Today my hubby rescued a barn owl from our garage roof. She had just been knocked out by what we believe was a kestrel. Lucky for her I had just sent hubby out to empty the recycling and as he walked out through the door he saw her fall from the sky.
We retrieved her and wrapped her in a towel. At first we thought she was dead but on further (tentative) investigation we could see signs of life. She was slowly blinking and was still very warm.
We placed her in a cat carry case and took her to a registered wildlife carer at Werribee. I had met this lady capturing a swan with a broken wing on our local lake.
The lady told us that she was a juvenile female. She was going to give her antibiotics and some mice to eat.
The little beauty was moving more when we arrived at the carers so we had high hopes she would recover. The lady asked us if we would like to name her so we called her Fari after my son's partner.
It was something to see this beautiful little creature up close and touch her soft snowy feathers. Maybe she is related to the owl I use as our avatar, we found her in the same area.
Well done Correa, how lucky that your hubby was there at the right time. Is the carer going to keep you posted on her recovery?
how lucky for the Owl
Peter
I will phone tomorrow to see how "Fari" is getting on.
Oh, good luck to her, and good on you for caring. Please keep us updated on her wellbeing.
Karen
Brisbane southside.
I just phoned to see how our little Fari was getting on and the news is all good. She is eating and seems well. Next step is to see how she flys and then a release back into the wild. The carer told me to ring back in 2 days.
I didn't mention when we took her in on Sunday morning the carer said she thought Fari was a bit thin, so in one way having an accident may even turn out to be a boost for her survival.
That is good news. And maybe they can pinpoint why she is thin while she is there. There could be a problem in her beak or throat area, perhaps. At least she can be observed while she is there.
Karen
Brisbane southside.
with more people like you and hubby the world would be in a better condition.
After devouring 7 mice a day and being able to fly Fari was released back into the wild!
Way to go, Correa!
Thanks a great story, with a top ending, thanks for sharing this with us.
Regards
Shane
That's great news.
I am only baffled at the apparent juvenile female comment, as Barn Owls have no distinctive sexual dimorphism and especially at the juvenile stage sex would be practically impossible to tell. Even in adults, weights, wing and claw measurements are so similar that there would be a lot of difficulty in telling sexes apart.
I wondered about that too after doing a bit of research on the matter. Anyway, the main thing is the owl was restored to health and flew away.
agree on that point!
A lot may end up malnourished as a matter of nature taking its course. Often during good food times the species can breed like crazy and then start dispersing when food supply becomes scarce. Many end up starving to death at these times sadly.
Nature is a tough lady, for sure. I am only too happy that this little one got another chance in life.
Karen
Brisbane southside.