Our first youngster of 2025 has been admitted after being discovered on the ground under her family's nest on Panther Hollow Bridge in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh. Fortunately x-rays and a physical exam indicate that only minor injuries were sustained in the fall, primarily to her beak.
Our first priority when admitting a nestling raptor, is to medically stabilize the young bird, and then identify whether there are any injuries. Since raptors nestlings have significant mass and are likely to fall long heights, injury including fractures is not uncommon. Care for the growing bird is provided in a way that prevents associating humans with food, and prevents imprinting on humans- a situation in which the bird identifies humans as its own kind.
Great horned Owls are the first birds to nest in our area. They are typically incubating eggs anywhere from late January to late March, but this owlet's family must have started the 33 day incubation process extra early, as she would have hatched in early February. Given the hazardous location of this nest and the risk of her potentially falling again, this owlet will not be returned, but we will be seeking options to join her to a wild foster family either as a nestling or at the fledgling stage.
Thank you to Sarah Mateskovich for rescuing this owlet, to WIN volunteers for transporting her, and to all who support our center and make her treatment possible! If you would like to be part of treating this precious owlet and other wildlife, check out www.tamarackwildlife.org
Ohhhh! Sweet ol' dirty fuzzball!
Thank you to the good people that gave a hoot!
I don't know if other states have things like WIN, but I would think they would. It is another unique opportunity to help your local wildlife. Volunteers get a permit to transport wildlife, so they can be taken to get their initial treatment, or shuttled to another facility to get special care. In Pennsylvania, there's an online course to take, and then you can meet with the rehabbers to catch the animals to get them help and you get to drive them around.
Here's the volunteer page, and they have details of the role and they have the training PowerPoint up for viewing also. You can also be a dispatcher and take calls for rescue and find someone to run out to get them.