This Great-Horned Owl is currently in our rehabilitation hospital. She was found on the roadside in Bellefontaine and admitted to the hospital on 11 July 2009.
She has a broken wing from a collision with a car - one of the most common types of injury for birds admitted to our rehabilitation hospital, which receives approximately 300 sick, injured or orphaned birds per year.
The owl's broken wing is now wrapped. A break like this usually takes four to six weeks to heal - as the bones calcify. His wing will be unwrapped on August 20th, and after assessment, she will begin physical therapy to regain strength.
If all goes well, she will be moved outside to a small free-flight mew (large wooden cage) where she will exercise on her own. The mew is small enough so that the owl doesn't injure her wing through over exertion. Once she has undergone sufficient physical therapy to build up her strength she will be moved to a larger free-flight mew.
The last step is the magnificent release. She will be banded with a federal band (an identifiable metal band which can be tracked if the owl is found again), and then released back into the wild.
World Bird Sanctuary presents a "Return to the Wild" program, where you can sponsor and participate in a release. Click here to find out more.
You can see this Great-Horned Owl, and other birds currently receiving treatment in our Wildlife Hospital, through the Wildlife Hospital Viewing Window.
Submitted by Liz Schuff, Naturalist.
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