white down feathers when she arrived.  She was fed inside a nest box by a puppet of a female kestrel until fledgling age.

She still has a few down feathers, and is ready to fledge.

   She spent the last two weeks of her nestling stage housed in a nest box beside a foster parent.  This adult female foster parent was then released into the same large outdoor pen so that the two kestrels could freely socialize with each other.  They are fed through a small feeding flap that prevents them from associating people with food.
   Once they have adjusted to living together, they are placed in a flight cage at least fifty feet in length, and provided with a variety of live prey.  Crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, and beetles are the mainstay of the young kestrels diet.  She quickly learned to watch for movement near logs and brush piles inside the flight cage.  After she became skilled at hunting insects, live mice were introduced.  Within a day, she was hunting mice.

   This kestrel was released in August, when grasshoppers were abundant.  She was turned out into an open field near a pond in mid-day on a sunny afternoon.

Oscar's Thank You

   Oscar survived this ordeal, thanks to many caring people involved.  He easily could have died at any step of the way.  Cameron Rath, who works at the East Tawas Wastewater Treatment Plant fished him out of the treatment pond just as his head was about to go under.  Cameron and his boss, George Holzworth quickly contacted Conservation Officer, Rebecca Hopkins who arranged transportation for the owl through Peggy Ridgeway and Dave and Linda Ostrander to the Wildlife Recovery Association.  Oscar was treated immediately.    Whew!

   Oscar survived because people acted quickly and they cared.  You can see the full story in the Iosco County News-Herald and Oscoda Press.

   Watch this blog spot for more updates on Oscar and other raptors in need.

After the Bath

   After each bath, Oscar was wrapped in a warm towel, and placed in intensive care with an additional heat source.
    Joe and Barb Rogers are just finishing the washing in this photo; summer staff Krisy Morris holds Oscar in a warm towel before placing him in his inensive care holding facility.

The Bath

   Oscar was washed thoroughly in warm water with a mild antibacterial soap, then rinsed in warm water.  This was repeated several times with gentleness and great care.  Extreme care must be taken to prevent hypothermia, or chilling due to evaporation, which can super-cool the bird.

Summer Visitors

   Remember that little guy on Sesame Street that peeks out of the garbage can with his big eyes?  Oscar is his name, I think.  So named is one that came to us with a similar history.  

It was one of the most dramatic cases of the past summer - a great horned owl who was saved from a sewage pond.  Soon after he arrived, he was washed thoroughly and kept very warm to prevent hypothermia.  Antibiotics were given as a precautionary measure.  He survived it all, with a little help from many friends along the way..........