Barn Owl, #12-1152

Young Barn Owl Strikes Silo Side, Survives
Species Name (EN): 
Species Name (LA): 
Admission Date: 
June 5, 2012
Release Date: 
September 27, 2012
Location of Rescue: 
Orange County, Virginia
Cause of Admission / Condition: 
Collision
Prognosis: 
Outcome: 
Released
Patient Status: 
Patient Archive
Released

On Friday, June 1, a woman in Orange County, Virginia walked into an abandoned silo on her property and surprised a brood of sleeping Barn Owls. One of the juvenile owls flew into the side of the silo and crashed into the wall before falling to the ground. The woman carefully collected the owl and brought it to a permitted rehabilitator in her area. After monitoring the juvenile Barn Owl for three days, the rehabilitator noted that the owl did not appear to have any lingering damage as a result of the collision, but she also knew that in order for the owl to completely recover, it would need a much larger space to rehabilitate. The rehabilitator delivered the Barn Owl to the Center’s vice president, Randy Huwa, who then transported the owl to the Center on the morning of Tuesday, June 5. 

Upon admission, Barn Owl #12-1152 was examined by Dr. Miranda Sadar. Dr. Miranda found the owl to be a little thin and dehydrated but it was otherwise a healthy bird. Because the owl was observed colliding with a wall, Dr. Miranda carefully examined the owl for signs of head trauma, but found none present; however, she did recommend that the owl’s behavior and attitude be observed closely over the next three days in case any signs of trauma were late to present themselves.

The owl was also given fluids and a series of standard admission tests which were all within normal limits. The owl was bright and alert throughout its examination, but it was not very aggressive or vocal. This concerned the hospital’s vet staff, as normally a Barn Owl of this age [about two months] would be more agitated and defensive when handled.

When Barn Owl #12-1152 was brought into the Center’s treatment area and examined on the morning of Wednesday, June 6, it was much more active, and on the morning of Thursday, June 7, the trend continued, as the owl vocalized much more readily. With this return to more appropriate behavior, the Center’s veterinarians are much more confident that #12-1152 will be able to transition to an outdoor flight enclosure soon to prepare for an eventual release.

If you are interested in hearing what an adult Barn Owl sounds like in the wild, you can listen to some recordings of them at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology All About Birds online audio gallery here:  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds

At the Wildlife Center, we treat to release.  Your donation will help support the Center’s life-saving work with this Barn Owl and about 2,500 other wild animals in need this year.

Updates

September 27, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 successfully passed five nights of “mouse school” in flight pen A3. After blood work analysis and medical clearance from the veterinary staff, Center Vice President Randy Huwa transported the owl back to its point of rescue in Orange County for release.

September 19, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 has been moved to A3 – the largest flight pen here at the Wildlife Center – and seems to be thriving. Rehabilitator Kelli says that the Barn Owl is a “gorgeous flier” and is doing well with exercising.


It also appears that the move has helped the owl with its hunting skills; as of September 18, the owl has passed mouse school two nights in row! However, since we’ve been disappointed before, the rehabilitation team is carefully monitoring the owl’s weight to ensure that it is actually catching the mice and they aren’t just escaping from the live prey area.


Later today, the rehab team will weigh the owl to ensure that no significant weight loss has occurred. If the owl has maintained its weight and is able to pass mouse school for a total of five nights in a row, it will be well on the way to a release date.


 

September 12, 2012

The vet staff caught up Barn Owl #12-1152 on September 10 for a foot and feather check and routine blood work. When they weighed the bird, they found that the Barn Owl’s weight had significantly decreased — indicating that the owl was not regularly passing mouse school, despite the missing mice in the tub. Rehabilitator Kelli stopped live prey training and fed the owl a regular meal of dead mice that evening.


Since several rounds of live prey testing have not resulted in much success for the owl, the rehabilitation staff will move the Barn Owl to A3 — the Center’s largest flight pen. This will allow the owl to undergo live prey testing in a much larger space — and a slightly more natural one. The mice will be in an escape-proof area in the Center of the enclosure, and the owl will not need to hunt the mice in an enclosed tub. The owl will be moved on Wednesday, September 12.

 

September 7, 2012

When the rehabilitation staff checked on the Barn Owl’s mouse school tub on Monday, they found that the owl had passed!  Mouse school was continued … though the next night, the owl failed. The night after … it passed again!  Seeing somewhat of a trend, rehabilitator Kelli opted to mouse school the owl every other night — and to fast the owl in between the live prey training. The owl’s weight is stable, and the rehab staff feel that perhaps the owl isn’t getting hungry enough for mouse school when its fed dead prey regularly.


If the owl continues to pass every other night, the staff may be able to start planning for a release!

 



 

September 3, 2012

The rehabilitation staff report that Barn Owl #12-1152 has not been passing mouse school this weekend. The rehab staff will be checking the owl’s mouse tub today, but if the owl did not pass again last night, it will be fed dead prey again so that it does not lose too much weight.

August 31, 2012

After failing several more nights of mouse school, Barn Owl #12-1152 was fed a diet of dead mice again to ensure it wouldn’t lose too much weight. Since the Barn Owl has failed more nights than it has passed, the rehab staff decided to place the owl’s food in its mouse school tub — just to ensure that the action of flying into a tub wasn’t adding to the problem. The Barn Owl has been eating well from the tub these past few days, so rehabilitator Kelli decided to begin another round of live prey testing tonight.

August 21, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 started mouse school again on August 18 — after failing the first night, the owl “passed” the following two nights — an encouraging sign. However, the owl discovered a safe little nook in the tree in the middle of Flight Pen 5 — and it has been increasingly difficult for the rehab staff to successfully exercise the owl. On August 21, rehabilitator Amber switched the Barn Owl with the young Peregrine Falcon in FP4 — making the Barn Owl the newest Critter Cam star.

August 13, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 failed at its first attempts at mouse school. After it did not successfully pass the first three nights of live prey testing, rehabilitator Kelli went back to the regular “dead mouse” feeding plan for a few days. Another round of live prey training will be offered later this week.

August 9, 2012

The rehabilitation team reports that Barn Owl #12-1152 has been doing very well over the past week — during each exercise session, the owl is flying the length of the flight pen 14-15 times. The owl has strong, silent flight. Rehabilitator Amber is so pleased with the owl’s flight conditioning that she has decided that it’s time for live prey training. The owl will need to successfully hunt and kill its own dinner for five nights in a row. Once the owl has passed mouse school and receives medical clearance from the veterinary staff, the owl will be returned to Orange County for release.

August 3, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 was moved to a flight pen on August 1. The rehabilitation staff immediately began exercising the owl — currently it’s flying the length of the pen about eight times. The owl is flying silently; at this point it just needs more endurance prior to release.

July 23, 2012

Barn Owl #12-1152 is doing well — the owl has been eating well, putting on weight, and its feathers are all in good condition. At this point, the owl just needs to be moved to a flight pen to begin exercise before getting practice with live prey training. Within the next couple of weeks, the rehab staff hope that enough space will open up in the outdoor enclosures so that the Barn Own may be moved!

June 12, 2012

After spending its first week in the holding area of the Center’s hospital, Barn Owl #12-1152 is ready to move to an outdoor enclosure this afternoon. The Center’s rehabilitation and veterinary staff have been monitoring the owl’s behavior closely and have been pleased with its progress. The young Barn Owl is receiving anti-parasitic medication to treat the parasites that were found in the owl’s initial fecal examination. The owl is much more active now and has begun eating whole mice on its own.

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