After flying into a passing vehicle near Ellsworth, this Barred Owl has been recovering at SRC since late December. The owl was admitted with a comminuted fracture in its left wing (this means that the bone was broken into multiple pieces). We are incredibly thankful that Rachel Warnos rescued and transported the bird to our clinic in Traverse City.
A lot happened during the 109 days that the owl was in our care: a negative avian influenza test, radiographs, fluids, pain medications, and stabilizing the fracture all happened shortly after admission. From there, it received supportive care, including fracture stabilization, physical therapy, pain and anti-inflammatory medications, and additional radiographs. It was also fed a healthy diet throughout the entire process and had its progress carefully monitored.
The owl received several conditioning flights to return the bird to proper physical shape and confirm that the wing was fully functional.
We are thrilled to share that the owl was released back into the wild Saturday night. This was the third Barred Owl that we have released over the course of the past month and it had been the longest case out of the three.
This long term case cost over $700 to rehabilitate. If you would like to support our work and help return these amazing creatures back to the wild, you can do so here.