Rescue
This tawny owl had us all a little bewildered after being seen perched on the finder’s fence post and displaying minimal reaction when approached, raising some worrying concerns.
A normal response for the majority of wildlife is to flee, but this tawny owl allowed the members of the public to approach her and place her into a holding carrier, before transporting her over to use for a full check up.
Rehabilitation
Despite having no obvious injuries or wounds, being very slightly underweight but still able to fly, the owl was showing signs of either being reared and released without the proper skills to survive, or she's had a bump to the head, though there’s no evidence to support the latter.
She was placed into an aviary, allowing us to monitor her behaviour and if she was eating for herself, which sadly she was not, causing even more concern. Whilst being support fed, we began our investigations into whether the owl had been hand-reared, and where she might have come from. After some initial responses regarding a tawny owl that had been stolen in the local area, the owner's came to check, but, our mystery bird remained a mystery.
With nothing physically wrong with the young tawny owl, our next dilemma was whether we were going to be able to re-wild her and give her a second chance of living a wild and free life. She began to show promise with specific foods being placed in her aviary, naturally having a preference for Mice and Rats, a usual part of their natural diet.
Release
After taking further advice from specialist falconers, over the weeks that followed, the owl began to show the vital behaviours needed for surviving in the wild and five weeks later, the owl was BTO-ringed and released into the WAF grounds, where she is able to establish her new home amongst the mature woodland canopy.
