On April 11, a Great Horned Owlet was admitted to the Wildlife Center after it was found in the middle of the road in Albemarle County, Virginia.
The owlet’s rescuers called the Wildlife Center for advice and attempted to re-nest the young bird. They placed the Great Horned Owlet in a basket and secured it to a high branch of nearby tree located across the street from their home. After several hours of careful observation, there was still no sign of the parents. The Great Horned Owl was removed from the tree and transported to the Wildlife Center that evening.
During the initial exam, Great Horned Owlet #15-0281 was bright, alert, and continuously clacked its beak at Center staff. No abnormalities were found and the bird was declared to be in good health. The owlet was placed in the Center’s holding room overnight and was fed a meal of mice.
The following morning Great Horned Owlet #15-0281 was bright, alert, and very vocal. Blood was drawn to run a complete blood panel and results were unremarkable. The young owlet also began eating on its own and staff decided Great Horned Owlet #15-0281 was ready to be placed with the Center’s surrogate Great Horned Owl, Papa G’Ho.
Great Horned Owlets, like all birds, do not automatically know what they are when they hatch; these young birds go through a learning period called imprinting. Once a bird imprints, it identifies with that species for its entire life. During the imprinting period, the young bird also learns species-appropriate behaviors, vocalizations, and proper fear of humans.
The Wildlife Center utilizes several raptor surrogates, in order to prevent improper imprinting and allow young birds to develop as they would in the wild. A surrogate provides a role model for young birds in captivity and counters their interactions with humans. To learn more about surrogacy, click here.
On April 14, Great Horned Owlet #15-0281 was placed in an airline crate and moved into Papa’s enclosure in the Center’s C-pens to begin introductions. At first, the owlet remained in a crate so that it and Papa could see and hear one another. After two days of introductions, the door to the crate was opened on April 16.
The Great Horned Owlet #15-0281 will remain with a surrogate throughout the spring and summer months, and should be released in late fall when it naturally would leave the protection of its parents.